To Clean up Poo, or not clean up poo ? That's the question.

7:30 last night, I'm dragging my rug cleaner from room to room. The upholstery attachments are slung over my shoulder. Outside the weather continues to build into huge storms, then suddenly break back into hot-humid air. I have the AC on, but I'm still feeling sweaty and miserable. Wasn't it just a couple days ago that I was crowing about how nice it was to have my family around me. Stupid family, I drag the equipment into another room(why does this stupid house have so many rooms?). I am on a quest to find a missing diaper, and I'm cleaning the poo trails along the way.

Early in the afternoon, I was happy as could be, every thing was neat, I had done 3 loads of laundry(I love doing laundry). My bookwork was all tidied up at the store, ready for the end-of-month billing(today). I had a couple chickens roasting in the oven (yeah, I know, roasting when it's 95 outside; sounds dumb but I feed 4 adult males, and they want meat.) I was actually taking a (Suduko) break, when my daughter and her fam. arrived. They were going over to the pool (at my in-laws house) I was going to stay home to finish dinner and feed the babies. Everything is going like clockwork, twins fed and rocking in their swings, dinner ready to come out of the oven, when things took a dramatic change.

The first hiccup, in this wonderful "family having dinner together scene" , was when I spilled hot grease down my arm while dogging a falling butcher knife, resulting in a nasty burn on my forearm, and grease all over the floor.(but the knife did miss my bare foot). Temperature rising,(I am Irish), deep breaths, assure O that Gam is OK, carry on.
Dinner goes fine, O(as always) stands up when he's done and he runs off to play. We sit and chat, all that fun, family dinner table stuff. When J goes to check on what her little boy is up too, all hell breaks loose.

J: " AHHHHHHH, OMG!!!!!!!"
US: "What, what happened, whats wrong?"
J: "O's diaper is missing and he pooped all over."

Now J swears she put a diaper on her son after swimming; he looked like he had a diaper under his shorts when they returned.
People being running in every direction. My husband grabs the phone and announces he has to answer the order line for the next day at the store. W(the great dad) decides this would be an excellent time to go to the office and read my blog. G decides to play the piano(to drown out the women screaming, I guess).

ME: " Where is it"?
J:" all over".
K: " eeewww, it's on the sofa and the ottoman".
J: " Where's the diaper"?
ME & K: " Where's the.......Diaper??? You can't find the diaper??"
ALL the Girls: Find the diaper !!!
J: "W, we need help, NOW"
W: "I can't hear you, I'm reading your mom's blog".
K: "G, help us look".
G: "huh...?"

The girls run to every room, but there is no diaper to be found. The best we can tell, he must of undone the tabs (cause they make him itch) and the diaper must of fallen out of his shorts(his shorts are loose because he is a beanpole). Then, when nature called, he let his masterpiece slid down his leg, onto the floor, and stepped in it; subsequently dragging it all over the house and furniture.

So, at 7:30, I'm cleaning every inch of carpet and upholstery in the house(J, did wipe down the hard surfaces with Lysol before she took her poopy family home). The burn on my right arm rubs against the handle of my Rug Doctor, I grit my teeth. After dinner is the time I unwind and catch up on e-mail. Stupid Family, stupid poo.

As I start on my office i take a quick glimpse at my inbox. There is a message I had been waiting for from a close friend that I had not heard from in a while. I am dying to see what he has to say, but the poo is still fresh and easy to find now. What to do? Sit down and I can get lost online for hours. I really want to read that letter.

At 7:31 I am dragging my rug cleaner to another room, When poo calls, you answer the call.

So, how was your day????

Taking Multitasking up a Notch

As I’m sweating Vidalias for homemade cheesesteaks, I’m thinking about the best topic to start this Blog space off. Should I start off funny right away to “Grab” people, tell about myself, explain my Blog space title? Stories run through my head. There’s not much room in there. I am also, checking my time, preparing the other elements dinner, running the list of things I need to pack in my car for my trip, wondering why I decided to steal my grandson and invite my mother on the little getaway I will be heading out on in less than an hour, and why did I just call mom an hour ago and offer to drop off dinner for her and Dad before we leave? Let’s see, B (my son) likes me to use chicken instead of steak and wants hot peppers, onions, & ketchup. K (my daughter) and G (her live-in fiancé’) want to eat later. They want the meat and onions packed separately, so they can assemble their sandwiches later without soggy rolls. My hubby will eat anything I place on his plate, but for him I go “all out”. Wait a minute; I’m going all out for all of them.

Tourists think a cheese steak is a gooey mess, dripping with grease and cheese wiz, purchased on the street in center city. Those are the Mickey D version of Philly’s favorite sandwich. Way to get sick, fast. My steak sandwiches involve more steps than even Alton Brown would consider. I have the oven on constantly (the oven? Isn’t this a fried sandwich)? Preparing the Italian rolls is one of the most important steps. To cut down on drippy mess, everything is cooked separate and drained. Each sandwich assembled for the preference of the recipient. Yes, I am insane, but more on that later.

Here is my recipe for Philly cheese steaks (with apologies to my vegetarian friends)

• · Long Italian rolls (Amaroso preferred)
• · Good quality chipped steak ( like steak-umms)

• · Deli sliced real American cheese

• · Sweet onions (Spanish, or in spring, Vidalias)

All ingredients must be prepared simultaneously. (Have fun!!)

Rolls- slice, open, put in 350 oven till turning gold, cover all inside surface with sliced cheese, return to oven till cheese melts, add ketchup (for those who want it), return to oven.

Steaks, in a deep pot, heat a few tablespoons of virgin olive oil, break steak into pieces, cook over slow heat, turning every minute or so (to keep bottom from overcooking). When there is no more pink showing, dump steak into colander and pat with paper towels.

Onions- Slice, sweat in butter over medium heat, Keep onions from becoming brown, when onions are translucent and limp, drain and dump on paper towels.

Assemble, according to each person’s wants. Onions (or not), steak, more onions (or not) ketchup (or not), Cheese broken in strips and laid diagonal across finished sandwich, put back in the oven till cheese melts.

That’s pretty much how I make them. Now I will throw some reserved onions back in the pan and fry up some thin chicken breast strips with diced long-hots for B’s sandwich)

Of course if you want a real challenge, try making it this way, the way I did this time.

• · Start cooking all ingredients, start making the ice tea, run to throw the wet clothes in the dryer, check food, start dialing phone, continue to run down mental list, sing same 4 lines of current SSIH (song stuck in head) to yourself.

• · Check food(turn down onions, remove rolls), Tell daughter what time you’ll pick up O. Glance at food , end call, run to other side of house grab something you almost forgot to pack, check e=mail on way back to kitchen(might as well, it’s on the way). Run back to kitchen, continue meal prep, Start second pitcher of ice tea, where did I put my camera??, Find camera and throw it in suitcase. Back to kitchen, stir meat, rolls out again, turn off onions. Phone rings, answer phone, tell son what time his meal will be ready. Set table, get O’s little car from the patio and put it in back of car, smile at hubby (who is drumming his fingers on table). Rolls out again. SSIH still spilling from mouth.

• · Finish all cooking, start assembly. Pour ice tea in glasses, call upstairs on intercom for kids. Damn, I almost forgot………run to get item and throw in car. SSIH starting to annoy me, turn on TV (Seinfeld’s on) Get hot sandwiches from oven, cut each in half, put in front of starving family.

• · Sit to eat(yes, I got to do that), Jump up and clean up kitchen, wrap 2 sandwiches in tin foil and return to oven, Run to get last items in car. Check E-mail, turn off computer. Load and start dishwasher. Kiss hubby goodbye, grab hot, wrapped sandwiches and run to car, while yelling over shoulder “please keep kitchen clean, and don’t forget to feed cats”

• · In car, turn IPOD on, choose same SSIH. Drive to parent’s house, drop off dinner. Drive to daughter’s house, pick up O. Drive back to parents, pick up mom.

• · Finally, drive 2 hours to shore. Unload everything. Find out the person who borrowed the house last weekend didn’t clean up or do laundry. Start washer.

Ahhhh, nothing like a relaxing 2 day- get away to the shore. What could be more fun than cutting the lawn with a whinny toddler wrapped around your legs? A chance to kickback and weedwack(cause no one has bothered, even though they promised to. Look at the glorious Vinca choking the gardens! Marvel at how much dust can accumulate. When was the last time house was cleaned?? Oh, yea, the last time I was there.

So this is my first blog post. I decided to tell about myself. I am a mother, who doesn’t know when to stop, and really wouldn’t want to. That is me in a nutshell (figuratively and literally.) Sure, I bitch and complain, but isn’t it obvious I do it because I want to. It makes me happy to take care of everyone, so I do.