So, Robert and I decided to stay home from camping this weekend... getting the trailer ready was "too much work." Being the "can't sit still without multi-tasking" woman that I am, I decided to get some "stuff" done.
Day 1:
The carpets are really horrible so I got the great idea to rent a great machine and get those carpets "back to new". The carpet in the trailer has seen one too many elk hunts full of mud, so I'll do both at the same time.
Over $100 later as I was leaving the cleaning store, I tried to remember why I didn't call the "Stanley Steamer" guy... they'll do the same thing for $99- Anyway, I loaded everything in the back of Mater, Jake's truck, and headed for home.
I got home and Robert helped me unload this HUGE machine that reminded me an awful lot of the Zamboni when I've gone to a hockey game. I got the whole thing set up according to the instructions... hey, I'm an educated RN... what's a carpet cleaner? Anyone can manage that! NOT! I loaded the Zamboni with 5 gallons of water and the appropriate mixture of some carpet neutralizer that I'm not really sure what needs to be "neutralized". I turned the thing on and it made the hugest bang and popping noise I'd ever heard. I ran to unplug the cords that ran to 2 different circuits wondering why I hadn't bought those fire extinguishers from the last door to door guy. When I came back into the room where this creature sat, the entire contents of the tank had emptied onto my carpet in a big pool of water. I assumed it was sufficiently "neutralized".
I called the lady at the store and she told me what to do and I felt confident as I turned the thing on the second time. No bang. No pop. Whew! We're good to go. I fill the Zamboni with another 5 gallons of water and another $9.98 of "neutralizer" and I'm ready to go. I'm in the walk in closet spraying away, vacuuming up the excess "mist" of water and I go to check the contents of the "dirty" side of the tank. Much to my horror, the "woman hater" machine had again emptied the entire contents of the tank on my bedroom floor.
This time when I called the lady at the store I wasn't nearly as "chirpy". We shared a few, "I don't know, what do you think?(s) She came out to the house!
We found a nozzle that was spraying water straight out of the tank and got it fixed with a couple calls to maintenance. I started cleaning the carpets again, this time with no incident. But by this time it's about 4:30 in the afternoon and I have to be dressed up for dinner in an hour and a half. I called the store to see if I can keep the machine an extra day. They agreed... ya think?
Day 2:
So now it's Saturday and I've scheduled canning tomatoes. I have Jake finishing up the carpets in the basement and Jessi and Kayci are picking tomatoes from the garden. I'm starting the process. OK, so now lets jump right to 10:45 PM and my last batch of tomatoes is "bathing" away. So here's a quick re-cap of the day...
Since I have a glass top stove, I do my canning outside on the camp chef. I really like it better anyway, the kitchen doesn't heat up and if the pressure cooker explodes, it won't take out an eye. So Jessi and I are trying the light the darn stove. We're sure Robert bought the only "non-flammable" propane on the market. So, over comes the neighbor and we enlist him in "fixing" the stove. He proceeds to turn it on. (Don't women just do this to help the testosterone factor? I was just wondering.) Anyway, we're in the canning business but good.
I start the day with the wonder and awe associated with canning your own home grown produce and guaranteeing that my family is only served the highest quality of food. Well, when we're not going through the take out line at Carl's Jr. anyway. The canning is going nicely and I'm listening to the occasional "pop" associated with the proper sealing technique. (I know this, I'm a registered homemaker now!) I boil, and clean, and dice away. Then boil, and clean and "chunky" sounds good. Then I'm boiling, cleaning and squishing these d*%#m things.
It's around 3:45 in the afternoon and I take a second to put down the Diet Coke (the only source of nutrition I've had today) and I look around the kitchen. It looks surprisingly like the shower scene from "Psycho". I have tomatoe juice and tomatoe chunks in places I didn't know tomatoes could go. All of my nice white dish towels are now a polka dot reddish-orange kind of color. The floor is spotted with dirt specks of muddy goo and I realize I don't have any oregano for the salsa. The "Herb Garden" so nicely went to different plants that I knew nothing about. There was one that smell "minty" so I kept that one. The others are playing King of the Hill on the compost pile. Off I go to Harmons.
So, I get to Harmon's and realize I've entered a version of my own personal Hell. Of all things... they're having a CASE LOT SALE! The aisles and aisles of canned goods... mocking me. They're pointing their little tin fingers my way and laugh! I don't even want to know how much their canned tomatoes and salsa were going for... let alone the 8 million peaches I have waiting for me back at home.
I buy my stinking oregano and forget the chips for the 18 pints of salsa still cooling on the counter. I do notice that boneless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.99 /lb and decide to throw a couple of batches of canned chicken in the mix as well. As I get home, I'm exhasted and my feet hurt from standing all day barefooted with an apron on. And my cute husband gets home to hug me in the kitchen and complement my work. He's been cutting hay all day and when he sees what I've been doing all day, he says, "We make a great team." I have to agree.
So what if it's 10:49 p.m. and I just finished... as a friend told me tonight, "Canning is a lost art."
Yeah, so are stone tablets and dust-busters.
Heaven knows I can sleep good tonight knowing that 42 quarts of tomatoes, 18 pints of salsa and 7 pints of chicken will be awaiting the nutritional needs of my family.
...and that the case lot sale goes until next Thursday.
Woo hoo! I get to sleep in! Then we're off to a blessing for Ashley's baby in Provo and I get the stuff I need to conduct Relief Society before we go. The baby is blessing by LOTS of men and we dash back in the car for the quick trip back from Provo to make it before Relief Society. I quickly put out the stuff for our makeshift "Un-Super Saturday" and try to remember the announcements.
Dinner is a couple hours later with some friends and family and then I fall into the tub.
As I look around "leisurely" soaking I realize how dirty the bathtub is and I have to get out because I should start scrubbing... I decide it can wait until morning and now I fall into bed. :) and then begins-
When we went to pick him out, he ran under the horse trailer and I had to lay on the ground to coax him out. The owner said he's never done that before. After I got him out, he just sat on our lap and let the other dogs run around. Yep... he was the one. He was also the darkest with the boxiest head.
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