I had to try it at least once. I bought all the supplies and hauled out my five-gallon bucket. (Yes, that’s the only down side. It makes five gallons at a time. At ¼ cup per load, five gallons is a lot of liquid detergent.) It was pretty easy though, and the best part is that it actually works! Really. It cleans every bit as well as name brand detergent. Plus, it’s so cheap, it’s almost free. Not that the cost really has anything to do with it. I can buy a year’s supply of Costco detergent for about $40. It’s just that I feel so . . . so . . . self-sufficient! Well, sorta. Self-sufficient so long as I have a washer & dryer and electricity to run them. But, you know, it’s a start.
It made more than twice this much. The boys were disappointed to find out it was soap, not lemonade.
Brett spent the weekend with the band at the University of Idaho. (I’m thinking he joined the band just to go on all the trips they take.) They were told to pack lightly, and he took that to heart. He packed so lightly he forgot half his clothes. They perform in tuxedos, and when he went to get dressed, he didn’t have his white dress shirt. He said he searched frantically for it, hoping it might appear in the hotel room even though he didn’t pack it. No luck. Things that are left at home tend to remain at home. He found the band director in the lobby and asked if, per chance, he had an extra white shirt. Mr. Russell grimaced and said, “Just do the best you can with what you have.” So, feeling a little sheepish and slightly humiliated, he put on his dress pants, his cummerbund, his bow tie . . . and his T-shirt.
He went to put on his shoes and socks and discovered what else he left at home. He approached the band director once again and said, “I don’t suppose you have any extra . . .” The band director scanned him from head to toe, and then said, “ . .. shoes.”
Brett headed to the concert dressed in a tux, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. The thing is that this is not an unusual occurrence for him. This is pretty much how his life goes. In a very fortunate turn of events, one of the students on the trip had a full tuxedo but was not scheduled to perform. One look at Brett, and he took off his dress shirt and shoes and exchanged them for Brett’s T-shirt and white tennis shoes. They were ten sizes too big, but Brett was delighted to have a proper uniform, even if the shirt went to his knees.
As for Jeff . . . well, let’s just say that if you ever want to incite pandemonium at your house, I know just how you can do it. Make your oldest child wait until she’s in college to have a cell phone; make your second child wait until he’s 16; buy your third child a phone at 15; and let your youngest have one before he’s even 12. Oh, my! If you’re foolish enough to do such a thing, at least have the sense to instruct your youngest child not to text his older siblings with his new phone. Sheesh! I don’t know if Bryce will ever speak to me again.
Ashlee, Alexa, and Aislyn came to play for a few hours yesterday. We definitely had more fun than Dell and Becky did running errands. I impressed Ashlee with my play dough making abilities, and we discovered that Aislyn will inhale strawberry yogurt but doesn’t think highly of chicken soup.
I still know how to entertain an almost-one-year-old. No toys necessary.
Jeff was appalled at my willingness to devote hours to the play dough adventure. “Whoa, you never did that for me. First of all, you’d always say, “Not today.” And then when you would make play dough, you’d make ONE color, not four batches with four different colors!”
Just wait. Next time they come, I’m going to buy all three of them cell phones.
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