Uniform Shirts

I knew from when my daughter worked at Arby's that fast-food places are chintzy with their uniforms. My daughter had one uniform shirt that she washed frequently, if not daily. After a month it was so soaked with grease that it could have been used to wipe down car engines.

Now it's me who has a uniform shirt. I wash it four times a week. Lucky me, I know more about doing laundry than Little Miss so my shirt is not a grease rag. Yet.

It just feels very strange to be washing and wearing one item of clothing four times a week. Being addicted to clothing, I have mostly treated it with respect. My pattern has been to wear and wash an item of clothing no more often than once a week. Times when I found myself with only three pairs of pants that fit meant I needed to shop for more. But still, not wearing the same pair of pants four times a week.

No matter how I struggled financially over the years I never had to wear an item of clothing so frequently. Maybe I should have; I might not have struggled financially.

Coffee and Survival

Woke up with a headache this morning. I hate when that happens... thankfully it doesn't happen often. The thought of coffee made my stomach go "Bleeeaaaggghh." When I sat down to write my brain overruled my stomach and said "We must have coffee to create."

How wonderful to be able to make coffee in about five minutes. It's good to have electricity, water from the tap, paper filters, plastic items. I've made campfire coffee, and frankly I prefer what comes out of my drip coffeemaker.

Of course, coffee reminds me of disaster preparedness; my 'disaster kits' are in Folger's coffee plastic canisters. Just the right size for a can of soup, bottle of water, couple of granola bars, and some peppermint candy. I've made food kits, shelter kits, personal hygiene kits, and one entertainment kit. I'm no dyed-in-the-wool 'survivalist'. But I do think it wise to prepare to live for three days without electricity and fresh water. This is on my mind as Iowa enters into the season of storms.

Here in Iowa the scenarios of disaster are limited. Tornadoes in the summer, ice storms, snow in the winter. Flooding like central Iowa had in 1993. Least likely, terrorism at the Animal Disease research facility in nearby Ames, Iowa.

I haven't forgotten my conversations with Jean, a refugee from New Orleans. It hasn't been quite two years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. What Jean had to say about the devastation of New Orleans and her life remains with me. Could I survive a loss like that?

I just don't know. Sorry, dear Jean, but I hope I never have to find out.

Limited Commitments

One of the first things I learned when I went to substance abuse treatment was not to beat up on myself. One of the ways to think more positively of yourself is to say "No."

And mean it.

Over-commitment, the bane of my existence... I learned that making too many commitments is a way that people sabotage what could be a good life. You feel like you're not doing enough, that you should do good deeds, so you take on a commitment or three. You're really too busy to fulfill the commitment or three, it doesn't get done, you feel guilty. You don't let yourself feel good about what you have been able to do becuz there are so many things that you haven't done.

You feel like you're not doing enough...

It's a cyclic, self-defeating thing, this over-commitment. If there is the least bit of doubt in your mind as to whether you can do something, say no. Stick to it. Complete the commitments you've recently made and then make no more. It's okay to say no. There are probably more important things in your life than baking 200 cupcakes.

When you're back to basics - job, kids, house, family, leisure, then take a look at where you want to devote the time that you (may) have. You'll find that when you say no and refuse a commitment that there is a bit of guilt. But that bit of guilt is negligible compared to the satisfaction of doing well in other areas of your life.

You'll be amazed at how good you can feel when you're not setting yourself up for failure. You've learned to treat yourself better, to avoid something negative and to enjoy something positive.

Learning New Skills

Hooray! I finally made an ice cream cone that didn't look like a cone with a vanilla toad squatting on top of it. Don, the manager, was almost as excited as me. I've learned to use a commercial fryer. It's not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be.

This new job is turning out to be a lot more hours than I thought it would be. Of course, I keep volunteering for all the unclaimed hours on the schedule...

Daisy Quean is a seasonal type of thing; busy in the summer, much slower in the fall and winter months. I endeared myself to the manager by telling him that fewer hours when business is slow is okay with me. Why would I want to go thru the hassle of going to work in the wintertime?

I am working toward the goal of new brakes for my car. I hope to achieve that by the end of June.

I'm still feeling like adapting to a new schedule is taking me forever to accomplish. Besides the housework that needs doing, there are things that I want to do. Like posting to my blog daily.

Ice Cream and Old Lace

Every job has a different set of occupational hazards. I realize as I sit here writing that I brought one of them home from the new job.

I have spatters of ice cream on my reading glasses. Dried soft-serve ice cream; it'll take a bit of soaking in hot water to loosen it up.

Scheduling Life

I am adapting to a different schedule. I must be getting old cuz it seems like it's taking a long time. I'm trying to find an hour in which to do some housework. All I want is 15 minutes to vacuum, 15 minutes to wash dishes, 15 minutes to fold laundry, and 15 minutes to de-clutter.

I want this hour of housework to occur before I go to work. After work my feet hurt so damn bad that I can barely stand up, let alone do housework.

I like the hours with the new job: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Civilized hours...anything after 10:00 AM, is my definition. That way I have time to drink coffee, feed dogs, bathe, dress, read e-mails, and play a couple games of Scrabble online. I didn't mind rushing the pre-work process when I was younger; 15 or 20 minutes was plenty of time. Now I want a couple hours before I go to work.

Time, Money, Transportation

Time, money, and transportation... three things I can't ever seem to have at the same time. It's been like this for decades and it is beginning to irk me.

I simply cannot manage to have those three things all at one time. Any combination of two of them is allowed, but never all three at once.

Now, for instance. We finally could afford to get my car fixed. That solves the problem of transportation. A month ago I started a paper route, and two weeks ago got a part-time job at the local Daisy Quean. That solves the problem of money. The job at Daisy Quean and the paper route don't leave me with a lot of TIME, however.