Homebody
So there I stood with the capful of liquid laundry detergent in my hand and wondered if I was supposed to use a full cap of the stuff or whether I was supposed to use just part of it. One half? A quarter? Three quarters? I pondered, then dumped the whole capful into the removable soap-holder thingee on the top of the washer's agitator. The liquid was thick and it slowly started seeping down through the little screen holes onto the clothes I'd put in the washer's tub. I also wondered if I'd put too many clothes into the washer. Or if I could have put in some more. I looked at the bottles and containers of cleaning stuff setting on the table next to the washing machine. Spot cleaners. Oxygen bleach. Colorfast bleach. Regular bleach. Other detergents. And more plastic bottles of various detergents, cleaners and uncategorized “stuff”. My brow wrinkled in thought - I believe the wife had said to also put in some bleach. I grabbed the colorfast stuff and looked again at the washing machine. A-ha! There was a little reservoir that was labeled “bleach”. I'll bet that's where the stuff goes! I poured some into the hole until it was full. It just sat there. I guess it'll pull it in when it wants to, I thought. Now, what's next? I looked at the plastic ball laying there with the funny lid. Ah, I thought. That's for softener, isn't it? I picked the ball up and looked at it a bit closer. It was labeled “Downey”. I knew Downey was a softener, so I guess I was to put softener into it. So I did. And threw it into the pile of clothes. I then looked at the control panel on the washing machine. The machine wasn't new, so I thought I ought to be able to figure it out. Let's see - what did she say exactly? Cold-cold? Nope. Warm, warm? Nope. It was... oh yes, warm-cold. That's where the little dial was already positioned, so I left it there. I closed the lid and spun the timer dial to “dirty” and pulled on it. I could hear the water start to enter the machine.
Hurrah, I thought. It's working!
I looked over at the pile of dirty clothes that I'd have to do the same (or similar) to. Gonna be a long project, I thought.
I knew I'd have some time before the washing machine would need my attention again, so I went back upstairs. I looked around, seeing things that needed done. I sighed and began to prioritize the tasks ahead of me.
A bit later I went back to the basement and checked on the wash. Yes, it was completed. I gathered up the damp clothes and chucked them into the dryer. I saw some softener sheets on top of the machine, so I chucked one of those in also. I set the time for an hour and pressed the start button. The dryer started normally and then started making the most appalling thumping noises. Thump. Thump. Crump. Rattle, rattle, rattle. Thump again. I shook my head. What the dickens? I opened the door and looked in. Just clothes. I closed the door and started it again. Thump, thump, thump. It sounded like I was trying to dry coconuts. I shook my head and looked inside once more. Oh – yeah. I recognized the Downey softener ball laying on the clothes. Nope, don't need that in there. I removed the ball and restarted the dryer. Smooth. Quiet.
What a numskull I was!
All this unaccustomed work on my behalf was thrust upon me by a series of unfortunate occurrences concerning my wife and her almost uncanny propensity for accumulating bad luck. And the likelihood of all that bad luck manifesting itself in one fell swoop.
It started a couple weeks ago.
She had taken a Friday off to go visit her sister and mother in their hometown about 30 miles away from where we lived. She'd spent an enjoyable day with them doing this and that but began to notice an ache starting in one of her teeth. She assumed that she had a tooth needing attention and she promised herself to call the dentist soon and schedule an appointment. She came home early as the tooth was really starting to make itself known to her. She took some ibuprofen and went to bed early that night. She had a miserable, pain-filled night and got very little sleep. When she awoke on Saturday she informed me she had to see a dentist as soon as possible. Her face was showing signs of swelling on her left side and it gave her an oddly asymmetrical appearance, like looking at her in a fun-house mirror. We made an emergency appointment and she was seen by a dentist before noon. He informed us that yes, she had an infected tooth (that was pretty obvious) and that it would either need to be extracted or a root canal done to it. Because of the infection he was unable to do any work on it at that time, so he gave her prescriptions for pain medications and an antibiotic. We went back home after getting the medicines and she settled into her recliner with an ice bag on her face. She remained in that position throughout the rest of the day.
Sunday morning when she awoke and I looked at her, I was shocked. Her face had swollen a LOT more overnight and she looked to be in very bad shape. Think of the elephant man on steroids. I made some phone calls to several doctors and dentists (before I got one to talk to on a Sunday) and was informed that the antibiotic she was taking would require 24 to 48 hours to take effect and that she should continue with the ice-to-the-face therapy. Which she did for the rest of the day. Again. By Monday the antibiotic was taking effect and the swelling had decreased by about half.
On Wednesday she returned to the dentist and he did the first portion of the root canal. He was unable to complete it as there was still some infection in the canal, so he applied a temporary filling to the tooth to get her through until her next appointment, where he would complete the procedure.
The day before the root canal, on Tuesday, she apparently had pulled a muscle in her right leg stepping out of the shower. It was sore and she was limping when she saw the dentist.
Her miseries were beginning to overlap but we didn't quite realize that yet.
She worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday that week. On Friday morning, which was a day off for both of us, she informed me that there was another, much more painful problem in her right knee. We got on the phone and called a doctor. Again. Luckily we got a quick appointment with one of our family doctor's partners, who had a slot open at 11:00. After examining her he said he thought she'd pulled a tendon on the side of her knee and gave her a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. We had tickets to a food show in Cleveland that afternoon and we attended it so not to waste the tickets. I pushed her around in a rented wheelchair to help keep her off her feet during our sojourn there. We had a wedding the following day (Saturday) that we attended and she remained seated throughout that. She rested Sunday and Monday with a heating pad on her knee as she had been doing since the pains started. On Tuesday I drove her to an earlier scheduled appointment with our family doctor who had her knee x-rayed as it was swollen at that time. No break. The original diagnoses of a pulled tendon was probably correct. He put her on bed rest for the remainder of that week and the weekend, then another week of slowly increasing physical activity as the knee allowed. He wrote her a doctor's excuse to remain off work for that time period. She spent the first six days in bed and only arose to use the facilities. I'd rented a walker and she used it for those trips.
So... During this time while the wife was being hammered by her miserable luck, things were not being attended to in our house. Cooking. Cleaning. Dishes. Proper meals. Laundry. Dog care. And a thousand other things that the wife normally did that I never really noticed. I was totally blown away by the things that needed done that she normally handled. And to think I used to complain about how she didn't do enough around the house. Holy cow was I wrong! Hence the crash course in laundry, dish washing, etc.
I think she's on the mend now, however. She got up from the bed and came downstairs on Sunday and has been gradually increasing her activity around the house since then. We've accepted an invitation to go to her brother's house for Thanksgiving and we've accepted.
We're looking forward to it.
There have been some setbacks, of course. For instance, she called me on Tuesday night while I was at work (I work 2nd shift) and told me that she had a new, quite intense pain along the outside of her thigh. She was scared and concerned about this new possible setback. I told her to call the doctor, explain what was happening and to get his feedback. This was around 9:00 at night and during a fairly intense snow shower in the area. I was not relishing the thought of leaving work and driving home, bundling her up and taking her to a doctor, if necessary. She called me back a little later and said the pain had subsided quite a lot and she was postponing the call to the doctor. We both believe she experienced a thigh cramp – probably due to her inactivity the previous week and maybe overextending herself these last couple days.
We found out the following day, after another trip to the doctor, that the pain she felt was bursitis. This time she got an injection and some pain pills for later.
We're just taking it one day at a time now. She's got five days left on her doctor's excuse to remain off work before she needs to either go back to work or to get the excuse lengthened. We both hope that will not be necessary.
In the meantime I've learned a whole bunch of facts during this time period.
For instance:
There's a large amount of stuff to do after the laundry's been carried to the basement and before it's clean and ready to be carried upstairs. There's detergents, bleaches and softeners to consider. There's sorting into piles of darks, coloreds and whites. (Some of the doggone stuff is ambiguous at best as to it's coloration.) Then there's the timing from the washer and the dryer, the folding and the putting in baskets to consider.
Unfortunately, dishes do NOT wash themselves. You have to put 'em in the dishwasher. You have to make sure they're placed in the dishwasher correctly or they won't get clean. You have to add the correct kind of soap in the correct places. Then you have to unload it after they're cleaned and put the buggers away.
The dogs get certain amounts of food at certain times. They also need their medications at appropriate intervals. They need to be let out frequently. They are NOT happy if these procedures aren't followed. They have ways to indicate their disapproval and you don't want to have to deal with that disapproval. Believe me.
Grocery shopping needs to be performed bi-weekly whether all shopping participants are available or not. Lists need to be made and thought has to be given to who eats what and when. Bought food needs to be carried into the house by yourself and put away. Also by yourself.
Meals have to be either prepared and served or bought and carried in. Leftovers have to be put in containers to be eaten later or tossed. Dishes need to be done. Again.
Garbage and trash has to be gathered on the correct day and put on the curb for pickup at the appropriate times.
And I have to go to work at 3 o'clock every weekday, so almost all these things have to be done before that.
My son has been a help during this time period, filling in for me as he could while I was at work.
So what have I learned in the past few weeks? What lessons have been taught to me and hopefully retained by this often crabby old reprobate?
Just because things are good now doesn't mean they'll be good forever.
The work that goes on “behind the scenes” is still work and has to be performed by someone.
Don't complain about something until you're damn sure there's something to complain about.
We all need a hand once in a while. Even us supposedly stoic dudes.
Running a household as a couple is a breeze. By yourself it ain't.
People get hurt, get sick and get lazy from time to time. Prepare for it.
I guess I'd better get back to work and to think about what needs to be done tomorrow at home. She isn't 100% yet and I need to be prepared.
Wish us luck...
