Launderella

The Help

2011-08-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

By far, I think my favorite book is The Help. I couldn't put it down. My book group read it and they all loved it too. I went to see the movie yesterday and it made me laugh and cry. If academy awards don't get handed out to at least some of the people who worked on that movie, it will be a sin.
After I read the book, I called my Mom. When I was growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi in the early 60's, we had a maid named Geraldine. Now I don't remember much about Geraldine, but I remember I liked her. I asked my Mom to tell me more about her. My Mom said Geraldine worked for her Mom, my Grandmother also. She would work some days for my Grandmother and some for my mom. At the time, my Mom had three children. I was the baby. My Mom said she didn't remember much about her except that Geraldine's husband worked as a janitor at the high school for my Grandfather. My Grandfather was James Landrum. He was principal of Gulfport High School and also the football coach. Apparently Geraldine's husband would some times drink too much and end up in jail. When he wouldn't show up for work, my Grandfather would go down to the jail, bail him out, and bring him to the high school so he would do his job as janitor.
My Mom also told me when she was pregnant with my brother, her fourth child, Geraldine found out about it and said to my Mom, "Ms. True, I'm gonna have to quit. I don't do four babies!"
After a while we moved to Nashville, Tennessee and got a maid named Rose. I remember her more. She was tall and strong. She kept us in line. My two older sisters and I often picked on our younger brother since he was the only boy (bless me brother for I have sinned!). But Rose protected my brother. She would get onto us for ganging up on him.
One day we were playing in the back yard. This huge green garden snake came up on the back porch. Rose came running out when she heard our screams. She didn't hesitate at all to grab a log from the wood pile and beat that snake to smithereens! My siblings and I stood in aw with our mouths wide open having witnessed the killing. We knew then and there that Rose was there to look out for us and protect us.
I wish I could remember more about Geraldine and Rose. God bless them for putting up with all of us. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, be a ghost, and watch people live their lives just to get a glimpse of what their lives really were like. But that is what movies are for. To get a glimpse of what it might have been like in the past.
I teach my children that people are the same, no matter what color their skin is. The only thing that matters is how they treat others. And to follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or as Paul McCartney wrote, "the love you take is equal to the love you make".

Big Dog Field of Dreams

2011-02-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

I was in the back yard recently with Big Dog. We have a back yard and a vby (very back yard). They are seperated by a fence and the vby grass has not been cut in about a year. So the grass is up to my knee. I watched Big Dog walk into the vby and it reminded me of the movie Field of Dreams when the baseball players walked into the corn field and disappeared. So I made a movie about it. It's short, but worth the view.

Since I'm having trouble with blogger uploading it you'll have to go to my youtube page:
youtube.com/user/truemook, then click on Field1.

The Adventures of Big Dog & Little Dog

2010-11-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge.

Hello Muddah, hello Faddah

2010-07-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's a right of passage... sending your kids off to camp. I never attended camp when I was growing up, but I was a camp counselor for two summers. It was a lot of fun and it's a great summer job for teenagers too. When I sent my daughter to camp, she didn't have any worries because her best friend went with her. She had a blast. This summer I sent my twin 8 year old boys to their first overnight camp. Joe didn't have any hesitation to go to an overnight camp. Jake, on the other hand, started to worry when he found out he was going to be in a different cabin than Joe. I told him that two other boys that we know were going to be in his cabin, but that didn't seem to make things better. The camp directors told me they usually split up siblings unless the parents request them to be together. I said that was fine. I like for my boys to be separated since they spend so much time together anyway. I told Jake everything would be fine, that he would still see Joe during the day, then I kissed him goodbye and drove back home wondering if I had done the right thing.

You see, I am a recovering Catholic. And I still have major Catholic guilt. You can take the girl out of the Catholic church, but you can't take the Catholic church out of the girl! So the guilt set in. And I worried. And I worried some more. I sent both Jake & Joe email letters each day with a happy, positive attitude. Then the guilt started to fade away. When I went to go pick them up, they were fine. I told Jake it was time to leave and he said hold on, then he went and hugged his counselors goodbye. They both said they had a good time and that they wanted to do it again next summer. When I was cleaning out their suitcases I found a letter Jake had written to us. Now spelling is not Jake's strong suit, so here is his letter in "Jake speak".

"Mom. dad todey was fun I didint waent to go at frst but i sems fun and I maed noowe fends waer whint swiming and tuke a swimng test to swim in the depend and I pasd the test so can you send me a ledr I LYve yYu."

Have scissors ... will destroy

2010-03-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Oh the things little boys will do while you're folding laundry! My very creative son, Jake, decided to get the scissors and cut a little cave out of the bush near our back deck. Thank goodness its a type of bush that grows like a weed. So I believe it will recover soon. Now, as far as Jake is concerned, he will be perpetually creating stuff out of just about anything.

Another example is one morning I woke up and he had used up the entire roll of aluminum foil to build a rocket. My first thought was to reprimand him for using up all the foil, but then when I saw how excited he was with his creation and he even explained to me how he had fit his Snoopy inside the capsule, I was so impressed with his creativity. I praised him for his talents and bought a new roll of aluminum foil.

So the rain will come, hopefully. And the bush will grow back, hopefully. And Jake will grow up to be an engineer, or something ... just as long as he's happy ... and not destroying plant life.

Snow!

2010-03-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

"Snow, snow, just look at the snow. Come out, come out, come out in the snow."

Big dog barked at it. Little dog ran, ran, and then ran some more in it. The kids stayed out until dark in it. I actually joined in a snow ball fight. It's really cool to see snow when it only comes once every six years or so.

Successful Dinner

2010-02-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, but I actually found an easy chicken dinner that all my kids like. It's been sitting in my recipe box for about 20 years and I thought I'd give it a try.

3-4 skinless chicken breast (cut up)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
shredded cheddar cheese

Mix first 3 ingredients in casserole dish. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

My kids like the rice seperate and I like it together. Give it a try. It's so easy and fast.

The Adventures of Big Dog & Little Dog

2010-01-28T09:28:00.001-08:00

Are we there yet?

2010-01-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

Most parents have heard those words uttered from their child's lips... "Are we there yet?" After driving 32 hours total to see my family last week, I've heard it all.

"How many more minutes?"
"How many more hours?"
"Are we still in Texas?"
"When are we going to eat lunch?"
"Where are we going to eat lunch?"
"Did you bring any snacks or drinks?"

The list goes on and on. And it reminded me of when I was a little girl, traveling with my three sisters and one brother and usually the dog too. We would draw imaginary lines on the car seat to mark off our territory. And of course, if anyone dared to cross our line... "Mom, she's in my space!"

I also remember having the seats folded down flat in the back of the station wagon so we could all crawl around and play. That, of course, was back in the days of no seat belt laws and no car seat laws. We made a sign that said, "You're on Candid Camera!", and we pretended to film other cars with our 8 mm movie camera. Now that was fun. We got all sorts of reactions from cars that passed us. And it also took up a lot of travel time.

And then there was the time when we finally got all packed up. Everyone was accounted for. We had spent a week at my grandparents house. We were headed back home almost to the interstate and heard someone honking their horn behind us. It was my grandfather, and he was holding up our dachshund with one hand and driving with the other hand. So my Dad pulled over to retrieve our dog, "Rudy". Now Rudy was not happy at all with us. We smothered him with hugs and told him we were so sorry for having forgotten him. But Rudy was unforgiving the whole way home. He wouldn't look at us. He did eventually get over it, since he remembered that we were the ones who feed him.

Every time I pull into the driveway after a long road trip, I say to myself, "I'm never doing this again!" And then time goes by and I start to miss my family and I get back in the the car with all the kids to head out on another adventure, and I think to myself, "Are we there yet?"

Just eat your dinner!

2009-12-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

It's payback time for me. When I was a kid, I was a very picky eater. It drove my mom crazy. Now two out of my three kids are picky eaters. At least one of them will try new things. He even tried fried calamary, and liked it. But the other two have very limited foods they will eat, which makes my dinner dilemas more stressful.

Mom, "Eat your green beans."
Child, "I don't like green beans."
Mom, "They're good for you."
Child, "How many do I have to eat?"
Mom, "JUST EAT YOUR DINNER!"

So, I keep trying new recipes. Like tonight I am trying a crock pot recipe for pork loin. It's made with plum preserves. Yum.

Child, "What's for dinner?"
Mom, "Pork."
Child, "I don't want pork!"
Mom, "This is a new recipe. You haven't even tried it."
Child, "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like it."
Mom, "Oh well. When you get older, you can fix your own dinner."

Go To Your Room!

2009-11-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up and got in trouble, my parents often sent me to my room. Now sometimes I wish someone would say to me, "Go to your room!" "Gladly", I would reply, "Can I stay there the rest of the day?" Of course, being a parent, we know that our kids need some time to cool off and think about what they did wrong. So yes, I do say this to my kids often. Especially my twin boys. I cherish the moments they do get along. As they get older, it seems they are arguing more often.

I remember talking to my dad and telling him when I was little my sister and I would get into a fight and be mad at each other. Then ten minutes later we would go back to being friends like nothing had happened. He said that's the Italian in you. My dad's mom was Italian. She also had twins. Sometimes I wish she could come back to life, spend an afternoon with me, telling me about the things she learned raising twins, while cooking me a wonderful meal. That's how I remember her; always in the kitchen cooking, and me stealing pieces of french bread. She'd turn around and give me a big grandma hug.

So we make it through the day doing laundry load after load, cooking meal after meal, saying "Don't hit your brother. He's the only one you've got!" And of course the infamous, "Go to your room!" to which I will reply, "Yipee!"

Happy 40th Sesame Street

2009-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

My Mom once told me right after she and my Dad were married, they would rush home from work to watch a short comedy skit done by the muppets just before the news would come on. Laughing hysterically at the comedy antics of Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Fourty years later, I still laugh at the skits they do on Sesame Street. Sometimes it's geared towards adults. For example, when my sons were about two years old and it was early in the morning, they were watching Sesame Street. I was not fully awake yet, and was sitting on the couch half asleep, then suddenly this old soap opera music comes on and the words "Desperate Houseplants" comes on the screen. Well of course I perked up because I watch the show Desperate Housewives. It was about two plants sitting in the window. One needed water and the other needed sun. "I've lost my bloom!" cried the plant. Then this studly man muppet struts past the window and one of the plants says, "Is that the gardner?" So of course he takes care of the plants, and everything turns out fine in the end. I'm rolling on the floor laughing and my sons are staring blankly at the tv. Love it! It's actually on youtube. You should look it up.

Whoever coined the phrase, "Laughter is the best medicine", was right. I love to laugh and I love it when people make me laugh. It makes my stressful days go by so much easier. Just think, if everyone could watch Sesame Street in the morning before they go to work, the world would be a much nicer place. The muppets teach you the basics of life, like, wash your hands, say "please" and "thank you", treat others the way you want to be treated, and last but not least, "C" is for "cookie!"

You're Not In Nashville Anymore

2009-10-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to Texas, some friends came to visit us from Nashville, our former home. My husband and our friend were going to the store, and as they backed the car out of the driveway, they noticed a black thing on the driveway. Our friend said, "Is that a tarantula?" My husband said, "Well, it's either a tarantula or two black kittens standing back to back." And indeed it was a tarantula. Our first experience with these Texas spiders and certainly not our last.

We also found out that cental Texas has scorpians. Now I don't really mind the tarantulas, but I don't like the scorpians at all because they come into your home and sting you . That's when I called the exterminator. I've never been stung by a scorpian but I've heard stories about my friends getting stung. The scary part of their stories are that they all start out with, "Well I was lying in bed..."

And last, but not least, there is the fire ant. That tiny little creature who's sting hurts like ... well ... fire! All of my children have experienced a fire ant attack when they were two or three years old. I had to strip them down to their birthday suit to get all the ants off them.

But amongst all the tarantulas, scorpians and fire ants are the monarch butterflies. These beautiful, delicate creatures are migrating as I write this blog. They are all traveling to Mexico for the warmer temperatures. They have never traveled this route before because they have recently been born and they are doing this on pure instinct. So if you see a monarch butterfly pass by, you know it's headed for those sandy beaches, clear blue waters and drinks with umbreallas in them.

Too Many Pets

2009-10-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

I am under the impression that my family has too many pets. The current count is big dog, little dog, four chickens, two doves and two fish. Now I don't feed all of them. That duty is spread out amongst the family. If you ask any of my children or husband if we have too many pets, they would say, "No, can we get a cat?"

Now, when I was growing up, we always had a dog. One dog at a time. Maybe I'm trying to make up for lost pet requests as a child. I think my reasoning behind accepting all these pets is because we have a big yard. But I'm putting my foot down. No more pets!

Some of the best pets we had were strays. It's almost like the stray pet picks you instead of you picking them. I remember my sisters and I found a lab mix puppy on the side of the road when we were teenagers. We brought her home, pulled all the ticks off her and named her Magnolia. Maggie for short. Now we begged and pleaded Mom to keep the dog. But she stood her ground. "No, we already have a dog", she said. So we proceeded to find a home for Maggie. She ended up going to a friend of ours. Just a few years ago, I was told by this friend that his father said Maggie was the best dog he ever had.

Yesterday I put the doves on Craigslist. Two Tangerine Doves with cage, $50. What a bargain! Anyone? Anyone? Believe me, if you hold out long enough, you will probably get them for free.

Terrible Three's

2009-10-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

One of my sisters recently made a comment that the terrible two's were nothing compared to the three's. I agreed with her. I remember my kids acting the same way. And one of the first things that came to my mind was when my kids said, "I hate you!" Now I know they just said that because they were angry and that's the only way they could express their feelings at that moment. My response usually was, "Well, I don't particularly like you very much either at this moment!"

I can't remember if I ever told my mom that I hated her when I was young. I probably did. I remember my older sister was arguing with my sister and I about something and she called us the "b" word. Well, we were only about six or seven at the time, and we didn't have a clue what the word meant. So we went to look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary said it was a female wolf or dog. We just couldn't understand the context of that name calling, so we went and told mom that she called us the "b" word. Well mom got mad and punished her, so we ended up winning that argument (sorry R).

So, terrible three's, name calling, it's all a part of your child testing their boundaries, and developing their individuality. At the end of the day, they know that you still love them. We just take it day by day, one laundry load after another, one fabulous dinner after another, etc. A mother's work is never done!

Going Green

2009-10-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

I don't usually get up on a soap box unless it's something that I feel is really important. So here it goes. Yep. I'm trying to go greener, much to my husband's chagrin. He doesn't think my little efforts make that much of a difference, but I do. I put out my recycle bin every Thursday morning. The only thing I didn't like about this is that they wouldn't collect cardboard, so I very dutifully took it to the local recycle center. Just recently, they changed their program and started collecting cardboard. Yea! The big thing I noticed when I started recycling all our cardboard was that it cut our trash in half. I was amazed at that.

Now I have recycled for years. But I was really moved by a show I saw on the National Geographic Channel called Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. It was based on a book written by Mark Lynas. It told his version of how the earth would be impacted with every degree of increase in temperature. It was very interesting. All I could think about was what will our planet be like for my children and grandchildren. So I do my little part and hope to pass this good habit onto my children.

Another thing I have done is stopped buying disposable drinks for my kids lunches. I bought plastic drink containers and the small Koolaid packets that you just add sugar (except I don't add as much sugar as the directions say) and put that in their school lunches. Saves money - yes. Less trash - yes. Kids like it - yes! I also made reusable sandwich and snack bags. Now I don't have to keep buying those plastic bags that end up in land fills. (By the way, I'm selling these, more information to come later!)

Now, if any body else has a green tip, I want to hear about it. Tell me what you do to keep our planet clean.

How It All Started

2009-10-07T11:40:00.001-07:00

I wrote this poem about six years ago and kept it on the shelf in my laundry room. Now it has come to the blog world. Just so you know, this is a true story!

Launderella

Well I’ve got three kids.
But no, it’s really four.
You have to count my husband
To even the score.

They come running through the house
Saying “Mama, where are you?
I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.
And I want some juice.”

I’m in the laundry room.
Where else would I be.
My name is Launderella.
This job’s killin’ me.
This laundry business
Ain’t for me.
I’m gonna get outta here
You wait and see.

I now know why
They only make
Little boy’s clothes
The color of chocolate cake.

It used to bother me
But I’m over that.
I’ve washed scorpions, rocks
But at least not the cat.

My poem’s almost done
But the laundry is not.
It’s a never ending pile
In cold, warm or hot.

It’s the job we all hate.
But it has to get done.
It will not defeat me.
I am the stronger one.

Rain Rain, Don't Go Away

2009-10-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to Texas, I read an article in the newspaper about the seasons of Texas. Instead of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter it was Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Deer Season. I laughed and thought, huh, that's funny. Then after experiencing the second "Still Summer", I would begin to wonder if a rain dance would really work or not. Now it doesn't rain much where we live. The rain just goes around us most times. But we have been blessed with much needed rain this past week. My children marvel at it while driving in the car as if it were snow. They go out and play in it. They come in soaked to the bone with a big smile on their face, and the little dog has gone from a small dog to a very skinny rat looking dog. Launderella just sighs and says, "Go put your wet clothes in the laundry room!"

I remember playing in the street after it had rained when I was a kid. My sisters and brother didn't care about dirt and germs. It was just good old fashioned fun. We would ride our bikes around the block, play in the creek and catch crawdads. I love to watch my children use their imaginations and play outside instead of sitting in front of the tv. I hope they pass this onto their children. What a joy that would be.

Kenmore - Built to Last

2009-09-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

About four years ago my washing machine stopped doing the spin cycle. I would go to put the clothes in the dryer and they would be sitting there in the washing machine full of water. I had recently had a problem with our dryer and had paid a service man $75 to come to my house to look at the dryer and tell me it wasn't worth fixing, and I should just buy a new one! Well I wasn't going to let that happen again. So I went on the internet and typed in the washing machine model and problem. I not only found a web site that explained how to fix it, but it even had pictures! So I went to work. I removed the metal casing from the washing machine and placed it in the hallway next to the laundry room. My twin sons Jake and Joe were three at the time. So Jake came running down the hall to investigate the metal casing. Now this casing was basically a big box with one side open. So Jake proceeded to climb inside and check it out. Then he ran down the hall and said, "Joe come quick. Mama built a tent!"

Drive Motor Coupler - $7.95
Service Man - $0.00
Launderella Learns Washing Machine Maintenance - Priceless

Ode To The Laundry Room

2009-09-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

2009-09-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! I have been wanting to do this for a very long time, and I have finally accomplished this goal. This blog will contain stories and adventures of my life and the life of my alter ego, Launderella. I have three beautiful children who keep me very busy. After I had my twin boys and laundry began to take over my life, Launderella appeared and has not gone away. I'm not sure if she will ever go away.

Now for the first story. One of my first memories of laundry was of course with my mom. She is a lady I hold a very high respect for having raised five children. Now that I have three children of my own I now know why she was always telling us to go play outside. But anyway, we would be watching television and she would come and plop down a load of laundry and say, "Since you're just sitting there, fold these." Being a teenager, of course, I thought that would interfere with my television watching, but you know, it never did. Huh. So needless to say, we folded a lot of laundry. And it trained me well in the task of laundry.