FOOT WASHING ON HOLY THURSDAY

So, I walked my dog Baxter first thing on Thursday morning as I always do.  When we came back in the house I realized that his paws were really muddy.  Not just wipe-with-a-paper-towel muddy -- they were rinse-in-a-bowl-of-water muddy.


So I got a bowl of water.

Baxter did not like the idea.  He was hard to pin down.  (See how gross that water is?)

But gradually he gave in.  And then I realized ... it is Holy Thursday and I'm washing feet!   Baxter is letting me be his servant!

I hummed the "Servant Song" as we washed.

"Will you let me be your servant?
Let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant, too"

He did not enjoy my singing, but he did stay still.  I did all four paws.  He was clean enough to jump on the furniture ... which he promptly did.

Later, he hopped up into my lap and snuggled me.

I let him be my servant, too.

LADIES WHO LUNCH - NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES

I took my friend Jeanann out to lunch for her birthday last week.  Her birthday was in October.   I meant to take her out in the actual month of her birthday, but then Superstorm Sandy hit, and then I got sick, and then it was the holidays, and then she got sick, and then my kids got sick, and then one of us needed a new furnace, or a new fence, or something like that.

Anyway, we had lunch.  We had salad and pizza and got all caught up.  She reminded me about this --

The high school was offering the Princeton Review Assessment Test, and I had forgotten to sign my son up for it.  Jeanann is always good at remembering stuff like that.  She reminded me and I made sure he took the test on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.  My son doesn't want me to go to lunch with her again any time soon.

Also last week, I had lunch with my friend Adrienne.  She was taking me out to lunch for my birthday which was in November.  Or maybe I was taking her out to lunch for her birthday which was in January.  We couldn't remember, but we enjoyed ourselves.  I had a Greek salad with meatballs in it.

It was so big I couldn't finish it and I got to take some home.Whoever got the idea to add meatballs to a salad is a genius.


Our lunches were totally decadent. No, we didn't have wine.  (I gave up drinking for Lent, which was pretty much the worst idea ever.)  We didn't even coffee or dessert.  But we talked for over 2 hours when we would usually be cleaning, or working, or at the store buying groceries or medicine or new sneakers for someone besides ourselves. 

I think lunch with a girlfriend is one of the best birthday presents ever.  How long do I have to wait to have another birthday lunch with another girlfriend?  Well, I have friends with birthdays in March and April.  So ...

If x represents the month of the birthday, and y is the number of kids that might get sick, and z is the number of salads on the menu ... how long until my next lunch?  As they say at the Princeton Review ...

Do your figuring here.

TOO MANY COFFEE MUGS

We have too many coffee mugs.

This isn't even the full number.  These are just the ones in active rotation.  I love coffee, and drink it everyday, but still, I don't need 25 mugs.  So which ones should I throw away?

Not this one.  My mom got that for me as a souvenir when we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art together.  I think of her every time I use it.  We both love shoes.

Not this one.  One of my sons gave it to me for Mother's Day years ago.  I will never ever ever ever ever ever throw it away and I still get a thrill every time I use it, even though I'm not sure which son gave it to me and I'm sure the boys can't remember, either.

Mother's Day is my very favorite holiday.  More than my birthday, and certainly more than Christmas.

I can't throw this one away.

This is my husband's Buzz Lightyear coffee mug.  We all gave it to him one year for Father's Day.  One of my boys was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween for about 6 years straight.  I used to have Buzz Lightyear costumes in all sizes from 2T to 6.   My husband uses this mug only Saturdays - it's his fun weekend mug.  We can never ever throw it away.

This was my father-in-law's mug.

His name was Omer, and everyone called him "O", and my mother-in-law made this for him when she took a pottery class.  We're never throwing that away.

Are you beginning to see the problem?

We have cups that dear friends have given us, cups from a trip to Greece, cups that match our bowls, cups that have our kids' names on them.  I have just given up deciding which ones to throw away and instead think of various uses for them.  For instance, a mug is perfect for milk when you are dunking a cookie.  Or you can use it to hold water at your bedside ...

like my son does with this mug his grandmother gave him.  I am never throwing that away.  However, I would like to throw away that grody chipped bedside table just as soon as I can get a different one.

Actually, I could use a mug for wine ... but ... I don't need to, because I also have too many wineglasses.

I am one lucky gal.

TEENAGERS AND LAUNDRY

We have a laundry problem in this house.

I used to have an old plastic laundry hamper on the floor in my son's closet, and he was supposed to  throw his dirty clothing in there.  But somehow, he never would.  Instead, he would just throw them on the floor JUST OUTSIDE the closet.  Like this:

No amount of nagging could get him to open the closet door and throw his clothes in there.  So, being the highly intelligent woman that I am, I devised a new plan.  I got him a more attractive hamper and put it JUST OUTSIDE his closet.  IN THE EXACT PLACE he was already throwing his laundry.  I even kept the lid off of it, so he could easily toss his clothes into it.

This is what he did.

The hamper is empty.  That is the pile of dirty clothes next to it.

Someone please explain teenagers to me.