I believe I mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry that today is Lydia’s 13th birthday. Turns out I was correct. To celebrate, we had an early dinner at our house that featured 3 kinds of dead chicken and about 25 baked potatoes. Some of the potatoes were HUGE. I regret I didn’t take a picture of one of the potatoes. Instead I got one of Lydia during a moment when she wasn’t moving, trying to keep me from getting a picture …

She’s ready for softball practice wearing her absolutely most favorite pair of glasses. Actually, they’re prescription goggles, and she hates them because “they look dumb.” All the adults in her life disagree.

To prepare for this afternoons festivities, Diane, Jennie, and Jean (Diane’s Mom), went shopping. Cedric, Jeran and I remained home with strict orders to clean the upstairs. So, I did. I removed all the portable chairs from the living and dining rooms, then used Diane’s $10 Rainbow vacuum cleaner to suck up all the dog hair we’ve been collecting. Once that was done, I energized the carpet scrubber and did the same areas again. While I was doing that, since it was a really nice day, I turned off the furnace and opened a whole bunch of windows to help the carpet dry quicker than it normally would. Even with all the windows open, I conjured up a lot os sweat from the efforts. After I recovered from the heart attack, I verified that the carpet was, indeed, dry, then put all the furniture back where it belongs. Then I went to the basement to do some serious damage to the laundry room.

First, I removed the washer and dryer, placing them amid the other “stuff” scattered around in down there. Then I donned my plumber’s hat and disconnected the rusty laundry tub. I’ve been wondering for a long time what might be under it, and today I finally found out …

As near as we can tell, it’s a pair of women’s underwear from the early 60’s. The crusty parts are dead bugs. Pretty gnarly, huh? I asked Diane if they were hers and she denied it.  Can’t said that I blame her which is why I predated them to an era before we lived here. She made me throw them away.

Jack and Wynette also came up and I was allowed to get a picture of him to show you the difference between him and Jim …

Right off the bat the main difference everyone can see is that Jack has his eyes open. Oh, and for those who don’t know Jack, he’s Jim’s younger brother, and he looks an awful lot like Gene, don’t you think? Younger, for sure, but there’s a similarity. For the comparison to Jim, you’ll have to check a previous blog entry. I don’t remember when I did it.

So. The stage is set for a marathon tomorrow, but I won’t be able to get much done because we have to go to Portland. Maybe on the way home we can discover a new laundry room sink for practically nothing. That would be good. Practically nothing. Nothing would be even better, but that’s not likely to happen. We’re going to lunch at the Village Inn for our monthly meeting of “The Jerry’s,” of which I’m one, even though the other two spell their’s incorrectly. Verbally, we’re all exacry alike.

Jennie returned from softball practice with Lydia, they boxed up all Lyd’s treasures, got everyone in the car and headed home. They dropped Diane’s Mom, Jean, on the way. They didn’t realize it for two whole blocks before they went back to get her, then took her home.

Now the house is unusually quiet, with the exception of the large TV on which Dancing With The Stars is on with the sound running around 197 decibels. That’s a guess. It may be more.

Now it’s time to quit.