Sheila's Guests and Reviews

I think I used up most of Thursday's excuses yesterday. Headache - yes. Housework - tons of it. Laundry - well I emptied the dryer, but I didn't get round to the washing; maybe tomorrow. Yardwork - I cut the grass, which is growing too fast; ran out of time before I could weed the flower beds. Shopping - forgot the bread. Internet - I posted day 48 of my Revelation drabbles; posted 49 today. Family - that's what distracted me from yardwork. Dog - she's a wonderful exercise machine, so of course I took her for a walk. I didn't get to the editing. But I made lots of lists while working out how much I might complete by the end of the day. And reading - that's what I did at the end of the day. (An excellent book, that I found through Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem while wandering the blogosphere a little while ago.) Today we saw Star Trek. It was great. So maybe I'll find more time to write tomorrow.

1. Headache 2. Housework 3. Laundry 4. Yardwork 5. Shopping 6. Internet 7. Family 8. Dog 9. Editing, and 10. Making lists Oh, and 11: Putting the things in the list into the right order. I could start on that now if I hadn't got such a headache. But the laundry basket's overflowing on the floor; we're running out of juice; the grass is too long; it's time to change the sheets but the son's still in bed; and my best friend's dog really is a perfectly wonderful exercise machine. They tell me walking's good for headaches - good for inspiration too - and it's much more fun than lists. So maybe it's time to phone my friend, or her dog, and enjoy the sunshine before I tell the son to rise'n shine for lunch. P.S. Reading's my top excuse for delaying all the items on the list.

The smell of sawdust always makes me think of childhood Lucky Dips. I used to cheat, of course, never wanting to take my turn till I'd found out whether long thin parcels contained better gifts than short fat ones. Then I'd scrabble in the sawdust. "No peeking!" they'd say and I'd scrunch my eyes closed and hold my head up high. Me cheat? No way! While my fingers inspected everything in great detail till I found my perfect choice. They packed the barrels with straw instead of sawdust when my kids were small. But lucky dips still make make me smell the scent of fresh-strewn wood. Then they used shredded computer paper. Then polystyrene beads. We picked our youngest son up from college this weekend. He's way past the age of lucky dips. But helping him unpack looked like it might be a lucky dip for me, till I asked, "Which clothes need washing?" and he told me everything except his coat. I think they must run classes on timing your laundry for teena...