Flash Alert

This past weekend was one that left me really stiff, sore, aching considerably. Then the change in the weather to cold rain yesterday didn't add anything to my already throbbing muscles and joints.

Why, you ask did all this happen? Let me tell you.

Saturday started peacefully enough -no issues at all -a leisurely day.

But my daughter announced to me that she wanted me to make a trip over to the Lowe's store and pick up several cans of foam insulation spray stuff so Bill could put it under three of the kitchen base cabinets. This was to be an effort to cut down a bit on our heat loss as the three cupboards in particular are over an area that is only crawl space whereas the rest of the kitchen actually has a basement under it. And yes, the draft that emanates from those three cabinets can freeze your toes even if you have thick socks and slippers on if you're out there, in that corner, for a prolonged period of time. Well, it seemed that way to me anyway - colder than a witches you know what is what my ex-husband would say about that corner.

So, I had gone and picked up six cans of this foam stuff for Bill to use and then, I also had the honor of having to unload ALL the contents of these three base cabinets as well. Two of them I use for storing baking products - cake pans, cookie sheets, and the like along with large containers in which I store three types of flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar and lots of other items I use primarily for baking. The corner cabinet I use for storing all kinds of larger storage containers - cake takers, pie carriers, large mixing bowls and such. Removing all these items from these bottom cupboards meant I had to get down on my hands and knees to reach in and drag everything out and then place all the items on the island in the kitchen till Bill could spray this insulation under the base cupboards.

Moving those items from one area to the other like that meant several trips back and forth, from the floor, to using the counter area to pull myself up to a standing position, then back down to the floor again to secure more items to put over on the island. Not an easy process for one who has a lot of arthritis in the ankles and knee areas, trust me when I tell you that. And, once Bill completed the insulation project, I had the dubious honor of placing everything BACK into the cupboards once again too.

But anyway, I got all the stuff moved out and Bill moved in - drill in hand as he had to use that to drill holes in the floor of these cabinets in order to put the spray container there and release its contents to do the insulation job for us.

While he worked, I retired to my most familiar spot - that being in front of the computer, of course. And as I sat here I began to detect a somewhat different odor. I assumed it was the normal smell of this aerosol insulation stuff and that it would dissipate shortly.

After a while of sniffing this stuff, Bill made a mention to me about how strong the odor was and I said that yes, I had to agree with him. Then he told me something that just about scared the living daylights out of me.

My son-in-law is a hard-working young man - no two ways about that. But there are times that he does things that cause me to wonder if he ever uses that gray matter supposedly between his two ears too ya know.

He proceeded to tell me while drilling in the floor of the corner cupboard, because it is, of course, DARK inside there, he decided he needed a bit of light so he could judge where to drill, etc., and to give himself a little bit of light, just what do you think he chose to light his way?

Why of course, a little fragranced candle - what else? Certainly not a flashlight that would shed a light on the subject WITHOUT using a live flame. Oh no, he had a freaking lit candle in there and then was rather astonished when all of a sudden, there was a "POOF" sound as the fumes from the spray-in insulation mixed with the flame from the candle. And, as he is telling me this story, he's laughing about it and how he sure wasn't expecting THAT to happen.

Nor was I ya know! Geez man, you could have incinerated yourself, me, the whole doggone house that way!

I'm of the opinion that Mandy and I should definitely keep Bill away from Clate - who is the one most people would think might be goofy enough to pull a stunt like that. After all, he's the one who actually did catch the upstairs of the house on fire back in the spring of 1991. Yeah, that's a story too for another time though.

After the insulation project was done and I got all the products placed back into the cupboards, since I was on a roll then, moving things, I decided the time had come to do some major moving of items in my tiny bedroom and try to do the impossible - find places to stash things that would eliminate their being tossed all over any available space! Cleaning and organizing my small room is kind of like trying to shove 500 pounds of crapola into a bag meant to hold only 50 pounds at maximum capacity. A task that even when completed still leaves a whole lot to be desired there.

But, it was imperative I try to do something if I wanted to do any type of sewing with my sewing machine in the near future. Mandy had tried a couple months back to move furniture around in my room, re-arrange it to give a little bit better appearance and in doing so, her methods had resulted in the room looking a little more orderly and all but the problem was that where she positioned my sewing machine and the chair that fits nicely under the cabinet, that was all that you could get in there - just the chair! No way could you possibly pull out the chair far enough so that even someone who is a real slim jim person like Mandy is could fit into the chair and then pull it forward to use the sewing machine. Which meant there was no possible way someone with my width, breadth, girth, could even think of seating myself at the sewing machine!

It took a good bit of maneuvering this chest, that dresser, moving all kinds of boxes containing fabrics, patterns, yarns, books -everything basically except the kitchen sink -that was being held captive in my room until such time that I got inspired and decided to use some of the things I have stored there. And moving chests, dressers, boxes and such, let me tell you, is no easy task even for someone much more agile, much more fit, in shape than I am.

And so, the end result - though I did achieve my goal of moving the sewing machine to a place where it is now accessible, can be used again - I paid a hefty price for it all day Sunday and Monday too with every darned joint, muscle and ligament possible from my waist down to my toes was aching!

Guess it's just the price one has to pay for a little bit of progress in the housekeeping department though, isn't it?