Spit and Polish

Well, here it is. Sunday. A day most people consider a day of rest. I don't remember when the last time I saw anyone really resting  on this day. One's job, though it may be only 5 days a week still requires that most people use their weekends to keep ahead of chores not attended through the work week.

I don't have a job outside this home so Sunday may not count as a day of rest for me. Maybe I rested on Monday if I had all my chores done. It was a sure thing that today wasn't.

Ted washed his truck over a week ago and when I mentioned that it might need washed, he matter of factly told me that he had washed it already. I don't think that he understands the concept yet. I explained "Hey Ted, see that dirt right there on that quarter panel?" and to this he asked "What's a quarter panel?" He was serious.

I also mentioned that he might want to wax it as the shine was totally gone and it looked a bit dull. I'm thinking X Box was more what he planned for today. I'm thinking he rested all day Saturday with his X Box. We gathered buckets, water, soap and scrub brushes and spent some time removing grime and dirt and he discovered what a quarter panel was. Carrie helped. I gave her some stuff to spray on the tires. When she ran out of it and still had the remains of the tire to clean, I turned to see her spitting on the tire and  wiping it in with her paper towel. I didn't say a word to her. We had too much work still to be done.

As soon as it was clean and dry, he got a lesson on wax, moving in circles with the applicator, waiting for it to dry and then buffing. We had a major shine going on. It looked marvelous. He thought he was done. I mentioned windows and paper towels. 

Wheels got scrubbed along with tires. Ted looked a little tired and I know I was exhausted but  it got done. He noted the difference and that was my biggest accomplishment. Hopefully, he will notice when it needs done again.

We finished just in time to receive a phone call from April. It was time for Ted to go home and she wanted Carrie to go with him to give me a break. Tired as I was, I decided I would rather Carrie stay with me while Ted when home and became engrossed in his X Box.

Carrie and I headed for the bedroom with all  her dolls in tow. She sat and dressed and undressed them, a Chipmonks movie was on the TV and I was drifting off in a light sleep.

I woke to find April in tears at my bedside. Instantly awake,my heart was pounding and I could hear myself screaming "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?"  She had just received a phone call from Elise who was telling her she thought she had a staph infection and she was heading for the hospital. April's story was about a huge caverous opening that was draining copious amounts of fluid. She instructed Elise to head here to let me look at it. Now that I knew someone hadn't died, I calmed down to wait on Elise's arrival.

I inspected the wound, cleansed it with perioxide and put some antibiotic ointment on it and covered it with a dressing. I gave her instructions to clean it daily and change the dressing and come back here so I could check it tomorrow. It looked like a spider bite.

I've had a busy day with a bit of emotional peaking which is more exhausting then any physical labor.

Tomorrow I am taking a young lady to the VA hospital which is about an hour and a half from here. She is a 95 lb 23 yr old that was determined to be a soldier. During basic training her body developed stress fractures in the pelvis, legs and arms. She was sent home to recoup for three months and when she returned, more stress fracs developed. She was discharged from duty. She will be on partial disability and the meeting with the VA is scheduled for tomorrow. I'll be taking her.

In the past two days, I've washed and waxed 4 vehicles. Did I forget to mention, when April dropped by, we washed and waxed her Jeep. It has been a busy busy day. I'm off to bed and some sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow morning.

I'm done!