So, it returning to this blog, I discover drafts of things that I wrote long ago that never got published. This one is not too bad. Please keep in mind that it's a year old and the stuff I say I'm doing in it is also a year old. The point though...still works:
Shakespeare has come to a close for the year. The applause from the final performances is over and everyone involved was thrilled with the experience. Whew! Yeah, the kids want to do another month of scene work with the cast, but dates have yet to be determined and my job and our other commitments don't always agree, sad to say. I just can't handle "Well, we don't know when the performances will be..." (45plus hrs work/week + willy-nilly schedules for activities = some imaginary number...and I never can do it all!)
So, every parent in the Shakespeare group has some job or jobs that she (yeah, she) takes on for the group. Some jobs are huge, like directing; the exquisite costuming (like 2 very dear and very talented friends); or "marketing and publicity." Others are smaller and shorter...which is what I am able to do because of work. Thus I was in charge of purchasing and organizing refreshments for the audience. Yep, we served cookies and lemonade (or water) during intermission. (If you weren't there, you missed some darn good cookies!) Each cast member family provided 4 dozen cookies... labeled and bagged in 2s. Every family also had some clean-up responsibility after each performance...so vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen, putting away chairs...something.--- And finally, after the last performance, there is one more chance to volunteer. Laundry. or should I say...
Now I have to tell you that not everyone takes laundry...and not everyone needs to. Last year I took the white shirts...shall I say the white, ruffle-collared and ruffle-cuffed shirts...38 of them. This was a labor of love. I had watched the costumers last year sew each and every one of those shirts...and I had helped do the gathering at the shoulder of those sleeves...around 40 sleeves...and pinned at least that many into the shirts so they could be sewed. I had some effort invested in those shirts...so I brought them home to care for them. So I washed, and pretreated the make-up stains on those collars...and washed them again...and for a few... washed yet again. Then each went on a hanger and was hung out in the early spring sunshine to dry. I wondered what my neighbors thought about all those near identical white shirts hanging 6 inch apart on my clothesline. Fortunately the world couldn't see them...but a few neighbors could. No one asked. I wish I had had wings I could have attached to the line as well. All that white was simply BEGGING for wings! :) And last year brings us to this year... This year the costumers concentrated on sewing doublets, no shirts.
Being a creature of habit though, when it came to laundry, I said I'd take the white shirts. I was, after all attached to the making of those shirts...and I was the only costumer left who had some sweat invested in them. Yeah, I had to take care of those shirts.
I forgot that this week was a short one for me and that I wouldn't be at theater on Wednesday to return them. Meaning I'd have to have them done by Tuesday to give them to my friend who will have my kids on Wednesday. Which meant that I'd have to get them done on Sunday...or not at all. It also meant that there wasn't enough "sun" to air dry them all. The drier would have to suffice...on gentle of course.So... I stayed home from church yesterday to clean those shirts up. Starting at 7am I began to pretreat and wash those shirts. God was good. Nothing needed rewashing, unlike last year. Or perhaps it's because last year I used SHOUT and this year...I decided to clean those shirts with RESOLVE. They came out clean. The drier was sufficient and gentle enough to get it done.
Kind of like homeschooling... we expend more effort and time when we SHOUT...but with RESOLVE we can accomplish more in less time. Sometimes hanging it all out to dry is fine, but we can solve the problem by setting things to gentle and get it done more quickly.
Just thinking. Elizabethan Lalaundry and Homeschooling. More similar than I thought.
Lori
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