Best Laid Plans

There was so much laundry to do on Sunday morning. Actually, the laundry pile was so high, I started it Saturday afternoon, getting two loads washed and one dried before bed on Saturday night. I planned to do the rest (probably seven or so loads, there were blankets and sheets in there to be washed) on Sunday before and after Alyssa’s band/choir concert.

Alas…the best laid plans are just waiting to be derailed.

Friday night I noticed that Olivia sounded congested. I asked her if she felt okay. She said she felt fine. Saturday dawned and she still sounded congested and wheee, let’s add a runny nose to the mix just for fun.

We did our usual Saturday errands and by the time we got home, she was achy but not feverish. I got her settled and did those couple of loads of laundry, adding her sheets to the pile because germs.

I noted in the night that she actually sounded better as she slept. I’d given her some night-time Mucinex in the hopes of letting her get a decent night’s sleep.

When she woke up at about 8:15 Sunday I knew from the first few words out of her mouth that whatever was making her congested was settling into her throat and chest.

I also knew that a trip to the doctor/Urgent Care was in our very near future.

Tom was already gone for the day, taking care of family business, so I put O in the shower, woke A long enough to tell her I was taking her sister to Urgent Care and asking if she wanted to stay home alone (hello, she’s almost 16 years old!) or if she wanted to go with us.

She opted to stay home. Smart girl.

Olivia got out of the shower, I told her we were going to see a doctor and she asked, “What about breakfast?”

Obviously the gunk in her head was not affecting her appetite. After eating three blueberry Eggo waffles, away we went. We left at 9:40am, after I’d put a load of laundry in the washer.

We arrived back home at 12:50pm with an antibiotic, some nasal spray and three boxes of tissues.

Tom was on his way home to stay with Liv while I went to the concert Alyssa’s high school band and choir was putting on.

I managed to switch the clean laundry to the drier and start another load before heading to the concert.

I got home from the concert at 3:30. Tom told me there was no need to rush to the basement to check on the laundry because he’d already transferred what was in the washer to the dryer and started another load. Then he left again to return to his family business.

I made Olivia some hot tea, swept the kitchen floor and vacuumed, confident in Tom’s ability to load a washing machine.

When I finally made my way to the basement, both the washer and dryer were finished with their cycles. After emptying the dryer, I opened the washer. It was so stuffed full of towels I kind of wanted to slap someone. Alsas, Someone had already left the building. So…I stupidly put ALL the towels into the dryer and started another load to wash.

Three dry cycles later, and the freaking towels were finally dry. I’d actually had to separate them into two piles and dry each pile separately, hence the three cycles. By then, I’d managed to wash two more loads of laundry, so they sat in baskets, damp, waiting for the dryer to be free.

I did tell Tom later about how much he’d over-filled the washer. I tried to say it kindly because that’s how I’d want to hear it if I did it.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big a deal if the laundry is finally folded and put away on Monday instead of Sunday. The important thing is that Olivia is on the mend and eventually, the laundry will be done, until the next load, which is currently being worn by my entire family. Sigh.