Vector Analysis

The Knickers will have to wait. I’ve been sick for a few days and I’m feeling a little rambly(manic).

Now, I’m not the world’s best housekeeper. I like to think of our aesthetic as comfortable and lived in, but not necessarily *dirty.* Some would decry the decided rarity of bleach application in my house (my mother would be one of these, but even before she was institutionalized, I found her attitude toward dirt and germs a bit extreme). I find that we can keep things clean and sanitary in other ways, and prefer to save the bleach for extreme circumstances.

There *are* times when various forces conspire to let our “comfortable” aesthetic slide into something else altogether. In the past few weeks we’ve all weathered one cold, then an allergy onslaught. Sonar X7 was home sick on Friday, then again for a President’s Day holiday on Monday, further throwing our routines out of whack.

Sonar X7 has asthma and is allergic to everything that blows on the South Texas winds. Administering his puffers this morning, I noticed that there was some powdery build-up on one and realized that I hadn’t washed them out for a while. And that led me to notice that I also hadn’t washed his peak-flow meter (the little thingy that helps us measure his breath capacity). The puffers get a little filmy from sucking in the medicine, but he blows *into* the meter, which was coated inside with a fine green film of concretized mucus. Ick.

I put the apparati in some warm soapy water to soak and shuffled to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea and sit. While I stood there waiting for my hot water, having to shove aside a pile of dishes to make a spot for my teacup, I listened to the rattle of legos from the Pre-school Sonars and started to wonder what other little bits had fallen under my radar this past couple of weeks. What other sneaky vectors of reinfection were lurking under my nose.

Yeah, the dishes were obvious, and don’t get me started on the Legos and the K’Nex. But there are several things that I normally think of as more or less clean that were decidedly not. My teacup, for instance. I normally drink a cup and then rinse it and set it in the dish drainer. The build-up happens so slowly as to not be noticeable, but today there is an oily tea-film that I could scratch a lovely landscape picture into. (Now Scrubbed) For that matter, the measuring cup that I use only for boiling water in the microwave. That should be clean, right? Um. Yeah, all except the field of spatters on the underside of the spout where tea and coffee splashes up against it during pouring. (Now Washed)

I started to feel sort of creeped out, and though I am still sick, I just couldn’t help myself.

I emerged from the kitchen nearly an hour later. Dishwasher was running, dish-drainer piled high with clean pans, sponges were all cooling from a sterilizing stint in the microwave, cutting board sprinkled liberally with baking soda, and counters scrubbed (including the icky residue of last night’s blueberry scone adventure -> the Sonars helped make dinner). My tea was cold, but in a clean cup, and I felt wrung out like a slimy rag. I didn’t have the energy for the floor, but I hope we’ve all outgrown our floor-licking stage.

[Side-note: Anyone who would still consider visiting my house after this little confessional who might need a toilet while here should really try their luck with the convenience store down the street.]

In other news, I’m trying to get some knitting done. I feel a bit knit-rich right now (go ahead, reread that last phrase. No, see, it didn’t say what you thought it said the first time). I’m not a big-stash kind of knitter. I prefer generally to only gather yarn that I’m ready to knit into something. And I usually try to finish one thing before I start another. This doesn’t always work out. I’m working on (finished now) some Easter surprises for the Sonars, and some socks for the Partner. Those of you who know my tendency to procrastinate and knit myself into aching, twisted, gnarled hands the night before holidays might be surprised at my advanced planning here. Frankly I am too. I’m not sure where it came from.

On other needles is a knitted rocking chair seat that has been languishing for nearly two years (three?!). Then there are the pieces of the pink alpaca sweater that are completely knit, but have been waiting many many months to be sewn together. I have a bag of bamboo yarn from Christmas that is still waiting for a deployment plan (summer sweater? moebius wrap?). And another Christmas present, Charmed Knits is calling to me to make something. AND. I’m awaiting a box of sock (for Sonars probably) and sweater (for Partner) yarn, and Sister hinted that she tucked in another knitting book for me in a box of books she’s sending the Sonars.

Phew. I wonder if I could knit and run at the same time? Maybe not. For now, I’ll just go collapse into a wheezy heap.

Comments

[The Yummy Mummy]

Hmmm..."comfortable and lived in"...it's like we have the same house, same lack of bleach use and frankly, the same mother. Are you my long lost twin?

Anyway, you're a hoot! Thanks for the link. When I update (I do it every few weeks or so) I'll throw you on mine.

And I'll be back for more reading!

Kim

[eglentyne]

Thanks for the praise Kim. I came across your site a few weeks ago, and your post about crab legs made me think we shared some kind of psychic vibe as well.