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UltraMom is officially back in the land of the cooks! Yes, that’s right, I finally have my kitchen stove, the day before Thanksgiving. It works great, and we have already given the double ovens a workout. UltraDad’s brothers have arrived and baked their pies, and we heated up Papa Murphy pizzas, and I am in the process of baking some breakfast casseroles. But I gotta tell you the story of its delivery. For some unexplainable reason (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my previous two stoves were broken by the delivery persons), UDad and I were really nervous about the delivery. Udad had just come off an all night shift, but made me promise to awaken him when the delivery truck arrived. It is a very good thing he was available to help. The long truck laden with appliances and mysterious rolls and bundles, and sporting the Home Depot logo parked across the street. The driver exited the truck, but didn’t appoach the house. “Perhaps he doesn’t know which house,” I thinks to myself, so I cross the road. “Are you from Home Depot?” I queried. “I hope so,” said the driver, scratching his head. “Do you have a stove for me?” “I hope so.” Hmm. I tried again: “I am a little concerned about this because my previous two stoves were broken on delivery,” I said helpfully. “I know,” he said. “That guy works for me.” And Home Delivery had promised they were sending a different deliveryman the second time! The delivery boss detatched his attatched forklift and maneuvered the appliance off the truck. “I don’t have a handcart,” he informed me. “I do,” I said. UDad had bought a very nice heavy-duty dolly to help with our move. “And I hope you have someone to set it up, cause I don’t do anything electrical.” “I do,” I said again, feeling a bit like an unhappy bride. DBoss got the huge box to the driveway in front of our gate, and slid the forklift out from under. He and UDad got it onto the dolly and, with much grunting and heaving, up the steps and into the kitchen. “There you go,” called the driver over his shoulder as he beat a hasty retreat. “Good luck.” He didn’t even take it out of the box. Its a good thing UDad is so amazingly handy and strong. The stove was a tight fit, so UDad had to shave a bit of the molding off. He also had to modify the cord a bit. After he got it all set up, we looked inside. One of the items packaged was an exacto knife. “I’ll bet that is for cutting open the box,” I joked. Really, there was nothing left to cut by the time you could get to the knife. The bad thing is that UDad really couldn’t go back to sleep and he has to work all night tonight. He got up about 3:00 P.M. or so when his brothers started to arrive for Thanksgiving. That whole delivery thing kind of blows my mind. What in the world would he have done if I hadn’t had a handcart and someone to help? Leave my stove on the sidewalk? I tell ya, delivery and installation ain’t what they’re cracked up to be. Three of my offspring should arrive late tonight, and another of UDad’s sister and spouse are coming tomorrow, plus Pat, the sister who lives here, so we will have a great Thanksgiving. And Udad does not have to work Thanksgiving night. Yay!
And now for our feature presentation…............

Yesterday I did a very nice thing. I cleaned my sister-in-laws guest bathroom. That wasn’t my intention when I went to her house in the middle of the day while she was still teaching math at the local high school. I came over because she had asked me to put her little cold-sensitive dog out with the rest of the pack once it warmed up outside. I brought Murphy with me and let a couple of poodles in to play with him while I looked around to see if anything was different from the last time I’d been over. Yes, she had started to put up her newly purchased Christmas tree. And the guest bedroom, where UDad and I had stayed for so many months definitely showed signs of cleaning. But the guest bathroom….......it could use a bit of sprucing up. That was when I heard it. A little voice whispering in my ear:”You know, you and John were the ones that used that bathroom. In fact, you still haven’t cleared all your stuff out of there. The least you could do is to clean it up a bit. After all, your sister-in-law does a lot of nice things for you. What will it take: 10 or 15 minutes tops?” “But I do nice things for her too,” I said to what I could only conclude must be my conscience. “I went to Elko with her Saturday, and I’m over here letting her dog out.” “But you wanted to go to Walmart anyway,” said my conscience, “and she bought you lunch. She also helped you fix the dresser you were putting together, helped you install the vertical blinds, and repaired the bookcase you broke.” “In fact,” continued the annoying voice “you should really load her dishwasher and sweep the floor too.” “Did you say something?” I asked as I hurriedly swished in toilet bowel cleaner and windexed the mirror. “I can’t hear you cause I’m busy cleaning this bathroom.” It is a very small bathroom, and I must admit, my conscience was right. Fifteen minutes or so, and everything looked clean and shiny, and a rather strong smell of bleach reinforced the impression of cleanliness. I decided that I didn’t need to bother with the shower. After all, there was a dog crate in it, and it didn’t look all that dirty. As I loaded up with the card table I was borrowing, I thought I heard the voice again, but with a determined will, I headed to the door. On the way, I stomped on a large cricket wearing a top hat and monacle. I haven’t been bothered by my conscience since.
Happy Thanksgiving to all
UltraMom