Leigha & the Triplets: What Did You Do on Your Birthday?

During my grown-up years I have learned that I am not "normal." Okay, I knew that already. A lot of my friends really celebrate their birthdays. It's unheard of to them, to let a birthday go by without celebration. I really don't remember any of my birthdays after I turned 16, with the exception of my 21st birthday (even that wasn't wild).

Every year my friends ask my what am I going to do for my birthday. My normal response is that I will be working and taking care of my kids. It's my normal day. My aunt and uncle have always been great to me. They usually bring me an angel food cake or the ingredients to make one for me. They don't let me birthday go by unnoticed (not that others do).

I just put the boys to bed, so I have time to let everyone know what I did on my birthday. For one thing, I didn't have to teach! That should be enough of a present on it's own. I haven't had a birthday fall on a weekend for a long time, at least I don't think (the memory gets worse with every birthday).

After my kids woke me up at 6 a.m., I was forced to be a mom. Considering no one had school, we lounged around watching television while we slowly got everyone dressed. After breakfast I asked Leigha to go downstairs after she got dressed so that she could keep an eye on the boys while I took a shower. Leigha made the hideous mistake of telling me she was going to stay in her room. DING, DING, DING! Revenge was the first thing on my mind. I told her since she was staying in her room, she was not allowed to leave her room until it was clean!

This is a room that has been locked and sealed off to any onlookers for quite awhile. Leigha and her friend had Polly Pockets spread out from the last weekend. Leigha also had a ton of other things spread out from the past 6 months probably. I don't know where she gets it from. It's not like her mother's bedroom looks anything like that (ahem). I realize that Leigha should be responsible for own things, but I knew there were things that she can't reach and someone else (can I blame Noe?) piled up on her dresser.

When Leigha emerged from her bedroom, I asked her if the floor was clean. She responded along the lines of, "I think so." This is when I silently started my evil laugh and ran up to her room. I took great pleasure in loading up anything on the floor and throwing it into the abyss room (used to be Noe's office). Is it wrong I take great pleasure in making my kids upset?

I was very proud of myself. It wasn't even 11 a.m. and I had already accomplished something HUGE! I cleaned off the parts that weren't Leigha's fault, I dusted, vacuumed, etc. Now I could sit back and enjoy the rest of my day, so I thought!

My aunt and uncle came over, arms loaded with wonderful food to make! They brought steaks, french bread, cupcakes, and ice cream. Who could ask for a better lunch!? I, however, made a fatal mistake. While we were getting things started for lunch, I made the mistake of asking my aunt and uncle if it was okay to pull out a gas dryer. For anyone that doesn't remember, we had a little ACCIDENT 18 months ago. The entire Tide detergent container had fallen and busted open all over my laundry room. I was able to clean up the mess, but only in the parts that were visible. My darling husband kept telling me he would move the washer and dryer and clean under it. Did I mention this happened EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO? This morning I noticed a smell, and I realized it was probably from the old soap being heated up because I was cleaning clothes.

The reason for it being a fatal mistake--my aunt said we will just do it after lunch. I think my aunt and uncle are going to stop visiting us on the weekends, it seems I have needed their help with a few things recently! So after our yummy lunch, my uncle and I headed to the laundry room to get started. He moved the dryer for me and I started on the dirty work.

I started off by using a metal spatula to scrape all of the old, dried up laundry detergent off the floor. I had cleaned a great deal of it up before we took pictures.

After the dryer area was all clean, it was time to move the washer. I knew that one wasn't going to be pretty because that is where most of the soap went. I was also not surprised to see the amount of junk that got trapped in the mess! This was downright disgusting!

Now the most interesting part of this journey was trying to figure out what the orangish-yellow mess was. I don't think I have ever had that color laundry soap. I know it wasn't the one that busted open. It almost looked like iodine all over the floor. Unfortunately, that didn't clean up nicely. It's a good thing that the washer will always cover up that stain. I just wish I could figure out what it was!

Thankfully, the rest of the "stuff" came up nicely. I even took Lysol and cleaned the backs of both appliances. They looked good as new!

It was nice to be finished with that mess! I waited and waited for Noe to do it, but I think it was painfully obvious that wasn't happening anytime soon. (Thanks, NOE!)

I was then treated with cupcakes and ice cream! YUMMY! I had told my aunt earlier that I was getting interviewed by my students this week and I told them when my birthday was but informed them that I would NOT tell them what year. I jokingly gave in and told them I was turning 87. The class laughed and then one student stood up and said, "Mrs. Ybarra, you don't look 87--you look like you're 57!" At that very moment I made a mental note to fail him for the trimester. My uncle wasn't much nicer. He kept debating on which numbers he needed to take out of the container. He kept asking if there were two 4's. Then he switched to saying was it 37 or 73. It's a good thing I don't freak out about my age!