laundry fairy

i'm going through my mental list of all the things that need to be done between now & friday morning when we head for the airport -
print out directions to the airport
febreeze the suitcases
check the weather forecast
dig out cold weather clothing & make sure it fits
do the laundry...

and that's where i land and stick. right smack on the laundry. in order to wash the clothes, i need to FIND the clothes & i realize that none of brooke's favorite clothes are in her basket. they're not lying around her room in plain view either. i know she's going to be one ticked off camper if her favorites (meaning clothing in natural animal colors because she can't stand to dress like a girl, but only wants to dress like an animal almost every day) don't make it to new mexico with us. i started digging around in various hidey holes around her room - here's a brown shirt under her top bunk. there's a pair of gray leggings on a shelf under a table. there's a pair of gray camo shorts with real fox tail still attached under an upside down rubbermaid tub. when i got to the dress up box i hit the mother load. there were articles of clothing in there that went missing many months ago and here they were, covered with stains & probably outgrown by now. i plundered through there & dug out many valuable items of booty.

i was feeling vaguely irritated that i had to go looking for her clothes (i'd make her do it herself or too bad for her, but she's out of the house with daddy so that i can have some quiet time to get things done around here) until i started hauling the baskets toward the laundry room. that's when i realized that most of my bras & socks were missing. and my pajamas. i had to go on a hunt to find the places where i'd shucked my bras off when i declared myself to be "boobies free!" then i had to dig around in the vicinity of the couch because i have chronically cold feet, but then periodically my feet become suddenly claustrophobic & must be ripped out of my socks in a rapid & frequently spastic fashion. i even found a pair of socks stuffed into my purse from when i was out wearing my new furry boots & had to peel my socks off right in target or i would have spontaneously combusted, feet first. i found my jammies in the bathroom & also stuffed into a corner beside my bed & another article of sleepwear draped over a kitchen chair.

and that's when i realized that maybe it's not just brooke who needs to be reprimanded by the laundry fairy. she's shaking her judgemental stick at me too.