random thoughts – Day 1,411 – (Saturday) – mops and dolls

For weeks, the calendar for today has borne the entry “Finnish Breakfast – Saima.” I look forward to the monthly breakfast to meet up with my cousin, Mom, StepDad, and friends and their families. Friday night, I talked with Mom and texted with cousin M about breakfast.

This morning, the alarm sounded and rudely startled me out of a dream that instantly vanished. The time was 7:00 and the problem was I had neglected to adjust the alarm to the Saturday Finnish breakfast 6:00 alarm time. I was already late. Craptastic. 

If I rushed like hell, there was no way I could shower, dress, and drive there in time. Even skipping the shower and wearing a hat wouldn’t defeat the time-space continuum. There would be no Finnish breakfast for me. Barely awake, I called Mom to let her know I wouldn’t be joining the table. 

Current product  obsession.

Not driving the 35 miles for breakfast and then spending time puttering around in Fitchburg freed up the morning for the leisurely drinking of coffee. Reading the news of the day. Going to the gym. These things, like many elements of the workday, expanded to fill the time available and soon, it was noon and thoughts of lunch entered the cranium. Food is often (too often) the focus of any given day.

While at the gym, of the 20-million TV screens lined up on the wall opposite the rows of bikes, stair steppers, and treadmills, I was mesmerized by one screen. For 30 minutes I watched an infomercial about a steam mop that cleans basically everything and kills 99% of germs and bacteria. Partway through the program, I grabbed my phone for a quick Google search of the mop (the H2OX5) so it would be in the search history and I could find it quickly later. 

Back at home and entertaining myself with the phone, the ads were suddenly all about steam mops, and there are a lot of them. Time was spent (Invested? Wasted?) reading reviews of various mops and the ability to clean grout and tile and lay flat to go under a couch, which is a trait the vacuum lacks. A steam mop is probably in my near future.

Knickerbocker Holly Hobbie dolls in search of a new home.

The afternoon shifted gears and involved digging out a bag of dolls from when I was a kid and writing sales tags. They will go into Mom’s new booth at the antiques co-op, and from there, hopefully to new homes. The dining room table is now covered in old shortbread and biscuit tins, books, dolls, and assorted kitchen items. 

A shoe box crammed with Barbie, Ken, and Twiggy doll clothes was reviewed and it was a walk down memory lane. Clothes Mom made from scraps of her own garments were mixed in with the official Mattel items. Barbie has gowns, jumpsuits, and matched business suits, and Twiggy has the perfect 1960s mini dresses. 

The weirdest wardrobe items are Ken’s and include multiple pairs of pajamas and a bathrobe, which might be reminiscent of High Hefner except for being flannel and imprinted with cowboys. For daywear, my Ken has a tan corduroy suit and a trenchcoat.  He is clearly unprepared to escort Barbie anywhere in her gowns. Had I only known as a kid that my Barbie and Ken were foreshadowing my reality as a married person.

The timing of the booth availability is perfect for the 2024 goal of cleaning out the junk room and converting it to the long absent guest room. Of course, this goal has appeared on every list of annual goals since buying The BungaLowell in 2016, but let’s not go too deep into that. Maybe this year is finally the year.