Day Nine Trip to Geneva

Laundry day! I actually like to do laundry. When I was a kid I enjoyed ironing. Weird, I know. I didn't like to iron every day, all the time mind you. But I did enjoy spending an hour or three making things flat and dry and creased. Set up the ironing board in the living room, put on a stack of Beatles records and zone out to ironing. I really liked pillow cases. Shirts were tough, but made for a nice change of pace sometimes.

Anyway, when I am visiting my mom, I like to get her cleaned up. So we do laundry. This time it was only two baskets full. I was surprised. Later, I discovered why. Anyway, we got up and got out at a reasonable hour. Well, almost noon. Got to the laundermat and found it pretty deserted. I like going to the laundermat for some of the same reasons I like to go anywhere. People watching. And people interacting. But with a dearth of people, this can be a challenge. So we got there and started to load the laundry into a big machine. Turns out that a) there were clean clothes at the bottom of one of the baskets, and 2) mom had forgotten to put a few things in to the laundry, like her overworn pants. Sigh. Well, we do what we can. So we washed what we had.

While the laundry was doing its thing, I went next door and flirted with Tana, the woman whose name I forget every time I meet her. I don't know why. She is a very cute 20-something who I have met every time I have gone to that restaurant for the past 2+ years. I try to remember that her name rhymes with Anna, but still she escapes me. I wonder why. Anyway, the choices in my eyes were the Fiesta Mexicana or the Fiesta Americana - both named in honor of Tana. Ok, not really, they have soft a's. One was a platter of appetizers of Mexican flavor, the other American. I opted for the american because it had shrimp associated with it. Mom likes shrimp. Got it and took it back to share with mom. Yum! And made the time pass more quickly.

Next came drying. Mom has a thing about not drying about half the laundry she washes. Like her underwear. Whatever, as long as it makes her happy. I let her sort the laundry into a basket and into the dryer. The attendant told me a secret, that if I put a quarter in before the time ran out, I would save a little money. Woo hoo! I think it took about $1.25 to dry the clothes.

Then came folding. Mom offered to help, but since she can't really raise her arms very far, that didn't last long. I got everything folded and into the car in a jiffy.

Not much else planned for the day. So we came back and read and hung around the house. Later, we went to Friendly's - only to be told that their fryer was down! Eeek!! Friendly's without fried food? We managed to find stuff to eat. I had, ugh, mixed vegetables with my super turkey melt. Mom took a shine to Jeanette, our server. I think part of the reason was because mom's mom's name was Jeanette.

Back home we watched, finally, the Kennedy Honors. Boy, Caroline is a lackluster presenter. She was funnier when she was younger. Or maybe it was just because she was hanging out with friends and not standing on a stage in front of oodles of people. While the show was on, I spent a good portion of the time in the kitchen making garlic mashed potatoes. Since I am leaving on Thursday, I am trying to use up as much of the stuff that I bought as possible. Mom isn't good with using things up. The potatoes turned out really well!