Code

When I made the curtains for Dana's son's new bedroom re-do, she was trying to decide on a length so I could do a proper hem. "I don't like them too long," she said, "because curtains that are too long just look dowdy."

Wait. My living room curtains have always been too long! Many years ago, I found the crewel fabric at a store near my house. It was exactly what I had pictured in my head; the colors, the folk art look, the weight. It was perfect! A parent of one of my third graders sewed them for me. I paid her of course, but whatever she charged, it wasn't enough. I love my curtains! But they have always been hemmed rather long.

I hemmed them myself this week, and rehung them now that they aren't so long and dowdy. She never actually mentioned my curtains, but I figure she must have been sending me a secret message.





That same friend asked me if I wanted to hire a housecleaner. She has somebody who watches her kids a couple time a week, but the woman really prefers to clean houses. (I guess people can be a real pain-in-the-ass toward caregivers, and she'd rather just clean and get out!) Anyway, she wants to drum up work for this woman, and I've been thinking about having somebody come in to do that which I really don't care to do. Mopping and cleaning the bathrooms comes to mind. I'll do it. I've been doing it. But I'd rather have that time to hang out with my kids or do a project.

So I called Dana and asked for this woman's phone number. I wondered out loud how much she might charge. It's not a dealbreaker, I was just musing. "Oh," she said, "I'm sure it will be more, the first time, to get the house up to a baseline, then a standard amount each week."

Oh, sure, I think that's...wait. "Baseline"? What the hell? Was she trying to send me a not-so-secret message about the filth level of my house?!?

Then my cousin went on a brief blog hiatus. I missed her that week! Anyway, she had a pang because she didn't like the way her blog was sounding...like a list of projects, and 'look at me, I'm so great'. Which, totally, is not at all how her blog is/sounds, by the way.

So, I had to assume, that this was a secret message for me. Did she want to quit blogging because my blog is all lame lists of stuff I'm working on, bragging about how great my life is, and general hackneyed drivel?

I'm pretty sure everybody is sending me secret messages. Either that, or everybody is just living their lives, and I am not the center of the universe. No, that doesn't make any sense at all. It must be secret messages!