The All-Purpose Spa Tub

Neither Craig nor I really use the spa tub in our bathroom anymore - it's just too hard to get in and out of for us. Still, we do find uses for it, most of which are pretty creative.

When counter space is at a premium in the kitchen (or we are trying to protect desserts from inquiring fingers), we put cakes or pies in the tub.

Generally they are safe there from the grands and dogs. (But we learned the hard way to shut the bathroom door, just in case.)

It's a great place to thaw turkeys and dry bread crumbs for stuffing.

And when the family gathering is huge (like this year's Christmas), sometimes the spa tub almost isn't big enough to hold all the food!

Once I even used the spa tub to wash Local Son Curt's beloved childhood snowman, Flurry. He was covered in years of grime (he truly was beloved) so I popped him in the tub with some Tide, turned on the jets, rinsed and repeated a few times, and Flurry was himself again.

Curt was so happy with the results, he took Flurry along with him and his brothers-in-love and did a tongue in cheek boys outing around town.

My favorite use of the spa tub was also the absolutely most surprising, one I'd never thought of.

Vanessa and Emily organized a dance party in our bathroom and the spa tub Thanksgiving afternoon in 2021. The grands had a lot of energy and it was the perfect way to get some of that energy out. (I joined in, too.)

At the moment, I am playing Tub Jenga and storing all the gifts our kids have been sending ahead of themselves in it. When they arrive, they will open those boxes and wrap their gifts in time for us to put Christmas Day food in there.

I've been taking photos as the boxes pile up.

At first, I blithely assumed I could keep everyone's gifts neatly stacked in their own separate piles.

That worked for a couple of days.

And then the onslaught began as we got within ten days of Christmas.

No longer do I carefully sort them; now I just fit them wherever there is room. And you know what?

Tub Jenga has spilled over and turned into Closet Jenga!

Entries for the giveaway end at 11:59 PM tonight! Comment if you wish to enter!

Christmas Card of the Day

Christmas Craziness

Christmas is very close and things are hopping around our home. Here is a glimpse at some of what's going on.

As we have cleaned in preparation for our kids to come for Christmas, I've taken four carloads of donations to Goodwill. (And a fifth load is in the car ready to go later this morning.)

A few Christmas cards have been prepared and a box or two are heading to the post office later today.

I had not bought new towels or bedding for the guest bedrooms since we bought this home in 2006. I washed all that we had, folded it, and took most of it to Goodwill. (Our guest bedrooms get heavy traffic - it was time.) What I saved is either newer or going to an animal rescue in town.

Then I ordered more towels and bedding from Amazon. A staggering amount of boxes are now due to arrive today through Wednesday. 

And that's just for me; I have no idea how many boxes the kids still have coming here. The spa tub now looks like this.

 I've quit trying to sort those boxes into family groups. Now I'm simply playing tub Jenga.

The chest freezer in the garage is already full so we have borrowed Teacher Daughter Lisa's big cooler and put it out on the back porch.

A bad storm is coming later this week, so the food will be fine outside and stay frozen. The cooler is more to protect it from coyotes than anything else.

Although, I may have to dig out the cooler - predictions are fluctuating, but currently the forecast is calling for a bad storm with heavy snow later this week.

So, guess who just ordered another snow shovel? Craig says we have two in the garage, but with lots of people here, I figured an extra shovel might come in handy. (Maybe some of our mechanically inclined family will be able to get the snow blower running again. Fingers crossed.)

Craig is recovering from Covid and feels mostly like himself again but is still isolating at home. I am still testing negative. (This is test #4.)

He and I are to the point where we look at each other and ask, "With just two people and a dog in the house, how can things feel so crazy? What happened to our usual calm life?" And then we smile and feel grateful that so many good things, crazy though they may be, are part of our life.

Speaking of good things, look for one last giveaway to be posted later this morning! Stay 'tooned!

Christmas Card of the Day

So, is that gift for the puppy or the pony??