Monday, December 03, 2007

Well This Is A First

So, in all my years of being a homemaker, this has never happened to me, and it's actually quite shocking and I wonder if it's a sign of things to come. I mean, it certainly caused some angst in my evening.

I was cleaning up the kitchen after eating my Weight Watcher-approved baked potato with low-fat broccoli-cheddar Green Giant gunk on it (which was extremely filling and YUMMY!) and had just finished loading the dishwasher and reached into the cabinet to grab a dishwashing soap tab.

There were none!

I had run out of my dishtabs.

I never, ever run out of supplies. In all my years of happy homemaking, never have I run out of a home necessity, warranting a trip to a neighbor to borrow something!

If you know me, I have a surplus of whatever you may need for back-up. Open a cabinet and there are sixteen extra boxes of Ziploc baggies just in case we run out of a certain size. I have been called a Ziploc Whore by well-meaning friends. And foes. I have cabinets full of toilet paper. You need tin-foil, I've got rolls of 50-foot, 75-foot, or even the heavy-duty kind of tin-foil on hand. Tampons spill from drawers. You'll never not find a Q-tip in a medicine cabinet upstairs, and if you need a tissue, all you have to do is walk into a room and voila, there's a box right there waiting for your stuffy nose.

If you have a mishap in a bathroom while you're a guest here, simply open the cabinet in the bathroom and you'll find a container of Lysol wipes so you can clean the toilet yourself, or if you need any personal hygiene product, it's there, just waiting for you to please use! Prefer the nice wet wipes for your bottom as opposed to dry toilet paper, that option's there too. Rather have body wash instead of bar soap, you got it! Headache while at the Manic House? You've got your choice of Advil, Ibuprophen, Tylenol, Excedrin, Maxolt... even Vicodin or Xanax, if you're an especially good friend with a really bad headache!

I've got everything you could possibly want, and in multiples, and in various options, so you can imagine my shock when I could not find one measley little dishwashing tablet to run the dishwasher. This, my friends, is something that might seem so little and meaningless to most, but really, this, this scares me.

And this scares me because it means only one thing. And I've been purposely avoiding it, specifically because of the time of year. This means tomorrow morning, I must make the pilgrimage to Target. Be with me, please, and pray I don't stray to the Christmas aisles.

For I fear the outcome that will be my MasterCard. Which will be with outcome of the wrath of Mr. Manic during Christmas Season!

: )

Oh yeah, and Happy Three Years to my little blog and me!

33 comments:

House of Jules said...

Scary! However, I'm very impressed that this was the first time it has happened to you! That's some record you had going. I should have gone to Target tonight after work to get some snow boots and a new space heater, but I didn't want to get into that trap, either. Of course we'll be getting snow tomorrow afternoon so when I slip & fall in the parking lot after work because I'm not wearing snow boots I'm going to get right up to kick myself in the rear.
Jules
House of Jules

The Anti-Wife said...

Happy Anniversary! What a great achievement.

ORION said...

Happy three years soon!
Dishwashing tabs? What's a tab? What's a dishwasher?
What's TARGET???????

ORION said...

PS
Things to forget on a boat.
To fill the water tank which always runs out the minute DFM (Dear First Mate) puts shampoo in hair.

Anonymous said...

That sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, the dread panic that surges up to come out as "Oh bloody hell!!!"? I've felt that too but it was washing tabs. A fate worse than the worse thing can be.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Jules--you won't be able to kick yourself in the rear because once you fall you'll have broken your leg!

Anti-Wife--Thanks! Three years is a long time!

Pat / Orion --You've just helped me discover why I am not a best-selling author! I am too preoccupied with my dishwashing tablets, my dishwasher, and TARGET! If I just quit going to TARGET, I too could become a best-selling author! BTW, any of you out there looking for an amazing, thoughtful gift for a mom, dad, grandparent, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, book-reader, cousin, teacher, boss, neighbor... go out and get multiple copies of Lottery as gifts. It's an amazing book and the recipient will LOVE it. And no, Pat did NOT ask me to pimp her book. It's truly one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading!!

Amanda-- A fate worse than having to HAND-WASH the dishes!! ARGHGH!!!

Kate said...

I am a lover of those tabs! Lucky thing hubby is in charge of that at our house. Otherwise, they'd condemn our house as piles of dirty dishes piled up in the sink and out the windows into the street.

Target is DANGEROUS this time of year. I've been avoiding it as well. But I need a new file box since I dropped mine and broke it, for pete's sake. Only I can manage to shatter something plastic.

Happy anniversary!

Stephanie J. Blake said...

That is frightening. I hope it isn't contagious. I love love love Target! Take me with you! Stay away from the dollar spot!

Lottery is on my Xmas list! Hubby better get it, or else.

AND you can use a tiny little drip of dishsoap in the tray in a pinch, not too much or you will have suds all over the damn place!

March2theSea said...

i have no idea why I laughed at the line "Tampons spill out of drawers".

I am the same way..i have 3 things of deoderant at the ready. I always say "I am down 1/4 on my current stick gotta get more" and most of the time its a 2 for one deal..so whammo. Bring on the blizzards..we might not have heat but i'll smell like a cool stream

Monnik said...

Wow - you're WAY more organized than I am. I run out of crap all the time. It's irritating.

Happy Blogiversary!!

Moll said...

Happy anniversary to you!

Loved this post. I am the exact same way, but since I live in a tiny apartment in NYC I have to be very strategic about my supplies. Oh I dream of the day of being able to have options and multiple back-ups! As it is, my husband and I still run the most well supplied and finely oiled household of any of our friends.

...and colorado writer is right - a pinch of regular soap will get the job done.

Anonymous said...

First, Happy Anniversary! I know that book is not far behind.
Your too organized! But I hate running out of dish washer tabs. Good thing you have good neighbors.
Send you hubby to the store to get them and avoid the Mastercard temptation!
XOXO

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Just found your blog, I'll be back! The stockpiling, the Target-lust, the meds, all of it, we're kindred spirits! Nice to "meet" you!

Eileen said...

I am always running out of something. There have been times I've pondered Ziplocks as an alternative femine hygiene product. Off to Target with you.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

I'm back... $266 later!

Here's the roundup...

Three boxes of Ziploc bags purchased.

Four packages of toilet wipes.

Two mega sized containers of Lysol wipes.

Two packages of cotton paddy-things (you know, face cleaner thingies)

Two 26-count packs of dish-tablets which should last me four months, right?

Razors, paperplates, 8 rolls of paper towels, 13 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of gloves (remember, I have three kids), two types of antibacterial cleaners, Carpetfresh, two "Sorry-your-dad-died" sympathy cards (been a tough week around here for the dads), and a $50 itunes card. This should give you a quick idea of what happens when I go to TargetyourMasterCardoutandspendall
yourmoney!

Oh, and while this should probably be a separate post, here's a cute idea I came up with for Christmas--all my kids want itunes cards right? So, I bought the card for $50 and what I'm going to do is I also bought a bag of glass pebbles or stones that you can put in a vase for decorative purposes. On them I will paint an "i" on each. And then I will wrap them in gifts or stuff them in their stockings or hide them Christmas morning and the kids can then redeem their little glass "i" pebbles for songs whenever they want to! Isn't that a cool idea! Go ahead and steal it if you want to!

And girls, I'm afraid to try to the dishsoap in the dishwasher!

March--smelling like a cool stream is a good thing!

Carrie--thank you for finding me and stopping by!

Cecily R said...

You might not want to be my neighbor if your house is like the corner store.

I am so the opposite of you in this department. We run out of everything. How many times have I had to leave Evie with Jon, her diaper on the brink of explosion to go to the store for a new pack? Way more often than I might want to admit.

Can we still be friends?

Happy Blog Anniversary!!!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Cec, we could be neighbors--I probably still have leftover diapers and I haven't needed diapers for over three+ years! Hahahahah!

domestic_valerie said...

Happy three years!

I feel your Target fear...I have to go and pick up a "few" things and that will turn into a cart of "must haves"

My husband shudders every time he sees a fresh load of those white and red bags...

Michelle Kemper Brownlow said...

OH MY...I am exactly opposite...if there is a back-up supply when I use the last of something it is a memorable occasion!
I SUCK!

Michelle Kemper Brownlow said...

HAPPY 3!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

"OH MY...I am exactly opposite..."

Semblance--I thought we were twins separated at birth! Maybe we still are!--Felix and Oscar??

Tanya said...

Wow, can I just hand you my Visa and send you to the store for me?

I am trying to build up a back up supply of things, but since I'm relatively new to the whole having my own place thing, I still find things I hadn't considered, until I really needed them. Things like envelopes.

What if you had your husband send you to Target with a $20 bill and no credit card? That would limit your spending.

Anonymous said...

$20? Tanya that is either no fun or a challenge...

Jess Riley said...

"Na-na-na-na-na-na, you say it's your blog's birthday!"

Wow, $266!! Target has brought all of us to our knees at one point or another. How do they do it? Do they pump some kind of drug into the air ducts to lure us back again and again?

Unknown said...

Whoa! $266? Um. The wrath of the hubby would be severe in the Sumers home if I were the wife doing the buying... Hope he's not hard on you...

I love the stone idea, but just make sure they find all of them or that you have replacements for the ones not found (unless you plan to use them for yourself).

Anonymous said...

I cried because I read of a woman with no Dishtabs, and then I met a woman who didn't have enough money to feed her kids so she didn't have any dirty dishes.

;)

Andie said...

trust me, I totally understand.

(I need to head to walmart OR target on my drive home for ziplocs and other random crap)

cubmommy said...

I went to Target this week also just to pick up three things and ended up spending $50. How does this happen?

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Andrea--If I misplace the stones, it's OK because the card will have already been redeemed on my computer.

Ghost of Christmas past--touche' or however you say that phrase. I was thinking of that other phrase--if you give a man a fish vs. teaching a man to fish, but you do bring up a good point. However, you did note I bought paper plates as well, so I don't ALWAYS wash dishes! : )

Don't hate me, I'm just being my usual snarky self, and I'm very generous in real life; I even give to the dudes outside of the grocery store! Really! And if I met that women with no money to feed her kids, I would sure as heck invite her in and feed her some food, and even send her home some leftovers, probably in some of my handy ziplocs! ; )

Jess--LOL--It's like what they pump through the ducts in Vegas!

The Gang's Momma! said...

That JUST happened to me tonight. I was making cheddar garlic biscuits to go with our turkey soup and found NO GARLIC POWDER! Aaaaack - how the heck did that happen?! I'm 50% Sicilian for pete's sake. I mean, I think I broke some ancient code of Italian heritage or something. When I looked to see if I had any fresh garlic to use, I HAD NONE? Again, how the heck did that happen?! I'm shocked and appalled at the state I've allowed my normally "stocked for three major storms and huge influx of weekend company" inventory to become.

I'm off to the grocery store tomorrow, to remedy the situation. In the meantime, thank God for a Sicilian neighbor - who tried not to gasp in shock when she promised to send her x-lg size bottle of garlic powder over. But I did notice, hers is less than 1/2 full - hope she's better stocked than I :)

JBoombostick said...

LOL! You ARE funny!

Raymond said...

That has happened to me at least four times. Happy Anniversary!

michelle said...

crap! i was at the grocery store tonight and guess what i forgot ... dishwasher tab thingies! seriously ... i need to start making lists, 'cause the brain just isn't working anymore.