Rain, Earthquakes, and Mega-Laundry

1) It has been so cold and rainy today. Warm weather is coming later in the week, but when I got ready to go for my walk this morning, I 0pened the door and it was wet, heavy drizzle, and the cold just went right through you. I shut the door and went and got in the shower instead. I guess it's good for the fertilizer that the grass got last week!

2) China had a HUMONGOUS earthquake. It was 7.9 on the Richter Scale. The news has been reporting the death toll which is now officially at 12,000 with plenty of large aftershocks, some of them 5.9, 5.6. Those in and of themselves are BIG earthquakes, let alone aftershocks. The pictures are sobering. Arms and hands of dead children buried in collapsed school rubble just make me get weak. You can see the terror and vulnerability on and in the faces of the Chinese people.

I have a phobia of earthquakes. I HATE them. And here I live in 'earthquake country'. Go figure. There is just something about the earth shaking uncontrollably that unnerves me. Kind of like air turbulance. (and yet I fly all the time too....)

3) Today was the day of MEGA laundry. Being the NICE and WONDERFUL mother that I am, I did everybody, who has been traveling, laundry so it would be all caught up while they unpacked and got settled in for the summer. 14 loads! Now we start the assigned days for the summer. Me: Monday and Thursday. Josh and Mere: Tuesday. Natalie: Wednesday. Shaun: Friday. This includes: washing, drying, folding, ironing, putting away, sheets, and towels and rugs from their bathrooms. This way it is always on track and there isn't dirty laundry spilling out of the laundry room all the time. Yes, this is the ideal scenario. I hope it works! hahaha

They will each have an assigned day of the week to cook dinner as well. That includes: planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning it up. I've 'heard' this works when you have a bunch of adult children move back home. Any words of wisdom from those who have/or still are going through this phase???

A friend, Pat P., who went through this for several years told me they had a weekly meeting each Sunday afternoon for 30 minutes to evaluate the previous week: what worked, what didn't, if they needed to trade days for dinners, laundry, etc. It was only 1/2 an hour so they got right down to business. They all agreed up front that it was the parents house and they got to decide the 'rules' in exchange for the opportunity to stay there and save money.

So, please--I need lots of suggestions and experience here to help guide us! Please comment those who are/have been on the parents end and adult children who have been on that end.

Thanks!