What We Have Here, Is a Failure to Communicate...

The following is a conversation I had with my mom on the phone yesterday. For those of you who don't know, especially since chemo, I have a difficult time remembering the simplest words. I can usually try to give you a visual but it just doesn't always work out. And the pictures, well, they are the result of that problem and the phone conversation...

"Hey mom, do you have any dish soap? Not the liquid kind, the um crystal kind. Not for the washing machine but for um, washing dishes. You know what kind I'm talking about?"

"Sure, I have some, do you need it?"

"Yea, when you come over tonight, could you bring some in a baggie? I went to the store today and forgot to get some and I need to do dishes."

So, mom and Lisa arrive to have tacos because my daughter Jacki has come over too.

"Mom, did you remember to bring the dish soap?"

"Yes (she's SO proper, I don't think I've ever heard her say "Yea".) it's in a little plastic tub on your counter."

I open the little plastic tub. Ok, it's not the crystals but liquid will work. I start the dishwasher and we go on with our evening.

Jacki walks into the kitchen about 30 minutes later.

"MOM! There's suds coming out of your dishwasher!"

I run in the kitchen and open the door. Soap suds, lots and lots and LOTS of soap suds.

"Mom, what kind of dish soap was that?"

"Oh, no, when you said you wanted "crystal" dish soap, I thought you meant you were washing your good dishes and you needed liquid soap."

"MOM! You know I don't HAVE any good dishes!"

So, this is what happens when you put liquid Dawn into your dishwasher.





And just so you know, after running 4 rinse cycles and only getting more and more suds, I finally Googled a solution and damn if it didn't work like a charm. Add 1 cup of white vinegar to the bottom of the dishwasher and run a cycle. It breaks down the soap.

I love you mom!