Or on top of the dishes if there aren't a lot in the dishrack.

Oh, yeah. If there aren't a lot of dishes in the rack, I can slide a sauce pan in there, or perch a pot on top of the bowls. Or sometimes I just dry the pot/pan as soon as I wash it, so I can put it back in the pantry and get it out of the way.

wash while my coffee is brewing

Invariably, I wash the previous night's dishes while my oatmeal is cooking.

That's smart Sophia. Let me try to remember where I got my mat and see if I can google up something similar.

[link] Or very like it. Pretty sure I picked up mine as an impulse buy at the grocery store.

I dry pots and pans in the sink.

I never put plates and such on the fish rack because I have a dishwasher, so my dish rack is all pots and mixing bowls and odd things . When cooking for myself I tried to only use 1 or 2 pots/pans/mixing bowls b/c I hate washing. I would rinse and reuse for next part of meal if cooking multiple things.

Thanks -t!

And now we have a fire of our own, I can see it at the far end of the lake.

Am psyching myself up to go home to see my parents, and stupid shit like "where will I sleep?" and "should I get a hotel room" and "can I sleep in my bed knowing it had been Chris' bed for the past year and a half" and "will it be torture for my mom to wash the bedding" and "how awful is it to have her erase his presence from my room to make room for me" is running through my head? Will my going up be more of a strain? Are they super pissed that I didn't go up straight away (because I got stinking drunk and have only just gotten over my hangover)?

Oh Juliebird, may the trip be healing. I really hope things go better than expected.

Zoe update. I have her home and in a t-shirt to keep her off her sutures. She has 4 prescriptions with pain and antibiotic stuff. She has been snoozing since she got home, with occasional moans.