A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....03-1-06....Housecleaning Avoidus

The school of Hard Knocks | March 1, 2006 | Dolly Howard

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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Ah the joys of cleaning a house…Let me count the ways…../sarcasm

To what shall I compare it? A root canal? A major sunburn on your whole body when you fell asleep for two hours in the tanning table w/o timer? A huge zit on your nose for your senior prom? Liver for your birthday dinner? Looking at pictures of x42? Of sKerry? Or Sheenhan?

I recall the white glove inspections when I was in the Navy. Now a yardstick is the guideline. If you don’t understand this, you are to be commended. There is Housework Avoidus… and the chronic condition: Housework Avoiditis. It is really NOT a bad/deadly condition - just a frustrating one.

Now Free Republic has given a new purpose to life & PRIORITIES, hasn’t it? Should we put off friendship & being informed & getting involved for ….for Housework ?

I think not.

Free Republic has given so much perspective to me with my homemaking chores. How many days can you go without doing dishes? Then when dishes are gone, dig out the paper plates… when they are gone having take-out? And then when money for take-out is gone, deciding to fast a day or two?

How many pots & pans can you burn up as you forget about the “whatever” on the stove as you get into one of Howlin’s live threads, the Tony Snow daily thread? The fun troll thread complete with 35,000 keywords awaits along with Monkey Face, Irish_Thatcherite, & darksheare! Or save toons from Pookie18’s daily offerings? At ATRW you get the latest weather & political essay from the Chair & keep up with all the news of your buddies…Of course the Dose must be checked & pictures saved - ohioWfan, Snugs, MJY1288 and others work VERY hard to give us these offerings. HOW INSULTING TO THEM TO PUT vacuuming before them!. At a word of the Day you find the latest poetry from our own Nicknamed Bob.. And of course always a cute kitty pix along the way. PLUS it is educational. Where else will you find a word to use that 95% of the people you know will not know? And of course the one stop place for news is Gucho’s Operation Phantom Fury… ah, I am salivating now thinking of all the fun awaiting. Clean? Ridiculous!




I personally have destroyed beyond use 9 pans in calendar year 2005. And I am talking about Farberware & GOOD pans…not the el cheapos. I kept them in a box in garage to maybe “clean up” - eventually. Feb 3 they all went into the garbage. Most had a layer of carbon so thick I could not chisel it off. Remnants of spaghetti sauce, homemade soup, linguine, sautéed onions …. Just a few of the treasures lost forever in the pans innards. Feb 8 they were replaced by a brand new set of gorgeous ,expensive (for me) pans from Sam’s club. Thus far NON are burned up. Well, that is because thus far NONE have been used.

Even though I have a virus check & many spy ware programs, I am convinced there is some “code” in my computer that will not allow me to leave even when I try. Rather like a magnet that affixes to my blood stream? I am hoping to solve this & perhaps win a Nobel prize.

Ah to be like The Raven, dog, Paul_Denton, pcottraux and many others - too busy with bachelorhood joys…. single life of fun & games of checking out the gals, in addition to looking for a house, burying dead fish, drawing cartoons --- why on earth clean?… At least THEY have a good excuse.

Pets add another dimension to this task called Housework. Taking the dogs out for potty & then major walks surely is more important than a clean house. The litter & potty centers for cats must be attended to.. Or else. What is “or else? “ From experience. The potty location will change from the litter area to your closet, bathtub, bed, sofa, linen closet, shoes left out (do they ever get put away?).
You can have every dish in the house dirty & Mount Laundry(penned from Iowa Granny ) up to the ceiling but heaven help you…CLEAN THE CAT BOX

Some Freepers like Lysie & Hair of the Dog also have horses! My what opportunities they provide (I am guessing) to avoid housework. Need to ride them, groom them, get feed, straw/hay(what do you get) for them. Clean the stalls? Think I would rather do dishes personally.




For those happy home makers & stay at home mom’s how many excuses can you have for not having a meal ready?

Headaches -- For 9 weeks?

Broken stove -- unplug it or throw the circuit breaker

cut hand? -- until someone demands to see what is under the Band-Aid!

Devoted day to prayer & meditation… might work.

How many excuses can you have for no clean underwear & towels for your gang?

Headaches? See above

Broken washer/drier? See above

Allergy to soaps… you can milk this one with practice.

Students like Tuliptree76, ilovew; apackof2; jemian;s terror.. School work MUST come before cleaning forgoodnesssakes.


Vacuuming & dusting are some interesting tasks.. Boring as all get out & disgusting but interesting. How so ? Well, the challenges are mammoth in the DollyCali household. In the garage now are 9 vacuum cleaners all NOT working. ALL FAIRLY NEW.. What is wrong? Who knows.

Stuff that can be fixed - sometimes easily & sometimes not: STUCK items in various portions of the mechanism, broken rubber “thingie”, full bag/container.

Yes. It would be good to take the vacuum back.. BUT you need the receipt. HA! And of course you never sent in the warranty.. THIS ONE FOR SURE WONT BREAK.

A few of the broken sweepers are the result of me taking them apart to fix them. Of course when I put them together they have extra parts. So the sweeper & extra parts go in a box.

With this many sweepers you would NOT believe the accessories collection I have. Have not a clue what goes to what. They are all in one of these mammoth plastic bins. All perspective husbands (called dates) are asked if they can fix a vacuum sweeper. Answers are noted.

Housework interruptus - now this is when you are really into shoveling a path and some doggone thing stops you. Like the sound from your computer when you get a ping or Freepmail. Well, while you are there, you might as well check latest articles, latest posts & email. Well then maybe check into your blog and then back to your favorite daily threads.

Or the phone rings.. Of course you did sign up for the do not call list but you would much rather chat with the nice telemarketer than clean. Oh.. And then there is the going to mail box, for newspaper etc.. on the way you pull a few weeds. Three hours later you are hungry & sore & tired. Hungry.. No dishes, go out to eat.. While out,. find other diversions. There is always tomorrow donchaknow.

Anyone have a “Repair Container“. Now this is the little(or big) box, bin, container that you put things that need a button, hem repair, seam redo.. Etc. You get the idea. Mine is pretty big as I have kept it since I was married in 1968. (and not repaired anything) . Now & then it gets weeded away. ALL the socks & underwear eventually went to the dust bin (you know that one that you use to dust).. My dust rag container however never gets touched. That is what cats are for! Dusting!

January 4 of this year.. I was in a clean up mood. I didn’t clean house but threw away most of the dust rags & the major contents of the repair box. Actually lined boxes in garage for feral cats with them. Used a few weeks & then tossed & replaced with more. Golly, why didn’t I think of this sooner.

Interesting fact is the NEXT day - January 5 - I got my first cold in years (decades) .. The blessed thing lasted 3 weeks! Think I am going to succumb to a clean up mood again? Fergettaboutit.

Housework disappearus - I am still working on this one.. But my best ideas is to move into a perfect home & then live in a hotel. Things that can help with this is to stop cooking, doing laundry, sell the kids, give away the pets & end all hobbies that involve more than reading a book. My favorite show in bygone years was “I Dream of Jeannie”… ah to wiggle my nose & have a clean house (not to mention LOOK like her!) Anyone with ideas along this line are welcome to contribute.

Well, it is now time for bed.. Now where is that bed anyway? Must be in this room somewhere..

12-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #14	THIS WEEK'S THREADS 02-27-06 Military Monday 02-28-06 Ice Castles	Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[JustAmy]

LOL

She wanted catfish like grampa cooks but she had to settle for frozen fish fillets. Errr ..... Yes, I cooked them before putting them on her plate. :)

[NicknamedBob]

"I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep!"

How well I know that. This was written last year,

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1355658/posts?page=99#99

Four posts below that is one for my other daughter. Your mom will like them both, I'm sure.

[Majie Purple]

Really wonderful poem!

[.30Carbine]

Thank you all for pinging me! Dolly, that graphic at post #2 is just a hoot!

[NicknamedBob]

"She wanted catfish like grampa cooks but she had to settle for ... fish fillets."

I can make blackened fish fillets. But then even I wouldn't eat them.

Good Night, everyone!

[JustAmy]

Thank you for linking those two poems written for your daughters. They are wonderful.

[DollyCali]

so glad you enjoyed it... I had fun with that graphic in number 2..for a couple reasons! sleep well FRiend.

[DollyCali]

Night Bob..thanks for linking the "daughter poems"

[freema]

LOL!

[freema]

Well, Bob. You've just set me to bawling like Daddy's little girl.

Those were unspeakably beautiful.

Your timing is immpecable ; )

[dixie sass]

ROTFL, etc...

I have discovered http://www.flylady.com I've actually got two rooms that stay clean, even with use!

[LadyX]

Pack Rat Extraordinare Reporting, Dolly!!

Hi, proud2be - glad you are in our lofty rank, too!

You two would not believe - on the other hand, you WOULD! - all the things I unearthed last week looking for *something-never-found!*

Who else has a letter of acceptance to her mother in 1943 for Camp Jocassee in the South Carolina mountains, when I was 9?!
The Camp patch?
The letter tells her what ration stamps I must bring for the 8 weeks I was there...
And a handful of the little letters and post cards we were required to send home each week..:))?? LOL

Who else would have save spent cartridges from the F.B.I Building in D.C.?? Lotsa souvenirs from the week I spent there, representing Florida in the 1947 National Spelling Bee...

All kinds of clippings from Fairbanks, including weather reports from the newspaper the last year there...
Life article on The Good Friday Earthquake I experienced in 1964?

NO ONE DARES TOUCH MY TREASURES!!
LOL

Oops - forgot someone DID - - ONCE...
In Florida in 1971 we moved to another house nearby, and had trash piled on the curb. Unknown to me, my husband had attempted to "reduce" my treasures, and the boys told him - Uh-Oh! When she finds out...!!

Long before, my mother had sent a half dozen of my childhood dolls to give to my daughter one day...choking back sobs here, since one of them was a priceless Shirley Temple doll in a green velvet ice skating outfit...:((
He had no idea how valuable it was!
[no - he never did that again!!]

I'm A Happy ,
and proud of it!!

[proud, I even have a copy of Little Women given my South Carolina mother by her parents for Christmas in 1908..:))

[freema]

And so true, so true.

It's a bit hard to get a 6'4' Marine on your lap.

But that's a piece of cake

compared to birthing a 6'4" Marine.

I'm still waiting for the floral delivery from the recruiter ; )
don't know what the hold up is.........
perhaps he thought I was kidding?
LOL!

[freema]

You went to the National Spelling Bee and came home with spent cartridges from the F.B.I Building ??????????????
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOLOLOLOL!

[LadyX]

Here I am, freema, after writing an email to you!!
Love the poem, and the lovely one you sent me written by your G-Mom..:))

Trying valiantly to catch up on the thread - -

[dixie sass]

Rotfl, how many days...

[dixie sass]

Amen Amy, that sounds like my to do list.

[LadyX]

I just chose to mention one of the "different" souvenirs, freema...
We had a whole week of sightseeing, including the Smithsonian, National Gallery of Art, and a trip by bus to Mt. Vernon, coming back on a paddle wheel vessel.

...and then there was the night we went to a special restaurant that used to be a stable behind a house...

We were picked up (and returned to) at the hotel - I kid you not! - by a horse-drawn carriage, another contestant and I on TOP of it, with our mothers and assigned state reporters inside..:)
We clip-clopped through the streets in what then was light traffic!!
Supposed to meet President Harry Truman at the White House, and went there to tour; but his mother in Missouri was ill and he had to fly out there...

Oh, whatta fun life I've led!!

[Majie Purple]

That deseves flowers for sure...And so very much more!

[Majie Purple]

"deseves" needs an r in there obv!