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!

[ST.LOUIE1]

Morning, (((((((Megsie))))))

: )

[LadyX]

W-H-A-A-T ? ? ! !

First we have a hurricane putting our JH2 out of literary
commission for months in Florida, trying to get his home
back to 'normal,' and now dutchess is a target?

Consulting my trusty , I see there surely is
a power blackout there in Tennessee!

=======================================

Do NOT tell me I have to do all the housework I
successfully avoided yesterday on yer thread, Dolly...
looky here at the challenges - where to begin??

[LadyX]

HOORAY!!
My precious is here!!

[DollyCali]

naw, you can follow my sterling example & avoid for as long as necessary!

:-0

morning sweetie

[ST.LOUIE1]

HOORAY!!
My precious is here!!

Awwww....what a nice greeting. Yes, your woofie toofums is here.....barely,
sinus probs have limited posting to wolfie's darlin' ((((((Xie)))))

Hope to see you later. : )

[MEG33]

LOL! Good morning,LadyX!

I hate blackouts..

[DollyCali]

she has my phone number & would call & ask me to help if that was the case... but then again...FR would prolly not be high on the list

[proud2beconservativeinNJ]

I think "Pack Ratitis" is something every southern girl is born with.

Some of us just have it worse than others. I can't bear to throw anything out "just in case".

I live in southern NJ and I qualify for membership in sistahs of the clutter. I know I am in good company with you fine FReepers, but I do dream of a home where I can at least find the things I saved for those "just in case" moments. I usually have to go buy another item because I can't find where I put the treasure I saved.

[DollyCali]

it seems so many more people this year are having a hard time with sinus/allergies. Black mold & weather impact seem to be the biggest culprits from those who share.

I have had tons of allergy & sinus problems that started for me at about your age. They have progressively gotten worse. My son (who I think is your age) is starting to get them more severely. Bummer big time.

Take care.

[DollyCali]

I am a pack rat & have always been one.. but this is the first place I have lived where I can truly blame lack of space, storage etc.

Closets are very small, shelving closets non existent. Mom has a big house (I share w/her) but just like many built in the 1960s.. did NOT put a premium on those things.

She also is a cluttered/pack rat..two of us in one inadequate housing unit is a hoot. Well, we could both get rid of most of our "treasures"..but other Pack Rats here KNOW that isn't going to happen!

[JustAmy]

Sunset Western Garden book says common name is globeflower in the same family as the ranunculus. Flowers are yellow to orange. They need shade or partial shade.

The ranunculus likes full sun. The ranunculus flowers in many shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, cream and white.

Aren't I the wealth of info this morning?
:)

[DollyCali]

Hi there Amy. I sent your brother a snail mail note a few months ago. Did he ever mention receiving it?

[MEG33]

Thanks for looking it up.

[JustAmy]

LOL

Good morning, Dolly. Weather here is pretty warm. Should be in the mid 60's today. California had some rain but we only had a few sprinkles.

PrissyMissy is insisting on wearing skirts and dresses to school. She gives me a list of who is no longer wearing pants to school. "She doesn't get cold, Gramma." So it has been skirts with tights this week.

When I see my brother, I will ask. He is not very good at conversing. We need to be adept at asking the right questions. :)

[LadyX]

" I do dream of a home where I can at least find the things I saved for those "just in case" moments. I usually have to go buy another item because I can't find where I put the treasure I saved."

Aha! You hold the key to true Pack Rat Success!
Keep on cloning things, never getting enuff!!
LOL

Continuing to enumerate some of the odd "treasures" I unearthed last week, there was a Simplicity dress pattern (#2575 - 50 cents) in the mix.
It is a lovely dress - sleeveless kinda boat neck; empire waist with narrow band with tiny bow defining it; flows gracefully out with 8 panels, to below the knee.

I made it in a robin's egg blue pique in 1950!!

NOW COMES "J-U-S-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N !!

Watching The Price Is Right this week, waiting for the Noon News on TV, in the Final Showcase, the two lovely girls showing a prize...drum roll, please..
were wearing "That Dress," in black, with a white band and tiny bow uunder the bust!!

All styles do come back...except, thankfully, those atrocious Poodle Skirts of my Junior High days..:))

[okay - so what if I will never make it again?
The fun is in the pleasant memories of another day; another time..:))]

[MEG33]

The trollius looks like kin indeed.

[JustAmy]

This has got to be one of the cleverest E-mails I've received in awhile. Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble. (Wait till you see the last one)!

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

Yep! Someone with waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands! (Probably a son-in-law)

[The Mayor]

Do a combination John/TGIF thread for the weekend..

Just a thought!

[freema]

Something that should be planted in every FReeper (or DU as the case may be) garden....

Troll i us

Is there a Zot i us?

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! My mind. LOL!

[LadyX]

I LOVE IT!!!