The mother of a friend may be OCD: she’s definitely a cleanliness freak. In that house, every single book and magazine is
perfectly
aligned
with the edge of the table.
My friend made a deal with his college flatmates that he wouldn’t do any cleaning of comunal areas at all (no bathroom, no dishes, no living room), as he was actually looking forward to things like being able to leave a tilted magazine without The Flash running in to straighten it, but in exchange he’d make sure that there was always ready-to-heat food in the fridge; as our Esteemed Dopers know, food is the fastest way to a student’s heart.
SiL’s Mom is a cleaning lady. One of the hardest parts of having SiL’s parents move in during SiL-Dad’s illness was the whole fight over cleanliness and organization. It ended up getting solved by creating different areas with different levels of cleanliness (the room upstairs that barely gets used did not get cleaned every day) and leaving the kitchen entirely to SiL-Mom. The part where Mom almost couldn’t contain the laughter is when SiL realized that her mom was doing the exact same circuit every day: there were corners she just didn’t consider…
A Monday Post-emergency-replacement Post, courtesy of the Department of Redundancy Department. Or, as Grandma says “bah, you understand me anyway, so why should I speak clearly?”
Morning, all. Blergh. Caffeination in progress; has been in progress for a while now, with no discernible results. Blergh.
Tell all, eh? Well, Papa Tigs is on his way to Texas, so I’ve got a few days to do Stuff around the house. Laundry is in the washer, and after I get some $$-earning work done, I’m going to tackle my office and the back room which is my sewing room/general junk-dumping area. Plus I need to wind the yarn I got for Papa Tigs’ to-be-made-in-secret scarf and hat set. It’s Plymouth Outback Wool, in color 965, only there’s more shades of brown and muted sage green than that sample shows. Definitely his colors. The skeins are HUGE, which is nice; fewer ends to have to weave in.
Anyway, I’d better get to it because this will, I hope, be a busy week. Barring issues with my big toe. My left big toenail got badly hit when I was younger, twice, and had to be removed, twice. It’s grown back somewhat permanently ingrown, and every once in a while decides to get nasty. This time it’s not ingrown nasty, but the cuticle is very tender and got bumped or something and got torn along one side of the nail a few days ago, and I’ve been fighting off infection for a week now. It’s starting to heal, except that last night it acted like it was thinking of getting infected – the tip of my toe was getting swollen and tender. So I slathered it with more antibiotic ointment and bandaged it up, and it’s doing better today. I really do NOT want to have to have that nail removed a third time, so I will go to somewhat heroic lengths to avoid it. But fear not, if it starts getting genuinely nasty as in infection starting to spread, I’ll head to the doctor like a shot. Wish me luck.
omgiamsotired. Friday night I was out drinking until four, then one of my co-workers offered her place to Irish CW and I because we both lived over an hour away from where we were at the time, but when we got back to her place we just ended up drinking MORE. We all had to teach the next day and it was not pretty. Then I had to get up at an ungodly hour on Sunday to catch the bus to the skiing resort, and of course with a bunch of people hanging out together no one is going to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And not only was I tired from having nightmares about being late for work, I was also aching all over from all the tumbles I took yesterday, so today was another day of teaching through a haze. Thank God I can sleep in my own bed tonight. Having fun is hard work!
See? It’s an MMP-induced illness that’s going around! I had the sore throat (not strep) Thurs-Sun morning and then it turned into a full-blown head cold. No one else her (in my real world) is sick. Just the MMP. I swear people are passing it around in here. KEEP YOUR GERMS TO YOURSELF!! :mad:
I missed Fri-Sun of last week’s MMP. Can someone catch me up on why we’re hugging Soapy? In any case {{Soapy}}.
It was in the 30s F here yesterday and started out raining. A good portion of the old snow started to melt. And then the temperature dropped. And everything got a little coat of snow (not like in the Northeast though!) and then it snowed. And then the temp dropped more and it got to -7 (F) over night. Brrrrr. That’s even too cold for salt on the roads to work. So there’s still a nice layer of ice under the snow on the roads. I’m really really glad for my 3/4 mile commute today!
Tell all: We had a bit of a “marital disagreement” at our house yesterday. We don’t fight; it’s just not in either of our temperaments. (Fight being defined as yelling, throwing dishes, calling names, etc.) But we have serious conversations where both participants are grumpy and want to get their own way and that’s how we spent yesterday morning. We did straighten some things out though, and in the end things were good, but our house was a bit chilly for a while, and it wasn’t due to the dropping temperatures outside!
{{{Bobbio}}} I’m sorry you had such a crappy weekend, just sounds like one of those “and the hits just KEEP ON COMIN’!” times that make sane people hide under the covers and whimper quietly to themselves. Also {{{Rigs}}} too because I TOTALLY sympathize with being the person who has to live with someone who can’t deal with strong emotion and turns it all into anger–at me, usually. I know all too well the snarky sarcasm in every utterance letting me know that HIMSELF IS DISPLEASED AND WISHES ME TO BE COMPLETELY AWARE OF IT. I’m also quite conversant with the “I fucked up and I’m embarrassed so I’m going to make YOU just as miserable as I am because I CAN” tactic too. I get the raging screaming freakouts as well–I invest heavily in loud music (for some odd reason The Dandy Warhols is the most effective at blocking his vocal tones) and good earphones for these times. Too bad we’re all so far away from each other, because I bet the three of us could have a great time drinking heavily and trading war stories. Of course, as the people who have to deal with anger junkies we’d probably all just shrug it off with a “Eh, whaddaya gonna do–can’t shoot 'em, can’t change the operating system!” and just have fun instead, so that’s all good.
This WAS the “tell-all” episode, right?
So, it’s 19 F here (that’s -7 C for you metrical types) with several inches of snow on the ground and a high wind advisory in effect all day–gusts out of the Columbia Gorge up to 50 mph and the windchill is hovering right around 0 F. Brr, I say. It’s supposed to be clear and cold all week, with high temps in the low to mid twenties F. My leaky old house is quite drafty, but luckily I have lots of interesting fabric items that help me cope. I have rolled up towels and afghans in front of the doors and a long acrylic crocheted scarf is hanging down the side of the front door to keep the drafts out. My house was originally a garage, with a small room off to one corner that was modified into a bathroom, then a laundry room was tacked onto the back of that, and the back door is in the laundry room. It gets very cold back there, since the gas heater thingy is catercorner in the main part of the house, as far away as it’s possible to be in a 700 SF house. I’ve taken my old curtains (Pendleton wool, baby!) and made them into a hanging barrier between the bathroom and the laundry room, then with the bathroom oil radiator on low and the door kept open only a crack (Pratchett’s litter box is in the laundry room) it makes a good airlock to keep the heat in. There’s two distinct temp gradients as you go back there, so it’s working. I am a domestic McGyver! I also tossed a second comforter on the bed last night and it was soooo warm, neither of us wanted to get up this morning!
Carrot, could I get a link to your DKos diary? It sounds interesting and the least I could do is to tip and rec it for ya. Mojo is good…
I’m brunching with my DIL’s mother and the kids–I refuse to drive so we’re meeting at a restaurant that’s at the end of my street, so not quite equidistant from our two houses, but close. I can walk there–I ain’t driving the van anywhere in this weather with a busted side mirror and it’s too damned cold to go to the U-Pullit for another one, fuck dat!
Missed edit window–Tigs, this may sound bizarre but it works a treat. If your toe gets infected, punch a hole in the side of a lemon and stick the toe in there. The citric acid will burn a bit, but it’s amazingly good for getting infections out from under nails. My first husband worked as a dishwasher and used to slice his hands on the trays and get infections under his nails and that’s how we’d treat them. You feel like a total idiot, sitting there with your foot stuck in a lemon but the relief is sooo worth it. Needless to say, throw the lemon away when you’re done!
taxi, her BIL passed away suddenly from an aneurysm and they were close–she’s probably on her way to the funeral by now.
Thanks, Smarty, I’ll try that. Sounds painful but effective. Kind of like when I was young, I had a summer job at a potato packing shed, and in those days you had to tie the bags by hand; my hands turned into a mess of blisters, but I was advised by old hands to put some bleach (!!) on the blisters and they’d heal right up. Hurt like you know what, but worked a treat. I’m not averse to some pain nowif it causes less pain in the future!
May I also recommend thermal curtains? We got some last spring (from overstock.com, so they were mega-cheap) and use them for the french doors at the back of the house, which leak like a sieve. The entire house is more comfortable as a result; they block about 95% of the cold air. And we can even open the door a little bit with the curtain in front of it for the dogs, and it keeps the cold drafts out almost as effectively as a dog door. Sounds like my McGuyver’d it quite effectively, though!
Okay, back to work. Which I was, but then snowbunny called and we started yakking. Which is far more entertaining than work, obviously, but doesn’t pay as well. :rolleyes;
It’s raining over here. On the one hand, I like rain, on the other it’s really dark in my room in the morning.
I didn’t get any packing done this weekend, because I spent it at my parents’ house. We made Christmas candy and had our Thanksgiving (we had Thanksgiving up at my grandparents. We’re going to be having our Christmas around New Years.) I got all my Christmas presents wrapped and took my Dad out to buy Mom stocking stuffers, because otherwise she won’t get any.
My sister and mom have decided I’m a scrooge, because I didn’t like Polar Express. I thought it was dumb. shrug
I have 31 days to get all my packing and cleaning done, minus the four when I’ll be at my grandparents. My mom’s coming over on Wednesday to pack up my kitchen. I’m sure I can get everything done, but I’m going to end up panicking about it anyway.
Bobbio–I am so sorry. That truly sucks and you know you’ll get it next time. Would it help to know that as a beginning nursing student, I flunked thermometers?(and was made to feel like total shit for a simple mistake–ah, nursing).
You had a horrible weekend–take it easy on yourself. And slap Wife with a wet trout, please.
I am home from errands–I discovered that the windchill is -14 F. Jeebus that’s cold. My car was encased in ice. I did run ALL the errands, though, so now feel smug and righteous. (until I came home and discovered that the winter coat I had meant to give away was still in the house. It will have to wait.)
FIL looks good. He’s on O2, but up and talking. His legs have about 3-4+ pitting edema, but the onc (new one) said that he can drink as much as he likes(what is the point of not?). MIL is a different story. She is an unpleasant person, really. I’d go into all her crazy, but it’s boring to type. Suffice it to say, she won’t relinquish any control, but wants to bitch about how much she does.
Oh, and I liked this: SIL was supposed to come down to help MIL today (run her errands) but “it’s too cold for D to be out running around.” This after she asked me if I could run her errands today. I had said no, due to other plans AND the fact that she said herself she’s not out of any of the things she wants to get (I know, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either). Guess it’s not too cold for me, just for darling daughter. :rolleyes:
Hi all. It’s hovering at about 30F here. I did one thing this past weekend and consider myself justified for being a sloth the rest of the time. I spent Friday night wrapping presents and packing them into boxes and such, and then I went to the Post Office on Saturday morning to send said packages of presents flying around the country (and one ornament for the SDMB exchange on its way to Germany). That’s it.
I failed to do laundry, the dishes (though Hawkeyeop did do one dishwasher load), the cleaning and all sorts of other things. I was a sloth. And it was pretty darn good.
<donates some of her slothiness to bobbio> It sounds like you can use it.
Rigs, your family stories - as well as those from **Dotty **and a few others, make me appreciate the distance between the extended family and me. I only have to see my in-laws for a few days at a time, and we can all be nice for that long. KT only has to put up with my parents for a couple days at a time, and even they usually contain the crazy for that long!
Here ya go. I’m thinking I may do another installment later this week, after finals are over, since the poll results were encouraging. And I thought I saw you in one of the FP posts the other day!
{{{Ivory}}} – some more hugs. Just because, of all the people needing them in the MMP, I think you need the most right now Hang in there.
**Rigs **-- Sorry things are still such a mess, but at least it sounds like FIL is doing OK, which is the most important thing, in the end!
**Bobbio **-- I feel your pain. Failing at anything, even if you get a second shot at it, sucks. Failing when you know you could have done it had you not made some stupid mistake… sucketh royally
Hugs to all the others with Teh Sick, and all assorted kinds of work related or home related strife (which seems to be most of us right now.)
**Haze **-- you want us to feel sorry for you or something…?
Oh, OK, I’ll give you a hug {{{Haze}}} (if it means I get to cop a feel or two. I’m nothing but altruistic ;))
Have a good (or at least a better week, everybody!
Hmmm… haven’t poked my head outside, but Mindy’s report sure explains why I’ve been feeling migrainey every since I got into the office.
Also, the cafeteria is still out of large cups. This may require a jaunt to Tim Horton’s in order to obtain a reasonably-sized cup of joe… but then again, that would also mean stepping outside. I don’t think I want to be outside right now. sulk
Hang in there.