** bodypoet:**
Not a bad idea, I might have to try that sometime… Unfortunately, my bathroom is about to the gonna-need-an-hour stage. And once I get it cleaned, I certainly won’t want to do it again any time soon.
I think I’m just the kind of person who would rather do a crappy (no pun intended) job once in a while, even if it takes a little longer.
Cleaning my apartment is generally a 5-night process, I break it up into 5 sections (sleeping area, kitchen, bathroom, dining area, living room area. Kind of insane in my tiny apartment, I know) and do one section per night.
Well, I did finish some more of my cleaning chores (dishes, mostly), but then I made chili for dinner so they need to be done all over again. Somehow that always seems to happen…
I would vacuum, but it’s getting late and I wouldn’t want to interrupt the jerk next door’s guitar playing with vacuuming noises :rolleyes:
I got some laundry folded, but then we had to take my eleven year old to the emergency room. He had a spectacular skateboard wreck (on a hill he’s not supposed to skate on, of course), and broke his wrist in two places.
We just got home a few minutes ago and the TabbyKid is in good spirits and resting comfortably in front of the TV. There were LOTS of kids roughly his age in the ER this afternoon and evening with broken bones. The last couple of days have been the nicest weather so far, so the kiddos are all out trying the stunts they’ve dreamed of all winter, I guess. But I digress…
I’m too tired to do anything else today. I’ll just veg out for a while before a glowing monitor, then go to bed. Housework be damned till morning.
bodypoet, for those of us who do need support groups, baby steps and even chocolate sometimes, this is a great idea. I tried to post in yesterday, but it didn’t take for some reason. And instead of sitting here trying to repost, I went off and picked up and vacuumed the living room. And after getting a grand total of about 5 hours of sleep over the previous two days due to work at night, baby in morning, this was a big accomplishment. It sounds like your living room and mine are living parallel lives. I also did a load of laundry, some kitchen cleaning, grocery shopping, chauffeur duties, chased my two year old around, made dinner, etc. so it wasn’t a completely wasted day. So thank you for posting this. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone.
Must bake cupcakes and tidy. Cooking always comes before cleaning in this house. Funnel-head the Cat is resting comfortably on the bed, so I can’t make it. Maybe later. Also, I should put out clean towels.
I did get all the dishes done. I’m proud.
Has anyone else read I Hate To Housekeep by Peg Bracken? It’s a great book, and a decent housework-avoidance manual.
A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed using a formula to determine when DIY does and does not save money. All of you hate housework. All of you agree it needs to be done. How many of you might be better off with a maid?
This isn’t for everyone. I don’t know your financial situations, and some of you have children running around lose and that’s certainly a major issue. Still, how many of you might be able to, for instance, take a part-time job doing something you enjoy for X hours a week and using that money to pay for a maid? Okay, something you enjoy more than housework.
FWIW - family members seem to learn how to pick up their stuff the day before the maid comes. I guess it’s because when a maid has put things away, screaming “Mom, where’s my skateboard!” doesn’t help find your skateboard.
(No link; The WSJ online requires a subscription.)
Well, this has been a productive day for me. I’ve got the 5th load of laundry in the machine. I’ve washed the car. I’ve washed me. And right now, I’m taking a break before hemming the sleeves on 3 work shirts for my husband. So much for a day off work…
Okay! I did papers, slept a bunch, and now I’m ready to get at it again. Babies are bathing, so they’ll be clean.
Last night I did a bunch of laundry done, so there’s more of that to put away, but that shouldn’t be too bad–it’s all folded and ready to go.
I think, today…the Kitchen. And I LIKE cleaning the kitchen.
j.c., no doubt I’d be MUCH happier if I had a housekeeper. But I already work nearly full-time, have 4 kids to support (wanna know how much “band trips” cost in the last two weeks for my trombone player? eeek!), and too many bills to count.
Someday, someday…but by then, the kids will be grown and I won’t NEED someone to clean for me!
Truthfully, though, since my husband moved out, I don’t mind housework nearly as much. I just get frustrated that if I don’t spend a good two hours/day at it, it gets away from me and then I have to tackle it with this type of project.
Doing it with online buddies is just more fun.
karol… I’ll clean too. houskeeper showed up today, did a good job on the things she did do… but I don’t have her do all. and she doesn’t really move anything… besides, I have a box of stuff that I pulled off my desk that needs to be gone through… need to sort through old toys, get rid of old clothes… I’ll work too! but first I will watch a movie with a friend and the kids…
karol… I’ll clean too. houskeeper showed up today, did a good job on the things she did do… but I don’t have her do all. and she doesn’t really move anything… besides, I have a box of stuff that I pulled off my desk that needs to be gone through… need to sort through old toys, get rid of old clothes… I’ll work too! but first I will watch a movie with a friend and the kids…
with hubby gone, there is so much more for me to do… and to prepare for the move this summer…
Started on dishes and basic kitchen stuff. Man, there are a lot of dishes in there…amazing how much it builds up.
After I get them all clean, I’m going back to my every-man-for-himself method–each family member gets ONE place setting, and he/she is responsible for it (except for the babies, of course, I take care of theirs). It beats having 30 plates dirty all at once…
2:09…
I hadn’t planned to clean, but I eventually got away from the computer for 15 minutes, on the timer. Put away one load, and started a new load of dishes, then I cleared and cleaned the counter area between the stove and sink. Not much to the house, but a good improvement for the kitchen.
Shirt sleeves are hemmed, last load is in the washer. Once I fold the clothes, I’m done for the day. If only I had an apron and pearls - it’d be perfect!!
I told my sweetie that we need to clean the V-berth tomorrow, and since the weather is so crappy, that shouldn’t be a big deal. It’s not going to be boating weather.
Today’s my (HA!) day off and I swore I’d get some work done. Had to get up at 7 to get my wife ready for her physical therapist’s eight o’clock visit. After he left we had breakfast, then I went over the bills, made sure I had enough money in the right accounts to pay them, and went out to mail them and run a few quick errands. Got home in time for lunch. Did a little paper sorting and made a few needed phone calls, and decided to check the Board before tackling the Big Pile of Crap[sup]TM[/sup] that’s cluttering up the living room.
I’ve got my first load of wash in the dryer, and the second in the washing machine. In a few minutes it’ll be time to check the load that’s in the dryer - office shirts and undershirts, I always put light stuff that dries fast in the first load, so I can get the second and third loads going quickly - hang that stuff up, and move everything else one step up in the process.
Torn between yardwork and organizing files after that - it’s overcast with intermittent mist and light rain, but it’s still fairly warm. I’ve got designs on buying and planting some forsythia and azaleas. OTOH, I’ve already started on the reorganizing-the-files project, and the best time to keep going with it is while I’ve already got some momentum.
This weekend really needs an extra day. And there’s no way I can take Monday off - I’ve got to pinch-hit for my boss at a three-hour meeting on Monday.
Well, once again I just got out of bed. I take advantage of having an older kid here to watch the babies for a bit while I nap…gotta make up that sleep deficit sometime, after all.
But I did get my dishes done while I was cooking lunch (yep, I cooked! LUNCH! And it wasn’t even a special occasion!).
Today is almost starting over from last week…sweeping and mopping the hall, cleaning the bathroom, etc. And, let’s see…more work in the computer area in the living room. It’s always a wreck, seems like.
