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Monday, December 3, 2012

who's this woman in my kitchen and what'd she do with me?

During the weekdays, it's "I'll just keep things relatively tidy until the weekend when I'll have time to REALLY clean"

Then the weekend comes and it's, "Aaaaah, time to just kick back and play... :)"


Suzy Homemaker I'm not.  Luckily, I don't like messiness either, though, so the pain of cleaning and such usually overrides the pleasure of letting the house go completely to pot.

Yesterday morning I got up with the intention of getting things all clean and trig (new word I learned over the weekend that has nothing to do with triangles - just had to use it!).  But then came the walk with the husband and dog, the Bronco game, the lovely bike ride, the book...

I got up this morning with the house in pretty much the same disarray it was in yesterday morning.

Years ago, I ran a daycare out of our home.  I cooked and cleaned every day.  Toys were neatly organized in their respective cubbies, children's books and videos arranged nicely.  Healthy snacks and lunches were readily available.  What happened?


The difference then was that the daycare was my Business.  Keeping the house clean and well organized and stocked was my "profession".  I had paying clients that expected these things.

I was thinking about that this morning.  How I was more motivated to keep the house nice and comfy for "outsiders".   Why should things be different than for just the family?

Now that the tutoring schedule has slowed down to a nice zen fountain rather than the fire hose it was for a while there, I've got more time to tend to the hearth.  This morning, I gave the kitchen a little TLC - scrubbed some grime, buffed and wiped and dusted.

I even cooked a big batch of these little tortilla things I used to make all the time.  I had to go hunting for my whole wheat flour and found it at the bottom of the freezer.  It was two years old.

Still, don't expect a total metamorphosis to the neighborhood Martha Stewart.  That is definitely not in the cards.  If I find her, though, I might invite her over.



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14 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

Hey glad you enjoyed the film! I wasn't expecting the ending.

Oh and I think the quote "A clean house is the sign of a wasted life" is so true. :D

ShadowRun300 said...

I view housework the same way you do. Occasionally I get the urge to clean, and when I do I'm a mad woman. It usually takes a coupla months for the urge to return.
Funny that you mention cleaning for "outsiders" and not your family. I was thinking almost the EXACT thing this morning - but with my job. Why is it I can be so friendly and helpful and full of smiles while working, but at home, I'm all "do it yourself!" I thought, wouldn't it be a great gift to them to treat them like I do the hotel guests.
I'll let you know if it happens.
P.S. What do you do with those little tortilla things?

D.Shawnte said...

I feel the same way about home making. I'm not really that much of a "home body" but I'm also not a complete slob either. I try :s.

Also, those tortilla things look soooo good xD!

Rock Chef said...

Hm, so no dresses and frilly aprons for you then. Bah, who needs them?

meleah rebeccah said...

Sadly, I am a cleaning FREAK. I cannot tell you how many hours a day I waste scrubbing, organizing, vacuuming ect. It's really kind of a problem!

lotta joy said...

A clean house equals a calm brain. I'm SO glad that Stud keeps my brain calm. (he's folding clothes as I'm writing this and was running the swiffer before). How did I get so damn lucky.

Abby said...

Loved the film! It's one that kept me thinking long after I'd watched. Thanks again for the recommend! Good quote too. I'll remember that!

Abby said...

It's like when I was a teen and used to clean tables at work. If I was asked to clean the ONE table at home, it was like I'd been asked to scale Mt. Everest! Yeah, let me know what your "guests" think of your customer service :)

I just make my "chapatis" small - like 3 inch diameter. They're kind of like little pitas, without the pockets. The kids like them for snacks - warm with butter and honey. I'm a peanut butter girl myself.

Abby said...

Sounds like we're both at a happy medium between neat freak and slob. It works.

Abby said...

I'm not against dresses and frilly aprons, just not for cleaning ;)

Abby said...

Yeah? Come over for coffee?

Abby said...

Your man runs the swiffer?!

terri said...

I can so relate to the way you face the household chores! I rarely look forward to them, but it feels so good when the house is all nice and clean. But how easy it is to get sidelined by ... almost anything else more interesting than chores!

I did the home daycare thing too. I usually wonder how I managed to keep things under control with so many small children running around for so many hours a day, but you hit the nail on the head. It was my job to keep things in order. And I spent way more time at home. It's easy to keep up when you're always there. Not so much when you're not!

Oh, well. When I feel discouraged or overwhelmed with trying to keep up, I fall back on one of my favorite quotes. "A clean house is a sign of a boring life."

agg79 said...

You and Meleah can come clean and cook over here any time. I will even guarantee that the temps will be a lot warmer. And you can even bring China to play with my two loons. We lack the same motivation down here except I don't really have a good excuse. Sometimes the cleaning muse will strike us and we will attempt a restoration, but two very hairy dogs tend to make more of a mess than one college student ever did. Still, cleaning can be cathartic.