Oh, great bagless vacuum cleaner, how you challenge me!? You are my tornado of cleaning happiness. Every domestic goddess will profess to having a favored chore, one that they actual get glee from.
For me, it's vacuuming. The anti-thesis would be laundry, how I loath laundry.
Maybe it's the purr of the machine that I find so calming. Or the idea that in thirty minutes of my time I have cleaned almost 1800 square feet of living space. Think about this. You can spend thirty minutes scrubbing your shower grout and have very little to show for the effort. A broken nail, hands that smell like Clorox, and a toothbrush formed in the 'splech' formation after being smashed into crevices.
The canister must be filled with debris and dust, kitty furr and dust, dried bits of food and dust. Did I mention the dust here in California? A veritable dirt devil blows in my open windows about every three days. It's a catch twenty two living out here on the edge of the desert and mountains. Great weather equals shutters thrown open to the sun and breeze. Eh....Georgia had it's pollen too I guess.
Is it just me or is the vortex of yuck being suctioned up just mesmerizing? I vacillate between feeling victorious over the grime and disgusted that it fills my lungs. Granted, I'm not just picking up dust.
There is the occasional Barbie shoe or light bright that finds itself getting a vacuum swirly. I've long past the point of caring to extract these items. Just like a pretzel, so dies the Lego that stabbed me in the foot at midnight. The Lego was asking for it.
The kids know mommy is on a mission when I turn the machine one. The living room will be cleared like a tornado ripping through the prairie. Declarations of 'move it or mommy sucks it up'' are made as a warning before everything is wisked away to the Land of Fuzz and Dust.
I am ruthless, even Nora's Strawberry Shortcake swimsuit met it's demise when the brush snared a strap and shredded it. The suit had to die as a warning.
Nothing motivates kids to clean better than recalling the wreckage of toys.
If only I could find a way to intimidate dust.
Showing posts with label domestic life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domestic life. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Desperate Housewife Confessional
Guilty! So darn guilty of cutting corners!
My list of offenses is long.
Give kiddos afternoon snack of pretzels and cheez-Its on area rug...YES, ON the rug. Trent is sure to dump the bowl out anyway. I just give it a quick vacuum later.
Run the dishwasher half full because washing sippy cups by hand is not happening.
I use a toilet bowl brush to clean my tile grout, because it's faster. This brush is ONLY used in the shower.
Vacuum off the top of the stove and kitchen table with an attachment. Don't judge! The vacuum was there and I thought, what the heck!
Piled all the shoes into a laundry basket to make the downstairs seem more organized.
Did the same thing with stacks of bills, now have a whole tupperware bin of 4 mths of paperwork....at least it's no longer scattered.
Handed the 4 yr old a rag and the Pledge...have fun honey!
My list of offenses is long.
Give kiddos afternoon snack of pretzels and cheez-Its on area rug...YES, ON the rug. Trent is sure to dump the bowl out anyway. I just give it a quick vacuum later.
Run the dishwasher half full because washing sippy cups by hand is not happening.
I use a toilet bowl brush to clean my tile grout, because it's faster. This brush is ONLY used in the shower.
Vacuum off the top of the stove and kitchen table with an attachment. Don't judge! The vacuum was there and I thought, what the heck!
Piled all the shoes into a laundry basket to make the downstairs seem more organized.
Did the same thing with stacks of bills, now have a whole tupperware bin of 4 mths of paperwork....at least it's no longer scattered.
Handed the 4 yr old a rag and the Pledge...have fun honey!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sofa Shopping
We hate shopping.
Both of us.
Which makes the idea of sofa shopping, together and ON a holiday weekend almost unbearable.
It was just time to pull the trigger on this and put a swift death to the Salvation Army couch in the den. I've owned it for 10 yrs and at $300 it was my first independent, large furniture purchase. You might be asking why a Salvation Army couch was $300....because it is/was an Ethan Allen couch! No longer in perfect condition thanks to Phebs using the corners as a scratching post. Reason #4 or #5 the cat had to go.
Back to the post....
So the pain began. In a store, walk around, walk around. Out of store. Next store....thankfully, they are all in a row or across the street from one another over on Barrett Parkway. It kept us from getting into the car and saying 'I quit.' So easy to do after being verbally molested by a dozen salesmen in every store. They were almost leaping from behind furniture screaming '''Ooo oooo pick me, pick me!'' like Donkey.
There were a few guidelines we set for our adventure into Furnitureland.
No one wants to ride 'b****' on a sofa. There will be three cushions or the couch is immediately eliminated.
Oversize furniture is out, we are not giants and neither are the people we know.
Loose back cushions are out. Kids only throw them off the sofa and play trampoline on them, thus wearing them out LONG before they should be.
Deep sofas are a no. I'm not a midget but I'm pretty sure my femur is not 3' long.
Lastly, there will be no tufting that looks like a nipple on the arm, back or seat of the couch.
The good news is, we found a couch and two chairs that meet this crazy criteria.
AND
we got an exercise in marital communication and negotiation at the same time. Thankful to report both parties survived emotionally and physically unscathed until the next challenge.
Both of us.
Which makes the idea of sofa shopping, together and ON a holiday weekend almost unbearable.
It was just time to pull the trigger on this and put a swift death to the Salvation Army couch in the den. I've owned it for 10 yrs and at $300 it was my first independent, large furniture purchase. You might be asking why a Salvation Army couch was $300....because it is/was an Ethan Allen couch! No longer in perfect condition thanks to Phebs using the corners as a scratching post. Reason #4 or #5 the cat had to go.
Back to the post....
So the pain began. In a store, walk around, walk around. Out of store. Next store....thankfully, they are all in a row or across the street from one another over on Barrett Parkway. It kept us from getting into the car and saying 'I quit.' So easy to do after being verbally molested by a dozen salesmen in every store. They were almost leaping from behind furniture screaming '''Ooo oooo pick me, pick me!'' like Donkey.
There were a few guidelines we set for our adventure into Furnitureland.
No one wants to ride 'b****' on a sofa. There will be three cushions or the couch is immediately eliminated.
Oversize furniture is out, we are not giants and neither are the people we know.
Loose back cushions are out. Kids only throw them off the sofa and play trampoline on them, thus wearing them out LONG before they should be.
Deep sofas are a no. I'm not a midget but I'm pretty sure my femur is not 3' long.
Lastly, there will be no tufting that looks like a nipple on the arm, back or seat of the couch.
The good news is, we found a couch and two chairs that meet this crazy criteria.
AND
we got an exercise in marital communication and negotiation at the same time. Thankful to report both parties survived emotionally and physically unscathed until the next challenge.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
My First Garage Sale
Embarrassing to admit, but I've never garage saled. LOVE the thrift stores and consignment places, fear someone's driveway. So, as I hosted my first EVER garage sale yesterday I contemplated the why of this.
One, the idea of driving around endlessly looking for an item, not my idea of fun. Odds that the three thrift stores within a mile of each other having what I want is almost 100% chance. The cost of gas these days is just not worth the adventure.
Two, haggling. My none confrontational personality did NOT like negotiating with people over price. I priced everything fairly, no more or even less than thrift store prices.
Three, lying. I REALLY don't think you just came to this country if you drive up in your Cadillac and speak perfect English. If you want everything for $5, just tell me.
But, despite the things I don't like...there were some great moment too.
Trent was my helper most of the morning. He acted as garage sale greeter and entertainment. Toddling out to the end of the driveway to say 'hi' to anyone who pulled up. Then, following them around babbling like a little salesman. It was awesome.
Rich went off to play tennis and took Nora with him. They returned an hour later with Andrew. The two amigos played in the sprinkler or slip and slide for the next three hours.
And for all this effort we did make over $200, much more than the pessimistic husband expected. HA!
Now for us to enjoy the rest of the weekend.
One, the idea of driving around endlessly looking for an item, not my idea of fun. Odds that the three thrift stores within a mile of each other having what I want is almost 100% chance. The cost of gas these days is just not worth the adventure.
Two, haggling. My none confrontational personality did NOT like negotiating with people over price. I priced everything fairly, no more or even less than thrift store prices.
Three, lying. I REALLY don't think you just came to this country if you drive up in your Cadillac and speak perfect English. If you want everything for $5, just tell me.
But, despite the things I don't like...there were some great moment too.
Trent was my helper most of the morning. He acted as garage sale greeter and entertainment. Toddling out to the end of the driveway to say 'hi' to anyone who pulled up. Then, following them around babbling like a little salesman. It was awesome.
Rich went off to play tennis and took Nora with him. They returned an hour later with Andrew. The two amigos played in the sprinkler or slip and slide for the next three hours.
And for all this effort we did make over $200, much more than the pessimistic husband expected. HA!
Now for us to enjoy the rest of the weekend.
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