by jphilo | Dec 22, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
This post is of the good news/bad news variety. The good news is that my hand is healing well and regaining function rapidly. Therefore my therapy appointments are down to one a week, and the therapist said I can skip some of my exercises if I’m using my hand to complete daily household activities. The bad news will become apparent as you peruse this week’s top ten list of good-for-the-hand household activites.
10. Hanging clothes on the line. Not that I’m hanging clothes on the line at this time of year. But since the therapist makes me squeeze giant clothespins at every appointment, this activity makes the list.
9. So does clipping fingernails. Though it only comes up every couple of weeks.
8. Squeezing the toothpaste tube. Always starting at the bottom, of course.
7. Dusting. Knickknacks are good exercise for pincher movement. And dusting furniture limbers up the wrist.
6. Cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen. Scrubbing sinks, wiping counters, swabbing the toilet bowl, and attacking that grubby bathtub ring are ultimate multi-tasking activities.
5. Mopping floors. As in the on-your-hands-and-knees variety. The hands and knees part makes the wrist bend as its never bent before. The wringing out the rag part puts squeezing Ther-a-putty to shame.
4. Washing dishes. What could be better than scrubbing pots, wringing out rags, soaking hands in warm water?
3. Cleaning the kitchen. Which would be as intolerable as #10 through #4, except that #2 and #1, the reasons why the kitchen gets dirty, are the only items on the list I enjoy.
2. Cooking and baking.
1. Eating. As in everything created in #2.
See what I mean? Good new, bad news, a clean house, and a balanced diet for the first time in months. Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Mar 5, 2015 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- Have you heard the good news? A recent Swedish study says our clean houses may be causing allergies in kids. I plan to cut my cleaning efforts by half to celebrate.
- The good news is even better for this mom whose kids were grown and out of the house before the study came out. No need to worry about them using the results to get out of cleaning their rooms.
- However, would you please keep the news to yourself? The Man of Steel, who is also Chief Vacuum Officer at this house, doesn’t need to know.
How are you celebrating the good news?
by jphilo | Aug 10, 2009 | Daily Life
In the past few weeks, Hiram and I have made a considerable dent in the piles of furniture and boxes we’ve been storing since Mom broke up housekeeping. The most noticeable progress is in the extra garage stall, now free of the table and chairs Allen took to St. Paul, the bookshelf I painted and moved into my office, and two storage shelves Hiram moved to his shop downstairs. Once he hauls the remaining storage unit up to his office, Anne will be able to park in the garage for a night or two before she goes back to college.
As part of the organizational frenzy, I cleaned and reorganized my office files, nearly filling the recycling bin with old manuscripts and rejection letters. Then, I rewarded myself with new luggage, compliments of my birthday money and sweetly asked Hiram if he was ready to get rid of his yellow Samsonite college suitcase to make room for the new set.
Apparently, the last few months of inherited clutter have made him as determined to avoid saddling our kids with excessive baggage (no pun intended) when it’s our turn to break up housekeeping. He agreed to the proposition immediately and had the new luggage stowed in the closet and the old stuff out of the house before I could nag him about it.
This morning I walked past the suitcase sitting with the rest of the garbage out by the garage. Battered by years of use, misshapen after decades stuffed in one closet or another, and soggy after yesterday’s rain, it looked awful. I have no idea why we kept it around for so long. But yesterday, when I found this photo my mom took the day Hiram and I were engaged, I realized the suitcase isn’t the only thing that’s aged in the last thirty-five years. We have, too.
If we don’t let excess baggage weigh us down, I think we have more good years left in us than the suitcase does. So for the next few weeks, while I sort through closets and get rid of what we really can’t use, I’ll be checking for inward clutter, too, anything that will slow me down and hold me back. I don’t want those things anymore, can’t use them, don’t have time for them. If you see me coming your way, you might want to duck. I’m in a throwin’ mood, and nothing is sacred.
by jphilo | Apr 23, 2009 | Daily Life
Monday, when the forecast for a week of lovely weather came out, I knew it was my chance to wash windows. But, with writing deadlines to meet, I didn’t have a day for the project. Instead, I resolved to clean two windows a day as long as the good weather holds.
So far, I’m on track even though plumbing problems left us without water off and on for two days. The dirt and bug splat on the windows is appalling, and the number of dead Asian soy beetles nestled in every nook and cranny of the window frames and screens is mind-boggling. But, I persevere for one reason only. I’m listening to The Story of Edgar Sawtell on my iPod and can’t wait to see how the book ends.
After twenty-five years of reading stories to kids after lunch every day, having someone read to me is pure bliss, even if I’m doing housework while I listen. In fact, a person could judge the quality of the current selection on my iPod by the cleanliness of my house. Only a truly memorable book could make me eager to wash windows.
So forgive me if this post is a bit short, but the windows in Anne’s bedroom are calling. Well, the windows and Edgar Sawtell, which is amazing since he’s mute.
You want to know more? Start washing windows.
