Okay, so this is really an update post...but I'm going to start by telling you about this really cool cleaning tool that I just discovered. I swear, it has changed. my. life.
I have carpet in every room except the front hall, kitchen, and bathrooms. So primarily I am a vacuum person. I love my vacuum, even though I have yet to find out how to properly do the steps. My steps are...ew. But everywhere else it works great. For the hard floors, I don't have big crumb issues (thank you, Shadow). But occasionally I really really need to sweep up the other debris that fills the nooks and crannies. I have gone through many many sweepers and attachments for my vacuum. None of them have worked very well. Most annoying is emptying the teeny tiny little filters...which I inevitably do in a messy manner...putting much of the dust back on the very floor I was trying to clean. The latest was a cordless/rechargeable electric sweeper. It was crap. I couldn't get the corners or the baseboards...which are the main problem area. So I have been using the little hose on my vacuum and sweeping up a square inch of flooring at a time. Annoying.
Then I bought a...wait for it...broom. I KNOW! Where the heck have I been? I've tried brooms before...but apparently using an outdoor broom is not so good for in the house. I bought this cute little angled broom with dustpan...and it is soooo different from an outside broom. It doesn't leave big pieces of straw behind, it angles so nicely under the table and in the corners. I just haven't yet figured out how to efficiently brush the pile of nast into the dustpan...but I'll get there. Maybe. So, anyway....just had to share.
What else? Oh! I was talking to my sister the other day and realized that I kind of forgot to mention to her and the rest of the world that Jeff has accepted a new position within his company. I wasn't allowed to share for the first week or two, and by the time I was allowed to it was so old news. I mean...we're not even MOVING or anything. It should fuel some really frustrated blogs, however, because Jeff will now be working in center city, Philly...which means he will take the train, which means he will leave our house at 6:30am and not return until 7pm. Um, -gulp-. I am trying not to freak out and instead focus on the fact that he is employed, making a good salary, and we're not moving. But secretly...shhhh, secretly...I don't wonder if I will wish we'd just moved rather than the children getting to see him for a whopping 30-60 minutes in the evening. Which would be more traumatic to them? But shhhhhhh, for cripes sake, don't tell HIM I'm thinking that. Seriously, I'm such a peach to be married to. "Don't move me...I can't handle another move." "Don't work late." "Don't travel too much." "I want to stay home with the kids and eat bon bons while you work all day." "I can't clean the house, the children are driving me crazy." Yah...I'm a gem ;)
Um, not much else...Oh! the No TV in July thing is going quite well. But it's really easy, since there is nothing even tempting on tv. It's like giving up hot cocoa for August, or promising not to wear bathing suits in December, or giving up going to the movies after you have kids. Really NOT a challenge. My book club is reading The Kite Runner, which I've already read, so I'm free to read whatever suits me. I just finished the book Replay by Ken Grimwood. I got it off of a Lost website, of all things. It was about a man who keeps repeating the last 25 years of his life...it was fun and interesting. I'm currently reading It, by Stephen King. I really like his stuff...although I haven't read many of his horror novels...this one is good so far. I'm not fully into the creepy part yet, though. It is 1,136 pages long. So that should take care of me for a while ;) Any suggestions? I like anything that's good. ;) Sci-fi, fantasy, historical...whatever. Just make sure it's not too educational. You couldn't pay me enough money to read the financial books that Jeff devours like candy. Or self-improvement books...ugh. I mean...what's there to improve? I've already showed my fabulousness in this post...discovering basic cleaning tools that humans have used for thousands of years...whining about my husband's job regardless of the choices he makes, challenging myself with non-challenges. Like I said...I'm a gem ;)
9 comments:
I feel your pain..from the time Frank leaves the house in the morning, I can count on 12 hours until I see him again- his commute is 75 minutes each way on a good day, 2 hours plus each way on a bad day. But that's the price we pay for living in a nice town, i guess!
You ARE a gem! It is tough having the husband gone for so long, especially those evening hours that just seem to drag.
I'm reading "Forgive Me" by Jane Eyre Ward right now, and it's pretty good... although it is also kind of a downer!
I admire your "no TV in July" policy. I wish I had the willpower!
Another broom benefit....it's quiet so you can clean while the kids are napping. Now there are no excuses. Who knew??
I've been a little MIA on the blogging front and I've missed you!
Good luck w/ the changes - it is always difficult to settle in a new normal.
You so had my hopes up that you'd discovered a great new tool for me to tackle the miles of tile in my house...arghhh...I'm convinced the only tool I'll be happy with is a maid.
I know I told you about "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare over the phone but I'll include it here in case you're like me and forget the title two minutes after hearing it. Or if you actually did write it down but later your kids used it to spit their gum in.
Thanks for making me laugh...I love your blog!
The traditional broom really is the unsung hero of cleaning tools...and none of those "broomvac" type things really does as good of a jb as they claim--although I use mine to suck up all the dirt that I sweep up with my old school broom. CONGRATS on Jeff's promo! Even though the changes might be tough, hopefully it is a worthwhile opportunity. I am impressed with your no TV initiative- I hope I can show the same restraint when I am home with 3 littles!
There aren't too may authors who can suck you into a world and make you care about the characters the way that Stephen King does when he's on top of his game. The worst part is when you finish and feel like you can't read anything else because it won't be as good.
Fortunately King has two other epic summer reads that may even be better. You'll find that The Stand is harder to put down than IT is (and you'll be able to move on from obsessing about clowns to the superflu), and The Talisman, written with Peter Straub, may be the best story he ever put to paper.
Greg-
You actually recommended The Talisman to me years and years ago...I think I read it in college. I LOVED it! And was so disappointed that Jeff wouldn't try it (grrr). And The Stand was fantastic. That was the first King novel that I read...it hooked me. In fact, I could probably re-read it, it has been so long I just remember the basic bones of the story and nothing else. I don't know how I missed It over the years...but I'm thoroughly enjoying the characterization and subtle terror it strikes in me. He is just a magician with words...
I'd love other suggestions from you...it seems we have similar taste in books ;)
Cool! I totally don't remember any of that but I'm glad you enjoyed those books. Here are two more:
Roots by Alex Haley. Probably an easier read than a King book and harder to put down. Haley tells the story of his ancestor coming over on a slave ship and focuses on the life of someone from each progressive generation until it comes to him. Each time he ended the story about one person and moved on to the next I'd be horribly disappointed because I didn't want their story to end. Then I'd be amazed to discover that the next person's story was even more compelling than the last. It also made me realize that most African Americans are more European than African.
Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins. I actually discovered this book through the recommendation by a character in a Stephen King novel. It's written as a series of diary entries by various characters and it was blatantly ripped off by Bram Stoker when he wrote the immensely inferior Dracula a few years later, which was totally ripped off by JK Rowling when she wrote Harry Potter. No vampires in this book, and it doesn't need any to be an amazing classic.
I have lots more if you like these!
Post a Comment