housework

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I hate housework. 

I don't know anyone who likes it but a few who do it knowing it has to be done and that they want  to make their home the best it can be. 

Growing up, we had to clean a room in the house each week. We earned 50¢ for our effort. For some reason, I remember getting stuck with the bathroom way too often. I hated having to clean that room. The floors had to be mopped and I did it on my knees. Our bathroom was small and all seven of us used it. Yep, it was gross. 

As we got older, the boys moved out and all the housework fell to my sister and me and then finally just me. Our mom was not a taskmaster regarding housework. We only got paid when we did the work. She was lazy too. The only times we had to do chores was before holidays. Everything got cleaned before Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. During those times, mom was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm so didn't help with the work. And the mess she made in the kitchen!

I don't remember the whole family cleaning except a few times when mom wanted all the windows cleaned. The screens were removed and I had the job of scrubbing them clean with a brush and a hose full of very cold water. 

I do enjoy a clean house. I am not crazy. But I am lazy and hate to do with those little things that are so easily ignored. I have no problem doing the dishes and the laundry on a daily basis. Dusting, vacuuming and mopping are last on my to do list. 

Gail liked a clean house. He felt that a clean house was the equivalent of telling him "I love you." I didn't know this until after he died. After each boy was born, he put up with the mess and clutter for about three months. Then one day he would snap and yell. Gail did not mind doing the floors and I happily let him do them.

After Gail died, I had lots of free time once the boys were in school. I started really cleaning the house. I picked a room each day and did a big clean. This lasted for a few months. Until I joined the YMCA. And discovered scrapbooking. I went back to doing a crazy clean before I hosted a scrapbooking evening. 

When I began my online business, I got very lazy with housework. I cringe when I see old photos and the boxes and boxes and crap all over the house. I did a major clean in 2008. My siblings were coming to celebrate my dad turning 80. I let things go again after that but not nearly as bad. 

There were times when I read posts like How to Clean Your House for 20 minutes a day for 30 Days. But I had to do a big clean first. And I kept putting it off. Then my sister planned to visit. My sister is good at housework. I think she likes cleaning. With her husband working from home, she couldn't sit around like Peg Bundy eating Bon bons and watching tv.  Not that Nancy is anything like Peg Bundy. But I think Charlie expected her to be home and cleaning. Anyway, she is picky about a clean house I knew I had to do something. 

So a month ago, I started cleaning. I cleaned so much I broke my vacuum. The house is not spotless. I just can't work that hard. But it is good and I feel good. Now is the time to start a good routine and keep it that way. 

I looked for some cleaning routines to adopt. I found a few check lists and saved them. Then I remembered about seeing an iPhone with cleaning routines. I checked a few out and downloaded HomeRoutines. 

HomeRoutines comes with some tasks already loaded and suggested room zones. I did some modifications and started using the app yesterday.  Then I realized this was just another to do app with repeating tasks. I already have an app like that did I really want another app to open and keep track? Nope. So last night and this morning, I entered those tasks into Reminders. 

HomeRoutines is a good app if all you want it to get working on good home cleaning tasks and don't want to think about how to set it up in Reminders or Things. 

The added tasks make my to do list look long. But they don't take much time to complete and I feel very good when I check them off. Without anyone to keep me accountable, Reminders helps.

Here are some more posts about house cleaning routines:

Better Homes & Gardens Setting Up Cleaning Routines

Organizing Made Fun 15 Minutes Day?

My 3 Monsters Housekeeping

24 7 Moms Clean Your House in 15 Minutes a Day!

Real Simple Daily Quick Cleaning Checklist

Angela Says A 30 Day Cleaning Challenge

world wide photo walk

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Saturday was Scott Kelby's Fifth Annual World Wide Photo Walk. This is my fourth year. On the day it was announced, I went to sign up and found RC's walk already full. Scott Kelby was not going to be Tampa that day so all of his fans joined RC's walk. I signed up on the wait list. I checked daily until Matt posted his walk for Dunedin and I switched. I emailed my friends but no one responded. 

When I talked to Bridget, she told me she forgot to sign up. I said she should tag along. Anyone can go but only those who signed up can post photos and enter the contest. Neither one of us are interested in that. I talked to Doyle earlier in the week but he was unsure if he could go. He is usually his daughter's chauffeur on the weekends.

Bridget picked me up and we went to Dunedin. Doyle called on the way and said he would be joining us too. 

The meeting place just said "benches" so we had to guess which benches Matt was referring to. I thought it was the Dunedin Historical Museum next to the Pinellas trail. Soon others joined us. Matt showed up and walked over to us. He seemed nice but is not chatty. Matt did his spiel and used his iPhone 5 to take a panorama shot of the group. Matt's spiel was much shorter than Jeff's. Matt wasn't trying to sell anything.

The three of us walked around. In the four years since my first photo walk, they have painted a few of the buildings. There is still a lot of good color. 

We didn't take that many photos but that was fine. We had a good time. I sort of felt like an old pro since we had many of the shots others were taking. We walked up to the old oak tree held together with large steel cables. I could find any I information about it online. 

We walked back towards the shops and saw Matt. He said lunch had been changed to Casa Tina. They were the only place willing to accommodate us. 

We walked down to the water and walked around. Doyle was dressed for cooler weather and was hot. At 11:30 I suggested we go to the restaurant and he a drink. Bridget was all for that. 

We walked past other restaurants and they were already full. Casa Tina was fairly empty. They had an area set up for us and we grabbed one of the round booths. Bridget got a sangria and I got a margarita. Doyle stuck with tea. 

We were not the first ones for long. Service was a bit slow but the food was good. We tried to take some panos with my iPhone. It is not that easy. 

Doyle did not take many photos. Be never laid down on the ground. 

We left and drove back. Bridget & I stopped at Yogurtology.

I posted images at Flickr.​

​I made a digital layout.

podcasts

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I am still enjoying podcasts. Way too many of them. I am lucky if I can get through all the ones I download in a week. I am learning to be more discerning with my time an fast forward through ones that do not interest me. I am a child of limited TV channels and no DVRs so I tend to listen to things I find boring hoping to get to the more interesting stuff soon. I have to keep remembering that there is so much information and entertainment. So much content, that I can be choosy. 

I only listen to one podcast since I started listening was back in 2003 or 2004. MacGeekGab is still going strong and is still relevant.  I now listen through Instacast on my iPhone. I tried to listen with my iPad but it tends to crash with Instacast. Instacast allows me to have playlists. 

My playlist called safe is my most used playlist. This includes most of my NPR podcasts and all of my tech podcasts from networks like 5by5 and 70 Decibels. 

My humor playlist contains all the podcasts that may contain swearing. I don't always wear headphones and need to be aware of who might also be listening. I don't worry about my kids hearing such language. They know they cannot repeat these words. They listen to George Carlin and know which bits to repeat. It is my father who objects to poor and filthy language. I understand him not like the swearing but he also objects to hearing "Oh my God!" and when a podcaster uses such phrases as "you know" too often. Several times he has counted how many times that phrase was said and told me after the podcast was over. I tend to tune that out so I can enjoy the podcast. It is difficult when dad points it out. Most of these podcasts are listened to with headphones while I am walking. 

My third playlist is called music. Several of the NPR podcasts are about music. I tend to listen to this playlist last if I have time at the end of the weekend. The quality isn't so good listening through the iPhone speaker but I am listening to learn about new music or the artists. 

bok tower gardens & pinewood estate

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Bridget went back to work and now we don't see each very often. She wanted to go shoot something and I was up for it. She suggested Bok Tower. It was on my list of places I wanted to go but haven't been. It is in Lake Wales, farther than Legoland. In fact, we passed Legoland on the drive there. 

We decided to do both the gardens and the Pinewood Estate. Tickets for both were $18 per person. 

We got there about 9:30 and found the place not crowded at all. We walked through the visitors center but skipped the movie. We walked up the hill to Bok Tower. As we approached, the clouds cleared up enough that we got some beautiful blue sky to serve as a backdrop for the limestone tower. We could not get too close to the tower as there was a moat. 

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We walked back down the hill to a pond with giant lily pads. They were probably 30" across. Someone was feeding the hidden fish. We saw a heron fly down and climb through the shrubs to get close to the fish. He managed to snatch one out of the water and gulp it down. We tried to get some photos but the plants obscured him. 

We ended back at the visitor center and there were many more people. We got a map and found that we had to climb the hill once more to get to the Pinewood Estate. We walked around the house and shot some of the landscape. The gardens were designed before the house why the Olmsted Brothers. Then we swatted at mosquitos while we waited for the tours to begin. 

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Thankfully the house was air conditioned. They referred to it as mansion but I do not think it was that large. It did have servant quarters over the three car garage. There were also five large bathrooms each with its own bath. There was a lot of beautiful tile and woodwork. The house was originally built in the 1930's as a winter retreat and only used 6-8 weeks per year. 

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Bok Tower has daily concerts but we were ready to go. We were hungry and we went to Tijuana Flats for lunch. 

You can see more photos at Flickr.​

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a visit to the doctor

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I procrastinated again. Andy brought home the special olympics application form a couple of weeks ago. I did not make an appointment for a physical until Wednesday. On Tuesday, I went to the high school for Open House. We learned that the form had to be in by September 7! Crud. 

I made a reminder to call 9 am on Wednesday. And when the alarm sounded, I called the doctor Andy saw 3 years ago. However, Dr. Sikes no longer gives physicals for Special Olympics. Double crud. Now I had to find a doctor and pay for the exam. 

I called Andy's pediatrician. Andy is no longer in their system, his pediatrician no longer works at that office and they have no appointments before Friday. I call another office. They do have an appointment for Thursday at 11:00. They told me to bring Andy's immunization record. I looked in his binder and saw that we had not been to see this pediatrician since 2002. 

Because of the autism, we did not go to the doctor unless necessary. We saw plenty of specialists and each visit was stressful. The boys got sick but not anything more than a cold or flu. Nothing that required a doctor visit nor antibiotics. For immunizations, we went to the county clinic because they were free and didn't require an appointment nor exam.

When Andy got home, he asked about the appointment. He would be happy to go back to Dr. Sikes. He recalled that the restroom only had one toilet and no stalls. I told him about the new office. He seemed OK with it especially knowing he would get out of school early.

I got to the school early. I never know if it is going to be a problem bringing him to the office. Also, new school, new procedures. There were no problems and we got to the doctor's office early. It was good because I had so much paperwork to fill out. They even gave Andy his out confidential questionnaire regarding drugs and sex. It was in its own folder so he could fill it out and give it to the doctor without me seeing. I filled it out for Andy. If there is a benefit to autism, I am pretty sure my boys will not smoke nor take drugs as they are so picking about eating. Neither boy will take medication and would rather cough that take cough syrup.

We were alone in the well child waiting room for a few minutes. Two women came in with a toddler. He was loud but happy. He screeched and soon got on Andy's nerves. I was ready to take him out but the mother noticed and offered. I thanked her for her generosity. Another mother and son came in. This toddler was quiet and Andy was not bother by his presence.

We were called back and they weighed Andy, 168 pounds, took his temperature, and measured his height, 72". He did not want the “squeeze” so they skipped the blood pressure. We went into a room and finished the paperwork and handed it over. Andy walked around the room and then sat on the exam table. He did not like the paper rustling under him. He didn't like that it ripped.

The doctor came in and gave the exam. Andy was hesitant but the older doctor was patient. He asked me some questions and said he would skip the genital exam. Whew! We were done and ready to go. We had to wait a while for the doctor to get the charges posted on the computer. Andy waited outside under the covered area.

I was happy to see the charges were only $40. The clerk explained that I was charged the camp physical fee. That made sense because it was not a true comprehensive exam.

It was raining heavily and didn't look like it would be stopping soon. Andy did not want to get wet so I ran for the car. And by ran I mean jogged as quickly as my fat self could go. I got soaked. I picked Andy up so he could remain dry. 

We drove down to Chick Fil A for lunch. Andy chose the one farther away. It would have been a good choice but he chose the Interstate rather than the direct route straight down Livingston. Oh well. Then we drove back up to Toys R Us. I wanted to look for more series 8 Minifigures and I felt Andy deserved a treat for behaving well. There were only 6 Lego bags left and I took them all knowing that at least three were figures I already had. Andy was happy to look for Grem and Acer from Cars 2. He played with them the whole way home.

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no school

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There was no school today because of Tropical Storm Isaac. Manatee County declared schools closed on Saturday. Sunday morning, Polk County declared schools closed for Monday. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando Counties followed suit. Finally, around 4pm, Pasco County announced school would be closed Monday. 

Hurricane Days don't happen very often. We had more Snow Days in Michigan. And when we had a Snow Day, we never stayed home. We would go shopping or meet the other teachers for breakfast at The Rams Horn. We would brave the unplowed streets for non-essential journeys. 

Ryan would never venture out in a storm if his life depended on it. He only feels safe at home and when his family is home too. 

I had a chiropractor appointment scheduled for Monday. I would have gone if the boys were in going to school. But I changed it. The winds were done before noon but still Andy wanted to stay home. I did have to go out together bread for grilled cheese. The weather was fine and the store was relatively quiet.

I think they called the day off preemptively. The storm was well off the coast and not very strong.

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breakfast at marne's

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My grandparents lived 5 houses down through the alley Surprisingly, we weren't over there all the time. Marne and Grandpa were busy and not always home when we were little. 

My three bothers had paper routes and Sundays were a big day. Marne would make them breakfast after their routes. Sometimes we got to join them.

Marne was not the best cook. But one meal I loved eating over there was breakfast. The menu rarely varied, scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits. I loved her scrambled eggs, they were thick and fluffy and peppery. I was told later that they were runny but I don't remember or maybe I liked them that way. The bacon was never a favorite of mine, it always seemed too tough. I am not a fan of bacon even cooked well. The star of the breakfast were the biscuits. Marne started with 2 cans of Hungry Jack biscuits. This was the day without flavors like honey butter and the easy open can. She had to whack the can on the counter to get them to open. She placed them packed tightly in 2 pie plates. Then she added some butter to the insides and the tops of the biscuits and set them in the oven to bake. They took a while to bake because they were so tightly packed and she added so much butter to them. 

When they were done (and sometimes they had to be put back in the oven for a few minutes) we each got one. We added more butter and honey to them and ate them with our fingers. So yummy. So fattening. There were usually enough for 2 biscuits for each person, the boys usually got 3 because of all of their hard work. Rarely were there leftovers. 

My grandparents lived in a flat. They rarely ate in the dining room, the kitchen table was usually against the window and as small as it could be made. For the 2 of them, eating in the kitchen was fine. Add the 7 of us and it was packed. Grandpa had the back porch enclosed and we ate out there whenever it wasn't too cold. He added an electric fireplace to add heat but only the person sitting in front of it could feel it.

After Grandpa died, my brother Greg lived with Marne for a while. She found out he like blueberry muffins and that was added to the breakfast menu. Yes, Marne still made biscuits. In fact, Marne made biscuits even when we ate dinner over there. Greg, got his own small blueberry muffin pie. 

My mom developed her own special biscuits. She took 2 cans of Hungry Jack biscuits, dipped each biscuit in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar. She baked them in a 13x9 pan. Oh my goodness! They were so good. She only made them at the cottage and only a few times a year. Hungry Jack came out with a cinnamon biscuit, a poor imitation. 

I used to make biscuits for the boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We still used Hungry Jack but switched to Honey Butter. They are good enough to eat plain. First Ryan stopped eating biscuits. Then Andy stopped. 

Now the only time I get biscuits is when I got out for breakfast, maybe once a year. 

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chick fil a & gay rights

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My boys are very picky eaters.  

When the boys went through the typical toddler aversion to food, I did not worry. I assumed that they would go back to eating more food like every other kids. But I was wrong. They were diagnosed with autism and their picky eating habits became worse. Mother wisdom would say to put the food out for the kid and they will eat or go hungry, they won't starve themselves. Mother wisdom did not have kids with autism. They will starve themselves rather than eat something they don't want. This was the main reason I never tried the gluten free/casein free diet that is supposed to be beneficial for people with autism. 

My boys eat the same things day after day, week after week. It makes meal planning simple but makes going out difficult. We can't just go out to eat. We can't just pick a place and find something the boys will eat. When we do go out, we  have to stop at Chick Fil A for Andy and McDonald's for Ryan. Ryan prefers fries from McDonald's. He will not eat fries from Chick Fil A. He just won't eat. I know Ryan will eat fries from McDonald's. He used to prefer fries from Wendy's until they change their process. I know that Andy will eat chicken selects and fries from McDonald's. He will eat fries and nuggets from Chick Fil A. He may or may not eat fries from Burger King or Wendy's.

This means we have two reliable places to eat when we go out. So when I started seeing tweets about Chick Fil A and gay rights, I became concerned. The tweets claim that Chick Fil A is anti-gay because they support pro-family organizations. This bothers me. I support gay rights. I support equal rights for everyone. I also like the food and service at Chick Fil A. The choice is not that easy. 

If I stop eating at Chick Fil A for political reasons, what can I substitute? We tried PDQ and Andy did not like it. If we only go to McDonald's, what happens if they stop making chicken selects? 

I have to choose my battles. I will continue to go to Chick Fil A when I am with Andy. But I will not go there by myself, no matter how good the tea is.

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we have to move

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I hate snakes. Hate them!

I take a quick shower at night. Living in Florida, you tend to sweat 11 months out of the year. I like to go to bed not feeling sticky. I took my shower, dried off then went to clean the hair from the drain. I saw something in the corner. Very dark like some black cord. Oh my god! It is a snake. No one to help, I shut the shower door and hope it goes back the way it came. 

It took me a while to get to sleep. 

I woke up at 2 am having to pee. The snake is now outside of the shower! How the hell did he get through the door? He is in the corner next to where the water closet is. I step closer hoping he will go away. He hesitates but does not leave. I walk past him and go to pee. I cannot. I cannot relax enough. I have to force myself to relax and pee.

I go back through the bath and he is still there. I go to bed hoping he will go away. It takes longer to get back to sleep. 

Ryan gets up at 5 am. He comes into my bath to put on deodorant and brush his teeth. I am waiting to hear him yelp or scream but he does not. He doesn't use my toilet so maybe he didn't see the snake. 

I lie in bed until 6 am. I get up and take a deep breadth before I walk into the bathroom. I turn on the light and the snake is gone. He is not on the floor an not in the shower. Did he go away or did he slither to another part of the house? 

Every time I go into the bathroom, I expect to see the snake. I don't. But I walk on eggshells. 

On Monday morning, I got walking in the morning. I tend to keep my head down because the sun is low. I see the small black snake almost too late. I walk around him but he doesn't move. As I loop back, I see he still hasn't moved. He is probably dead. 

I need to move.

It has been a week. Most of the time, I look for the snake. Occasionally, I forget. 

I guess we won't move just yet.

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early morning spice

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I was walking Saturday morning. I rounded the corner onto FG and saw a gentleman come out of his house. I have seen him before, usually coming home from his walk/run. His shirt is typically soaked with sweat. 
He started out slow, and I began to catch up to him. As I got closer, I noticed a fragrant odor. Was someone cooking onions at 7 am or did this guy wear the same clothes day after day without washing them? 
He started picking up pace so I could not pass him. Finally, we reached the intersection where he continued straight and I turned onto ES. The smell faded away so I assumed this guy was ripe before he even got started. 
I continued on my walk and didn't think about him. I do a somewhat figure eight route and as I turned from ES back to FG, the smell came back. The gentleman was nowhere in site so I knew it wasn't him. Someone had been fixing their breakfast. 
The next morning I had the thought that maybe he thought it was me and that is why he picked up his pace!