My house looks like a wreck!

As long as it don't get to bright for your houseplants!

LOL well I'm afraid to say my house is finally clean for fear I'll be stoned to death. But house is clean and groceries bought, bread and tortilla's made. Only thing left for the morning is to find a person at one of the fruit stands with nice tomatoe's to make the salsa from and make the bed.

Guys are 99.9% done putting up the siding so by Monday I'll have my yard back so I can put my plants back closer to the porch so I can sit and watch them grow *G* Can't wait to get the yard cut and all the equipment out so I can stand back and see the finished product.

Saint

BTW does anyone have any idea HOW my washer gets so dirty?

Hmmm I was thinking more like forced labor!! No way on sauerkraut and hot dogs. Must be my antibiotics, but smell of vitamins and meds makes me sick. Lock on the fridge? How is she going to cook me supper? Hasn't done in 1-1/2 mos, since I withdrew from law school. Told her just now, gotta start doing again! They gotta start pulling their weight, after all, they want DGM to come. Might have to cut back on time spend on here for a little while... oh no, perish the thought! ~ Suzi :)

Well, I was basically a good girl. I cleaned the bathrooms, washed some clothes and took out that little vac I wear on my shoulder (can't remember the name) but it does okay. Didn't take out the rainbow today. We had a good supper, so all in all I guess I managed to do alright. I think the house looks a bit better. hubby is a sweetie, as he never says a thing. Since I'm new on DG I didn't think I had done too bad this week. *smile*.

I just read this whole thread start to finish - you have all - (well, MOST of you, don't want to mention names,) given me laugh after laugh...What is this "flylady" thing, by the way? Sounds really scarey! But the 15 minute cleaning gigs - well that works for me every now and then. Problem is - housework is so boring. And never done...Of course, the quack grass digging I am doing outside is never done either...I work at it year after year after year...Why do I have so much energy and stamina for that? I spent most of the day outside today - digging, dividing, pulling, pruning, etc....How can I work so hard outdoors, but faint with exhaustion after washing a load of dishes?

I loved the quote about how much better the house, etc. looks if you take your glasses off. Would you believe...that's my sanity preserving denial technique? It got to be such a habit that I was always forgetting where I put my glasses. Had to think back to my last MY GAWD moment...But I solved that problem by putting my glasses on a neckchain. Maybe I could have a sign by the door next to the welcome mat - "Please remove glasses" - you know, like the Japanese do - remove their shoes when they come inside the door.... What do you think?

LOL I'm picturing one of those signs at the front door with a pair of glasses and the red circle around them with the slash....
As my sons say, "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt!"
As a matter of fact, I tell them, "it takes dirt to grow some of the most beautiful things in the world. Now , go wash your hands!"

I laughed until I cryed when I read your post Hellobebe and McGregor ... sounds like such a wonderful idea to me! *smile* I definitely want one of those signs! I learned a long time ago that a little bit of dirt never hurt anybody. I grew up in a house where everything had to be so so, you couldn't even sit on the bed. I promised myself I wouldn't be like that when I married. Well, the Lord took me serious. Opisits DO attract, I guess because my husband definitely isn't a neat freak like me. I have had to learn tolerance. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. The housework will still be there! I thank God I have a house to clean!

"Thank God I have a house to clean"-That says it beautifully and puts it in perspective does'nt it. Instead of worrying over it, it's best to be thankful we have it to worry over-there's certainly too many who don't. Thanks for the reminder that our homes are blessings. Life's too short to just look at them as burdons.

Gosh I never had to worry about my mother-in-law. In all of 30 years she only visited our house once. lol She was a worse housekeeper than I too so I didn't do anything in anticipation of her arrival. My Father-in-law is now in a nursing home but he used to just show up with his disabled wife for a week or ten day stay. Unannounced too!!!!!!!!!!!

It has now been 4 weeks since my house was vaccummed and due to my hip replacement surgery I am not going to push that vaccuum yet!!!!!! I have newspapers piled up in an area of our living room that need to go to the recycle but I can't do that for now so they will wait. I have blankets and bedroom pillows in the living room because the recliner is soooooo comfy that I end up sleeping in there and can't remove the evidence until my DH comes home and carries it to the bedroom for me. He put it out there about two nights ago. lol My kitchen is a mess because I have had two men doing all the cooking that needs to be done to maintain our ample figures and do any of you know men who will clean up perfectly. lol Heck I don't even clean up perfectly!!! (woops)

I would love to change the grease on the kitchen fan but I am not allowed to get onto a stool to do that. I talked one of my men into putting my laundry into the washer but it has now been a full day and no man is around to remove it from the washer and put it into the dryer. Where are those men???? I think they ran away from home because it is getting to be too much work now due to my asking for clean clothes. Our laundry area is too small to get my walker into so that is why I am not able to wash my clothes.

I DID get some dusting done today!!! YAY!!!!!!! Can't get to the mantle so that dust remains an inch deep. Any of you who live in the country out in the dusty dry west will understand that dust is so deep that you could plant trees in the house after over four weeks of non dusting. Not my idea of where I want my trees growing though.

ANYBODY KNOW WHERE I CAN HIRE A HOUSEKEEPER???????

Heck I would have to clean house before the housekeeper came. HUGE SIGHHHH

Ponditis: (Does that mean you are a nut about ponds?) Yes, I know what you mean about having to clean before you would let a housekeeper in the door!!! Don't think I could get up the nerve, although I have considered it at times...Hope you are feeling better real soon. It must be frustrating not to be able to go out and work on your garden this time of year?

LMAO!!! This thread is hilarious! Yea....*sighs* the gardening is done for the day...BUT I really don't feel like cleaning....laundry is the worst it's been in months...have a load in the washer and a load in the dryer...I have a room just for laundry...but...it's disasterous! So....after I pick up my daughter from school...I'm dedicating myself to the "viscious circle" I know as laundry. BUT my plants outside look amazing...I planted my Iochroma's in containers and they're already blooming! I planted some canna's and just seperated a bunch of hosta's I got in the mail today. So the last thing I really want to do is laundry. I thought that is why I had kids?? LOL teenagers are not kids...they're aliens with bottomless pits and phones growing from their ears!! LOL

Well...ladies...have fun...I have to do laundry ugh! LOL

I keep telling you guys, "will work for food" needs to apply to kids, husbands and everyone else in the house! When mine were little they thought housework was fun. Then they wised up, and instead of an allowance, I hid money around the house. Coins where I needed something dusted, $1 UNDER the dirty pots and pans on the kitchen counter, or tucked under the box of dishwasher soap. They quickly learned that I put no more effort into cooking, than they did into cleaning.

But then they went and grew up and moved out! Anyone got a couple of kids to give away? I need some slave labor!

lmao Terre_! Great idea...hiding money....or maybe kitchen passes to do certain things...you might be on to something! LOL

My neice would have just found the $ and not done the work, LOL.

LOL darius! If she's a driving teen....yea...sounds like the case. Grab the money and out to the nearest gas-station LOL Thankfully...my 16 year old doesn't have a desire to drive...and I'm in no hurry for her to drive...that was not the case a couple of months ago...I was looking forward to a "gopher" store..etc...but DH reminded me of insurance and gas prices...ugh!!

Mine tried the "take it and run" concept once. They ate whatever leftovers were in the fridge for a week! And I made darn sure those were some pretty unfavorite leftovers.

I was lucky, I rarely had issues with my girls. They never pushed me. To hear them tell it now, they always figured if they screwed up, Mom would massively beat them, but when I asked, they could only remember two or three times they ever got spanked. One of them did say that Mom could find a corner to stand them in, in a round room. I must have gotten my bluff in early.

Got a new slogan for a wall plaque: My House is a Wreck,
But my Garden is Paradise! Can anyone think of a better word than paradise that would be the opposite of Wreck? Or rhyme or something....I have been gardening sunup to sundown lately, and I am a "wreck", as well as my house! But a happy wreck!

I asked my DD for a poem for you. Here is her contribution:

My house is a wreck,
But, hey, what the heck?
Instead, I go outside,
To see my garden, my pride!

By Teri (Wonder if she was secretly thinking of me?!) ~ Suzi :)

Love it, love it, love it!
Last night, I advised everyone who cared to listen, until June, no visitors to the inside!
I will do the basics, yes I like clean clothes, and the dishes and vacuuming will be done, but beyond that...my yard comes first.
Any complaints? The broom and the dustpan is in the corner, and the windex is in the cupboard. No one spoke up. LOL

That's an adorable poem! Bet your garden isn't your only pride!

Terre,

I am SO very fortunate! I am very proud of both these girls; also my 2 step-dau + 3 GC in NY. Got the divorce after almost 19 yrs, but kept the step-dau and MIL... I've never been accused of being "normal" - LOL

As of now, have lots of dif fruits, giant rhodo, peonies, lots of roses and a few flowers. Plus put in tomatoes every year. So, my garden is not a real garden yet. Not until I plant the many dif types of seeds that I have rec'd from all these DGers and see lots of flowers and such.

No DH, it's only me, so if I don't want to spend the time inside after work or on the weekends, then I am outside working. That is where I would rather be, too. Many projects need my attention now, like getting rest of back hedges out so I can install fence [to protect garden from deer and rabbits], finish upstairs drywalling, plant these new roses and fruit trees, etc...

Except my step mother is coming, June 11-12, so I have to do inside too... darn it. It won't be fantastically clean, but liveable. ~ Suzi :)

Suzi, thank your daughter for me! I changed one line, and plan to make a plaque for the entry way!!!
(line #3 - But please, go outside,) Good luck with your garden, AND your house!

My house is a wreck,
But, hey, what the heck?
But please, go outside,
To see my garden, my pride!

I'd have to change one of the but's. How about:

My house is a wreck.
Hey, what the heck?
But please, go outside,
To see my garden, my pride!
-by Teri Gitto

Happy Mother's Day, Ladies!! May your gardens come alive for you, each and every day! ~ Suzi :)

Now you need to put it on a rock/sign and market it! The american way....letting the consumer reap the benefits of your creativity..not to mention some pocket money LOL

Watch out, she will want royalties/commission, LOL. Hmmmmm - Put her by-line on it, send us one and I'll tell her it was her mother's day present to me... ~ Suzi :)

Sure then you could blame not getting the house cleaned on having to paint rocks with your poem. At least you could paint outside in your pride. lol

Talk about shedding I have 2 pugs that are going through a massive shedding sped right now. Come to think of it they shed all year long. I have two quilts I need to get finished. A king size that all I need to do is to get the backing pressed and taken to my brothers to be quilted, then I have a lap that all is needed is the long side border to be sewn on and buy some backing then go into my good friends house and quilt it. But you know I am outside more then I am inside. Will then my house, I do get my bed made in the morning, oh no, I'm out of here I haven't made my bed yet. Talk to you all later.

LOL I do the same thing too...if I don't do anything...at least my bed is made! I didn't used to do that though...until I got married. DH made the bed all the time...I guess I just started getting into the habit. My laundry...which I'm still battling...is a whole other thing.

Well, I guess I'm the opposite. I get up in the morning check my e-mails while I have coffee ... water the plants and when hubby leaves it's the mad bumple bee rush! I always do the front part of the house that everyone will see if they drop by. It seems I never make it back to the bedroom. And the laundry! Well, we're either the cleanest people or the dirtiest, because I'm always washing! *smile*

Will I finally got my bed made about 5 hours later. But I did get some other important things done, repotted two EE's and watered a few plants. I just got out of the shower thank god no one dropped by, because as bad as I stunk they wouldn't of stayed long. Then of course there is this computer and the DG link that I can't tear myself away from. Whats a girl to do??

I've just about got my house back! The tuberous begonias and caladiums are in the ground and no longer occupying half the surfaces in the house. Yes, that's right, I can see surfaces again. Still have a pile of nursery catalogs to find a home for(can't toss those just yet), but it's finally coming around. I even did some dusting-suprised even myself! Of course it all has to do with supper club meeting at my house this weekend, but whatever the insentive, it's nice to see the house instead of clutter again. The supper club is 8 friends(5 households)that meet about every 6 weeks and each household brings a course. We alternate who chooses the theme and who does entree, 2 sides, appitizer, and dessert. It's a great way for us to schedule time together. Most supper clubs like this alternate between each others homes as well, but since I'm the only one of us who has room to accomadate everyone, we always meet here. Until gardening season hit, that was my deadline for having the house in good shape, but for the last couple of times its just been a matter of making sure the dining room table and kitchen were in good shape. These are close friends I don't mind seeing my chaos! Our theme this time is a Victorian garden party, so everything outside needs to be preened and pretty, but since that's all I've been obsessing on since spring came that part is no problem. Should be smooth sailing from now until fall, when bulb digging and bringing in houseplants turns it all upside down again!

geminisage: All you need is a greenhouse/garden room to put your plants and garden clutter in! Simple, isn't it?
This one should probably be in the prayer request forum: I've got 10 days to pull my house/garden together (help! not enough room to hide all the clutter!) for my youngest son's graduation party. And our morning milker just hurt his back.
Aaaaargh!!! Panic city!!!

Proud of you Gemini-Sage!!

Good Luck Caitlinsgarden!!

Good idea caitlinsgarden! LOL "God grant me the greenhouse you know I need so much" has to be added to my morning prayers!

The kids get out of school next week. They will be happy to know that I am recruiting them for windows and painting.

Hey bluegrass425 ... may I borrow your kids? I don't have any and the DH has been painting our house for a year!

LOL IO1 I thought you and I had figured out a way to get painters *wink*

Well now Saint ... it never hurts to have a backup plan! *smile*

It's 100+ degrees outside today, so I'm holed up inside unearthing great DG threads like this one. I should be cleaning since I can't go out, but I'm still recovering from having company for a whole week. I have to go back to work tomorrow so I'm rationalizing that today will be a lazy last vacation day. Fabulous to find a thread that supports my desire to ignore the dust elephants!

Welcome aboard azurebloom! Great to have you on here! Saw your posts on the handyman forum too. That sounds like good reasoning to me too!!

My 2 dau are in NY visiting their Dad, so why should I spend my time cleaning?! That and I threw my back out. So, I am under dr orders to not do any lifting, cleaning, mowing, (YAY!) watering except by hose (bucket in rain barrel is how messed it up) etc. Go back and forth btw bed and computer chair... IF only I could get comfortable, I could enjoy the dr orders!! ~ Suzi ♥