I ought to...

I should be running around now like a chicken with its head cut off, but instead I'm sitting here cool as a cucumber writing this post. I am a terrible housewife and think I can pull the whole thing off in less than one hour. I probably will too. I'll pretend to be in great haste and speed through my chores like a mad Tasmanian Devil and get them done in the shortest amount of time. Well, I don't have to pretend to be in great haste, I will actually be so, because J. will be here at 2 pm and I better be done by then. Do you think I like to live on the edge? I would say I do.

I was up part of the night and went to bed early in the morning. The alarm clock woke me at 7 am, but I shut it off, of course, and went back to sleep. When I was ready to wake up, I really wasn't. I could have slept some more and I've needed two cups of coffee to wake up properly and many cigarettes. My addictions have been adequately fed now and I am just about ready to face the inevitability of the day.

We're going to have rain showers today, but it is actually going to be warm for the time of year. A whole 16C, that is 60F for you Americans. It is unheard of.

I'm going to rattle through this post as fast as I can and only tell you things that happen to pop up in my head randomly. Oh yes, I posted a new story on my writing blog. You know where to find it. At least I hope you do. If you don't, you can find it here. There, I helped you out after all. Now there's no excuse not to go and read it. It's a six sentences.

I must remember to not slump in the chair, but to sit upright, because it is better for my back. Sometimes I'm leaning way over to the left and I wonder why I can't see the keyboard properly. Right now I'm doing my best to sit up straight with both feet planted firmly on the ground, and believe me, it is a much better position to be in. It's so easy to forget good habits and to let yourself sit like a sack of potatoes, resulting in all sorts of aches in your body that are unnecessary. The thing to remember is to have both feet on the ground and both buns planted firmly in the chair and to have your back straight and self supporting.

I think my mattress must be a very good one, because I rarely wake up with a backache. It is a firm one and the underlying system is firm too. It doesn't give a lot. I had to get used to it when I first had it and I thought it was too firm and I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep on it, but now that I've had it for more than a year, I must say that it has been good for me and that I seldom have backaches anymore. But I do get muscle aches from sitting incorrectly in the computer chair and because of the curve in my spine, I will always have that tendency to lean to the left.

Lord, if that's the worst of it, then I don't have much to complain about. I will count my blessings as I discover them and remember to look for them in all the right places. They shouldn't be too hard to find.

This opposed to the situation my blogging friend Maggie May finds herself in. It would be very good of you if you stopped by her blog and sent her some good thoughts and well wishes, because she sure can use them now. She just discovered that she has secondary cancer and has to deal with that fact and it is very difficult, but she's a real trooper. It makes me want to count my blessings all the more and appreciate my good health every day of my life. From one day to the next, you can suddenly find yourself in a completely life altering situation.

The animals are becoming unruly and want to be fed and watered. My plants want to be watered too. I forgot to do that last week and they look a little dry, especially now that I have the heater on. Actually, the heater goes on seldom, because it does stay warm in here very well. I have the thermometer set at 20C and I feel the radiators every once in a while, but very often they are cold, meaning the space is warm enough. Bless my neighbors for that.

I need to get the show on the road now and get dressed and start cleaning. I'll whip that vacuum cleaner through the apartment so fast, I'll be like Speedy Gonzalez. And mop that bathroom floor. Nothing can defeat me. I'll do it with the greatest of ease and all the muscle power I have.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and that you don't have all those ran showers like we are having. Unless you need them, of course. Maybe you are in a very dry part of the world.

Ciao,
Nora

Speedy Gonzalez.

I've made a list of chores and I've divided it room by room to keep it manageable, except that I didn't know which room to put the ironing under so it's in a category all by itself. I suppose that would be under the header "miscellaneous." Equally with organizing clothes, although that could go under the header "Junk room," because that's where my closet is. I only have "wash windows" there now.

It helps too break it down in segments, otherwise it becomes unmanageable and you just end up with a very long and intimidating list, This way I can go from room to room, even if I'm not completely done in one room.

I completely cleaned the bathroom, except for the shower basin and the tiles under the wash basin. I had crawled around on my knees washing the floor and thought that was enough of that and quit, but I crossed off all the other items I had to do in the bathroom, such as the sink and the toilet and the shelf and the mirror. And the dirty little waste can.

Then I got the vacuum cleaner out and started vacuuming the area rug in the living room and realized suddenly that it was reversible and that it had a brighter side on the bottom. I had to move the furniture, because the rug is about 8 feet by 4 feet and pulled it away and around. There was a lot of grit underneath it, so I vacuumed that, and then put it bottom side up in place and replaced the furniture and now it looks like I have a brand new area rug. I just saved myself 60 Euros, because thatś what a new one would have cost me.

I vacuumed the furniture and got so hot that I had to remove an article of clothing, which was okay, because I was still decent without it. I just looked pudgier for lack of camouflage. That's why I wear layers of clothes.

I did take little breaks and had a delicious cup of tea with three sugars in it that pepped me up quite well. That made me think that maybe I should take sugar in my coffee, but I really don't like the taste of it, so I would have to get used to that a lot, but it would give me quick energy. I have to ponder on this some more.

I dusted my bedroom, which stays amazingly clean, maybe because it's my sacred, hallowed place, and then vacuumed the carpet. I found one hairball, which was rather disgusting, but it was pretty solid. All I have left to do in this room, is wash the windows and clean the radiator. Those are still on my list.

I'm going to dust the bookcase next and clean the living room windows inside. Outside it is raining, so it is not much sense doing them there. Besides, it is Sunday and I can't go out there and wash windows. I would be reported to the Holy Doctrine Police and be incarcerated in a church dungeon.

Please, read my posts before this one, so you know what I have been doing since the middle of the night. I'm on a cleaning journey and making a log about it. I want you to be part of my efforts. When I finally go around the bend, you can say, we read all about it and were witness to it.

Actually, I don't think I'll go around the bend, I'm to sane for that. I have my full capacities still. I am just wide awake and not in the least bit tired. I'm amazingly free of madness. But don't crazy people always say that about themselves?

Onward to the next chores. I'll let you know how they go. It's more fun if I get to report in every few hours.

Ciao...