It's morning again and then what?

You answer you emails and drink your cups of coffee and smoke your cigarettes, that's what you do. And when you've answered all your emails, you get to write a blog post, that's allowable, because you've got the time and the inspiration.

I've slept my now normal 8 hours again and I feel fully rested and ready to tackle the day, though I mustn't say this too loud, because I have been known to go back to bed after I've said such a thing. Although I don't think I will today, because the day beckons me with the chores I want to get done. After I wrote my post last night, you see, I didn't actually do a thing, but eat and watch the news and go to bed early with my very exciting book and a piece of Camembert cheese, which has given me a sore throat and I know it's from the cheese, because I haven't had any in a long time and now I just happen to have a sore throat, which I normally don't have.

Outside it's 1C and raining and the snow is turning into slush. Not a great day to go outside, but I'll have to walk the poor dog in it. I'll have to wait until the worst of it is over. Of course, this means that the laundry that I didn't bring in last night, is now sopping wet and I'll have to run it through the spin cycle of the washing machine. But it will be somewhat fresh smelling having been soaked by the rain, which is very clean, I hope. The laundry on the drying rack in the bathroom wasn't quite dry last night and I didn't think to bring the laundry from outside in, as they predicted no rain. Well, I was fooled, wasn't I? I will have to go out in my hooded coat and get it off the clothesline and bring it dripping wet into the apartment in the laundry basket and stick it into the washing machine. I can already imagine how cold and wet it will be now.

It's just a minor setback in my day and nothing I can't deal with and, except for very cold hands, there will be no after effects. Everything in life should be that simple to resolve. The good part about the day is, that instead of sweeping the floors last night in the dimness of the light bulbs, I get to vacuum it now by daylight, so I will see much better what I do. This will obviously mean that I will see the dirt better and know where to scrub harder when I get ready to clean the floors. It is my intention to do that today, because I have no other plans and no places to go. I do want the place to look good before Christmas, that's a promise I made myself and I need to stick to it.

I will absolutely not be a diva today, but just an ordinary run of the mill middle aged housewife, which is a persona I need to be every once in a while when I need to pull the interior of my apartment back into shape again. This is best done in extremely comfortable clothes and without regard to my exterior. It's unimportant what I look like. What counts are some muscle and brawn and endurance. A pair of knee pads would help too, but I haven't got any of those.

Of course, there's no law that says I need to be middle aged to be a good housewife, because I used to be young and be a very competent one too, but the fact is that I've reached that point in my life that I'm actually called middle aged and that is a moniker I can't easily get away from, no matter how hard I try, unless I have plastic surgery done all over the place and look like Jane Fonda. If I had the money I would have it done, the works, everything, nip and tuck and do whatever it needs. I'm vain enough for it. I don't like the way my body is getting older and the way gravity is working on everything, pulling it all downwards to my knees. Even my eyelids.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for it to get light outside so the day can get started and I'm hoping for the rain to stop. The streets are going to be a mess and doubtlessly there will be traffic jambs as a result of it. It seems we can't deal with winter weather anymore. Every bit of snowfall takes us by surprise, as if we don't live in a cold climate where that happens regularly. A real snowfall would immobilize the country. How do you people in the Mid West and Canada do it?

My dog is barking at me and that is the signal that he wants to go out. I just looked out the window and it is barely drizzling, so I suppose we can go brave the elements now. We will just get a little wet.

I hope you all have a good day and that your weather isn't as foul as it is here, because this is no fun. But we'll stubbornly walk under the threatening skies and defy all the dark clouds.

Ciao,
Nora

A lot of work...

When I'm talking about a lot of work, I don't mean me. I mean you people who will have to read several posts to be completely updated on what I have been doing this night, and since the night is not over yet, god only knows if there is going to be another post for you to read.

I said that I was going to make my bed first when I left you last and that is what I did. I picked a neat stack of fresh smelling sheets out o f the closet and made the bed ever so quickly. It was done before you could say "Geronimo." They smelled so good, because I had dried them out on the line in the July sunshine and they felt nice and crisp. If I ever do get to bed, it will be a pleasure to lie down in it.

Then I gathered all my dishes and glasses that were spread a round the apartment and rinsed them under hot water and did the dishes in hot soapy water until they were sparkling clean. I dried the silverware, but left the rest to dry in the rack and will put them away first thing tomorrow morning, which it almost is, come to think of it.

The ceiling light in the kitchen had not been working for months and I finally got a new bulb out of the closet and with the help of my stepladder, changed the light bulb and behold, I could see the dirt!

Well, really, I am exaggerating. I could see a lot better where I had to sweep the floor and I did that first and in the process of doing that, I nearly knocked over the water bowl for the cats and sloshed water all over the floor, which then actually made it easier to sweep up the dog heir, because it clumped together better. So I wondered if it would be better to always sweep the floors with a wet broom and now that I think about it some more, I think I may be right and I'm going to try that out some time.

Then I dusted the surfaces in the living room with a damp cloth and wiped away the cat hair that they leave all over the place, because they sit wherever they like and nothing is sacred. If you use a dry cloth it doesn't work. The hair just escapes to other places. I emptied the ashtrays and put numerous little items back in their place. Doesn't everybody leave their nail clippers and sunglasses and pliers laying around? And don't you all have a special odd place to keep those things?

I swept the living room floor and you would be surprised by the amount of hair and grit that was there. All that stuff goes into your carpet. I was sorry that I couldn't vacuum, because the chairs needed a good cleaning and doing it with a brush isn't going to cut it this time. Can you believe that I said I was sorry that I couldn't vacuum? Really! It's unbelievable!

I swept the hallway and had to move several items around and the swept the spare bedroom, which is really the junk room, so I'll call it that and it seemed that Jesker's hair had gathered here into snowdrifts that kept escaping from my broom. That's why I think a wet broom will work better. It will make the hair all nice and clumpy and stick to the broom better.

Anyway, I finally got that done and had heaps of dirt and hair all over the place, which I removed with the hand broom and the dustpan. That's always a very satisfying job and I always wish for more heaps, because I like brushing them into the dustpan. I did see that I needed to mop the floors and that there were some areas that I needed to scrub, so that will be my next job. It will be fun and satisfying. I can't wait. I also can't believe I said that. What's wrong with me?

Next I drank a tall glass of juice and made a package of cigarettes. I used to get tobacco in cans and always had problems with tobacco that was either too moist or too dry. Since I switched to strong tobacco, I get it in a heavy paper pack and the tobacco is always just right all the way down to the bottom of the pack, so you see that the old fashioned way of packaging sometimes is the best. I love to hold my paper pack of tobacco. I like the printing on the label and the name of it. It is called "Look Out." It is a brand that has been around forever. It's a manly tobacco in a manly pack.

I took all my medication, including my sleeping pill and we'll see if it is going to work. Either way I have to take it, otherwise I'll get withdrawal symptoms. I can't just not take t, even though that's what I want to do. I'd like to just stay up and not bother going to bed and do some more chores now that I'm in the proper frame of mind. I could mop the floors and I still have to hang up the laundry and I could wash windows when it gets light, even though it is Sunday, but who can be bothered?


I just cleaned up a whole bunch of my clothes that I had laying in the bathroom, things that I had worn this week and had discarded and not put away where they belonged and now seemed like a good time to put them away properly before I hung up the laundry to dry. So now the laundry is on the drying rack smelling of delicious clean detergent, but I did notice that I need to clean the mirror and cosmetics shelf as its is rather dusty and could use a good shine and I should mop that floor too. I've got my work cut out for me.I did manage to pair up one single sock with its companion, leaving no sock single. At least none that matter. I knew it would show up sooner or later in one of the following washes.It was just temporarily misplaced and not in another universe or another dimension.

I do have to organize my closet a little bit better, I do have some sort of system now, but it's getting kind of messy and although I can find things, I like it neater than it is now with the stacks a little better organized. maybe I should start a list of things to do and work my way down it and neatly check off what's been done. That ought to give me some satisfaction. Right, first things first, make a list, however brief and concise and give it many admiring glances through out the day.

This is not at all in conflict with my doing things in chores of threes of course, I can still do that, Some of the chores may be a little bit bigger, but if I have the energy, than more power to me. I just have to take advantage of this energetic me that's surfaced and get her to do as many things as possible in whatever time we've got.

It's too bad that I don't have an Ikea flat pack to put together right now, because I do need a bigger closet and I have the wherewithal to stick one together in a few hours, but I'll have to price them first and see what they cost, probably an arm and a leg. I also want to look for a new area rug, because the one I have was very cheap and is starting to show its cheapness and I want some more color instead of the drab browns. I'll have to check the Ikea website in a while to see what's available. Oh, aren't I just full of big plans.

Somebody said I'm back in the saddle again and I guess they weren't joking. I'm like the Pony Express going at full speed. I've got me a pinto that won't quit. Sheer will power is keeping me going and lots of very focused energy.

In a minute, I am going to make me a bucket of suds and get my sponge mop and tackle the floors, It will be a pleasure to do them. I have boundless energy and I think that with a break now and then, I can do the whole apartment.It will be like in the olden days, when housewives got up with the chickens and did their chores before their husbands and children awakened.I will be a babushka and wear a scarf around my head and boots over my long johns and be forever at work cleaning and scrubbing because cleanliness is next to godliness and I'll have a crucifix above my living room door. Of course, I'll need some chickens to get up with.

Okay, I'm off to do my next chores, I'm sure I'll keep you updated on my coming housewifely acts and the sheer excitement of them, so get ready for the next installment.

Ciao...