Lately...

It seems as the more I plan to relax and settle into a content lifestyle the more crap comes about and disrupts things. Maybe it's just the way I handle things emotionally. In the midst of planning and enjoying my son's 3rd birthday party and finalizing plans for vacation, my husband tells me about all of these predictions for the end of the world, at least as we know it, in 2012. Umm...not what I wanted to hear. Long story short, apparently even the Mayans has this marked on their calendar, which has been pretty accurate for an extremely long time. And there's more...science has confirmed that we are due for a catastrophic polar shift with the sun's next maximum. When? 2012 of course! I know..pathetic to let this stuff bother me, but it really creeps me out to think what could happen to my boys because of this stuff. My prediction for myself is that I need a REALLY relaxing vacation before the little white truck with the guys in little white coats come fit me for my very own little white, really tight jacket of my own.

My New Clothesline!

Never, ever in a million years did I ever expect to get excited over a clothesline. Thanks to the recession we've recently made several downgrades and money saving moves to try and stay afloat in this horrible economy. The clothesline was a product of that, though I admit I've been wanting one for quite a while now. At any rate, as I was hanging things up to dry with the baby sitting in the stroller behind me it dawned on me how many women have gone through this task with two or three little ones hanging on to their skirt tales screaming and fighting! Wheewww! No tears for me this time. The experience did make me feel very domestic and brought me one step closer to my crusade to make life simple again.

Just A Quick Thought

I haven't blogged as much lately as I had intended to (hopefully I can get back in the groove) but I have been able to catch up with some old friends lately. I'll just relay a quick thought before heading out to take my son to swimming lessons. A lot of people complain at how the internet and the electronic age has taken away phone calls and hand-written letters. I agree, it's nice to get a letter in the mail from a long-lost relative or be able to pick up the phone to ask cousin Joann for her recipe for New York Stew. But I'll also add that for some who have burned such personal bridges the information highway may be the way to go to travel back to those who have been left in the past. I say if it's a tool good enough to get the job started then let's get to work. I know for a fact that I'm not the only person who has someone from the past that I either need or would like to make amends with. Maybe it's the "mom" in me, but in the end we really do need each other. Even if it's hard to get the ball rolling it will be so worth it in the end.

The Smells of Clean!

Today was an extremely long day of Spring cleaning at my house. Now it's nothing that June Cleaver would stand up and clap about, but it is nice to get an extra layer of dirt and grime off of things. After almost 6 solid hours of cleaning I thought to myself, "man! This smells nice!" The blue Pine Sol had really paid off. Then of course my mind faded back to thoughts of my Granny and what clean really smelled like. I have 2 associated smells with what clean really is...bleach and hot Tupperware.
Have you ever seen or used a wringer washer? That was a beast of a machine and I remember very vividly the one that was in my Granny's basement for years. I was always fascinated by that thing. It was the load of whites that instilled in me what "clean" really was. The aroma of bleach filled that dark basement and the gleam of all those white clothes and towels lit it up. Of course things were hung on the line and that only made the clean smell last longer.
Now about that hot Tupperware smell... I generally spent every Sunday at Granny's house. We had a very set schedule on how the day operated. First it was breakfast that usually consisted of eggs, bacon, and toast. Then it was Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt. Her friend Mildred would pick us up for church and bring us back. She'd then make a ridiculously huge meal and we'd eat until it hurt....EVERY TIME! Then we'd do the dishes side-by-side. She'd wash and I'd dry. She had 2 old Tupperware tubs that fit nicely in the sink that we'd wash and rinse in. Now I'm not sure how hot Tupperware has to be before it releases that smell, but as the dryer it was my job to pull the dishes out of the sclading water and place them in the dish drainer before the skin melted off of my hands. I swear those old tubs were cooking right there in the sink! The dishes were clean though...so clean they made that sqeaky sound.
So the house doesn't smell like bleach or hot Tupperware, but it feels pretty good. I think I'll stick to my blue pine sol for next year's day of spring cleaning. I may even try to do a few more loads of just whites and use bleach just to remember how clean really smells.