The January 1 whirlwind

Does anyone else get a big boost of energy on January 1? It's happened before. Today I sorted and tossed old notebooks, set up a new 3-ring for 4 different church groups, baked cookies, packed 2 sacks of clothes I wasn't wearing or which no longer fit to take to Volunteers of America, washed 2 tablecloths and reset the tables, took all Bob's winter sweaters to the basement and washed them, rearranged shelves in the bedroom closet, rearranged drawers in the dresser to accept some new sweaters I got for Christmas, and cleaned out the exercise clothes I wear to the gym. Then tomorrow . . . poof. It will all be gone.

Last night we attended a nice gathering of 10 for a light meal, then went to our church for a jazz concert and a worship service.  We were home by 7:30 and in bed by 9:30 to watch some house hunters on HGTV.

Lenten goals--cleaning instead of fasting

My Lenten goals are getting a slow start. This week it was tackle the cupboards and bookshelves of the kitchen. I'm on the first shelf of cookbooks in the kitchen--next will be the "junk drawer."  I'm already stuck at the computer. I'm looking at a recipe take away from the Home & Garden Show, Feb. 25-Mar 5, 2006. As I recall I picked it up because we went to a demo for a chocolate peanut butter torte with bananas in honor of Elvis' birthday at Gourmet Galaxy Cafe which was sponsored by Whole Foods, Columbus Dispatch, Home Source Interiors, etc. Before I put this in the stay or go pile, I'll just mention 2 recipes easy enough for 80-somethings to learn (each 2 pages features a Columbus chef or personality with their favorites. 

1)  Manny Malhotra of the Columbus Blue Jackets (hockey) offered, "Asparagus a la Manny" which requires 1 bunch of asparagus, salt and pepper and olive oil and aluminum foil.  2) The COO of Donatos (pizza chain based in Columbus) and daughter of the founder reported that she had worked in all areas from take-out window, making night deposits, spreading sauces and cheese to dotting pepperoni slices to the edge, but there was no recipe.

When I went back and checked my blog, I see I had written about this cookbook in 2006. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/03/2228-chocolate-peanut-butter-cream.html.

By the time I got to shelf 3 I was browsing Vols. 3-5 of "A Taste of Columbus" by Beth Chilcoat. Vol. 5 was 2000, and she began the series when her children were small, and by this one she had grandchildren. I had inherited these from my daughter who had given them originally to her mother-in-law, Marilyn.  All are done in calligraphy with lovely drawings of Columbus' historical scenes. Chilcoat's husband (also co-author) died in 2006 of ALS, and she later wrote about widowhood and grief. Cap City Diner Meatloaf by Jimmy Mohammed has 28 ingredients (mostly herbs and spices) in vol. 5.

Spring cleaning before it's summer

It's hard to grow flowers when you're gone so much, but we're attempting again.  Most of our neighbors have such lovely blooms.

And then I finally finished cleaning the green crud off the deck.  It's made of Trex, but the green mold on the north side of the house loves it just as much as it did our wood deck which we replaced a few years ago.

Orwellian pleasantries

I’ve been cleaning off my desk this morning, tossing old church bulletins, returned Christmas cards with the wrong address,  articles to read printed from the internet on crime statistics and nutrition, pieces of Fritos and cookies, and came across a quote I had jotted down while reading the website Priceton.org.

“Whenever one hears the dreaded Orwellian pleasantries ‘diversity,’ ‘tolerance,’ or ‘inclusion,’ one knows that another of one’s fundamental, democratic liberties is about to be rescinded by the revolutionary guard of progressive orthodoxy.”  Harley Price.

I think I’ll keep that one and use it when I return a request to review a book or interview an author.  Sounds better than “Are you kidding me?”

My summer of 1958, part 3

What does an 18 year old do all day while living on a farm with her grandparents who aren’t thrilled to have her “help?” See Part 1 and Part 2 for the story about why I was there and what the farm was like.

The diary I kept that summer reveals a lot of cooking and cleaning, certainly more than I do now. Also some gardening—surprise—didn’t remember that at all!  Although I thought they were rather set in their ways and not too friendly then, 60 years later rereading the diary, I’m amazed and admiring at their flexibility and good humor at my housekeeping abilities.

June 1: “The food situation was bad.  Bacon and cold baloney are the only meats in the house. For some reason there are about 2 doz. lemons.  I fixed an orange and banana fruit dish and mixed some peas and potatoes for something hot—and also a meat sandwich.” Note:  when I was a child I thought eating baloney sandwiches at grandma's house was a wonderful treat since my mother never made them.

June 2: “We had scrambled eggs for breakfast, chicken a la king, biscuits, pineapple-cottage cheese salad and tapioca for dinner (noon) and “left-over loaf” and a mixture of green vegetables and fruit salad and tapioca-applesauce.”

June 3: “I mixed up some apricot-buttermilk  bread and put that in the oven at 7:30 a.m. I fixed grandpa and me soft boiled eggs and we all had mixed fruit.  They seem to enjoy fresh fruit in most any type of combination. . . For dinner I fixed hot dogs with bacon, corn and fruit with the fresh bread. . . I bought $10.84 worth of groceries—12 boxes of Jello and 2 puddings to make sure we wouldn’t run out for awhile.  For supper I fixed liver, boiled potatoes, orange-carrot-banana Jello salad and bread.” (My parents showed up around 8 p.m., I made coffee and Dad and I talked in the kitchen) “ and he sure liked that bread I made.”

June 4: I fixed pancakes for breakfast; they might have tasted better if the skillet were  not so rusty. I fixed minute steaks, beans, orange Jello salad and bread pudding for dinner (noon). . . for supper we had soup.

June 5: “The oatmeal I made for breakfast tasted like paste. . . macaroni and cheese for dinner—not much better than the oatmeal. . . soup for supper.

June 7: “I dusted some before breakfast—we had cereal, eggs and juice. . .[ate lunch in Dixon]  For supper I fixed liver, mashed potatoes, tossed salad, relish plate, and strawberry shortcake.  I used the good dishes and really had fun, but what a clean-up job..  After dishes were over I tried to make a strawberry cream pie, but it didn’t work!”

June 9: A reversal of meals--onion soup and baloney sandwiches for dinner and meat loaf, cabbage slaw and melon for supper.

June 10: Oatmeal for breakfast; hamburgers, corn creole and pear salad for dinner; fruit plate for supper with custard.

June 11: Ham, asparagus, cabbage salad and custard.  Soup, sandwiches and Jello for supper.

June 12:  Grandpa's birthday.  I baked a date cake for him, "a major project." Lima bean casserole. Took some cake to the neighbors in the evening.

June 13: Made out a menu and schedule for next week. Chicken pot pie for dinner; meat plate, potatoes & peas and tomatoes and banana bread for supper.

June 16: Hamburgers, mashed potatoes & gravy, tossed salad and blackberry pie for dinner.

June 20: Baked a coffee cake which didn't turn out, so I put it in Jello. Creamed ham and rice for dinner; hotdogs, corn and Jello for supper.  Decided to quit, but had a long talk with Grandma and we worked things out.

June 24: Baked a raisin pie; baked chicken for supper and salmon for dinner (noon) trying to use up food due to refrigerator repair.

June 26: I baked all morning (complained to diary they weren't appreciative). Home made rolls, strawberry parfait, deviled eggs, asparagus and tuna cakes.  Baked pinwheel cookies, ate 10, and sent the rest to my boyfriend in Minnesota. Supper was creamed dried beef and peas on hot rolls.

June 27: Baked rolls for breakfast and made cocoa. Macaroni and cheese for dinner, corn bread and creamed chicken for supper. 

June 30: Cleaned out the kitchen cupboards; washed plastic bags. Pork chops, baked potatoes, corn and apricot tarts for dinner

July 2: Hamburgers, tossed salad, fruit for dinner and potato salad, tomato slices, beets and rhubarb parfait for supper.

July 3: Cess pool backed up into the basement. Liver, asparagus, corn and fruit for dinner.

July 4: Baked a cherry pie, meat loaf, baked beans, fresh rolls.  Salad and soup for supper.

July 11: Fried chicken, lima beans, dressing, cranberry sauce, and crumb cake. Made Henny Penny muffins (uses left over chicken in batter) for supper, then baked a peach-butterscotch pie for the neighbors' anniversary.

I didn’t note in my diary if these menus were my choice or theirs, but reading them over in the following weeks I see a lot of hot dogs, liver and asparagus—which it seems I would go out and cut stalks along the lane. And they were a generation that loved Jello—one of the first convenience foods of the 20th century. Rereading the meals, it seems like a lot of food and they were probably not used to that.

The cleaning I mention makes me wonder how they felt about that—true, they couldn’t do a lot, and dust would blow in from the fields, but if someone came in my house and immediately started dusting everything would I be pleased or insulted?

June 3: “I took down the curtains in my room, washed them and the windows, dusted the halls and stairsteps and ran the sweeper.  Every time I pumped a pail of water I felt guilty—but it does my muscles good even if the water supply is low.” There wasn’t a washing machine so I assume I hand washed the curtains.  I always wrote about washing dishes right after a meal and what time I finished, because I think Mother warned me not to leave any dirty dishes around (not sure it was bugs, mice, or Grandma’s preference).

June 4: “I cleaned out the bread cupboard before breakfast and then had my coffee while I listened to the radio.  **This “revolution” in France seems a long way off from the tranquility of the farm.” . . . in the shed “I found the clippers and decided to try my hand at sharpening them on the old wheel.  I’m not much of a bush clipper, but I attacked the job with unusual pep and concern.  Well, at least we can see the bird bath now from the dining room. . . After dishes I ran the dust mop around and swept a few rugs with the broom.” It seems Grandma wouldn’t let me run the vacuum cleaner which was the whole house kind with tubes built into the walls. I mentioned it several times in the diary, with no explanation why.

June 5:  “I spent most of the morning sewing up the hem in Grandma’s navy blue slip and mending a pillow.   . . In the afternoon we all went to Ashton to look at some cattle Dale wanted to buy, and they finally decided on 89 head. . . After cleaning up the supper dishes I cut a fresh bouquet.”

June 6: I put on an old shirt “and a pair of peddle pushers and went out to the garden for lovely 2 hours of sweat and dirt.  I took my good old time about spading the garden—mixed it with a little tool shed browsing and knife sharpening. . . When I finished my “garden” looked like a fresh grave, but I was happy.”

June 9: “After supper I planted tomatoes and wrote letters."

June 10: "started in on the filthy stove.  The mouse dirt was really thick and there were old nests behind the stove.  I put clean paper in the drawers and put the pans and stuff in them."

June 11: Scrubbed the bathroom floors. Dusted 4 rooms, mopped the kitchen floor and washed the two porch doors. Scraped the paint off the dog door stop.

June 17: Cleaned the silverware and dusted my room and the two west bedrooms. I wrote that I was an intrusion on their privacy and they never said thank you.

June 19: Walked to town after supper, but the lane was like quicksand so it took longer.  On the way back I spoke Spanish and sang hymns. (This sounds sort of pious, but I think it was boredom.) I had also walked in on the 18th after supper to the Ives Drug store, and because it was getting dark by 9 I cut through a freshly cultivated bean field and snagged my dress on barbed wire, was wearing sandals, so was a mess when I got back, but "saved 10 minutes."

June 20: Cleaned dining and living rooms, swept the pantry, clipped the grass on the west fence--was still pumping water.

June 27: Cleaned the dining room and 2 living rooms and mopped the porch; caught a ride with a neighbor to Ashton to shop for groceries. 

**I have no recollection of a revolution in France in the summer of 1958, so I had to look that one up.  And sure enough, there was one due to the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) which led to collapse of the Fourth Republic and its replacement by the Fifth Republic led by Charles de Gaulle who returned to power after a twelve-year absence (Wikipedia). So there I was sipping coffee and clipping bushes in Illinois and not paying attention while deGaulle was forming a new cabinet in France.  Without TV and the Internet we just had no idea. . . 

A busy New Year's day

I started the day out right--I cleaned my coffee maker with vinegar and water.  So many germs can grow in your automatic coffee pot, you should clean it often. The smell is strong enough to open your sinuses!

Follow these steps to a quick coffee maker cleaning:

1. Empty your coffee maker, rinse the carafe and ensure that the filter basket is properly set and empty. Remove the permanent coffee filter as well as the water filter, if applicable.
2. Fill the water reservoir with a solution of equal parts of water and regular white household vinegar.
3. Run it through a drip cycle.
4. When the cycle is finished, turn off your coffeemaker but allow the water/vinegar to sit in the carafe for a few minutes, to remove any scale deposits, then discard the solution.
5. You should run clear water (no vinegar) through your coffee maker at least twice, allowing your brewer to cool down between cycles. This will remove any lingering vinegar residue.

1. This is a good time to thoroughly wipe the exterior of your coffee maker and clean the removable filter basket, permanent filter and carafe with hot soapy water. A change of water filter is also a good idea if your brewer has one.
2. https://www.thespruce.com/clean-coffee-maker-with-vinegar-1907384?

Then I signed up for a class at Coursera, an online education site from colleges and universities all over the world.  I picked "Understanding clinical research: behind the statistics."  I worked in the Veterinary Medicine Library for 14 years and although I still love reading the medical literature, my eyes glaze over when it comes to statistics. There are several levels of classes, and I chose this one also because it is free unless you want credit.  I don't plan on needing a credit course, so free is good.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/clinical-research/home/welcome

I've printed off the "keynotes" which go along with the videos and text--85 pages.  I also signed in to my "peer" group, which aren't really my peers--medical students, pharmaceutical reps, doctors, etc. But they are from all over the world--one poor guy is from Syria and living in Ukraine!  And I'm off!

And I spent some time looking at old Fulton J. Sheen videos.  His may be the best explanation of Communism and prophecy of the future ever. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen did this program in 1955. He was a hater of Communism, but lover of the Russian people. He reads from Dostoevsky who in 1871 predicted what was to come for his country, and possibly ours. He died in 1979, and since he was from central Illinois, his pronunciation sounds fine to me. "Warshington."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE9FNwG5myA

How to clean your mattress

 The original link is broken, but I found this gross, disgusting detail at LiveScience about what's going on in our mattresses. "According to materials published by Ohio State University, a typical used mattress may have 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. Ten percent of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. One of their favorite foods is dead skin, and people shed about one fifth of an ounce of the stuff every week, some of which surely ends up flaking into your mattress. (Also gross: About 80 percent of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is, in fact, flakes of dead skin.)"

May be easier to buy a new one, or hire someone to do it. Consumer Reports suggests: https://www.consumerreports.org/mattresses/how-to-clean-a-mattress/

Clean out time.

Going, going, gone. About 5 years ago we did a massive, huge, gigantic sort, clean and pitch effort. Now it's all come back--things we saved were like rabbits and multiplied without permission or purpose. I had stored some old paintings (most unfinished acrylic) in my bedroom closet. I looked through them this week-end and it's time to say good-bye. There are one or two (completed) I might offer to  my son, but that's about it. If he doesn't want them, it's the trash man's delight.

I have been encouraged in this effort hearing about an acquaintance who has been a hoarder all her life, and is now in the early stages of dementia. A professional agency has been called in, but after 3 months, little progress has been made.  In a recent stay in a nursing home (she has returned home), she even managed to save things in her room.  I'm not a hoarder, but have some odd and unusual piles of junk.

Cleaning silver plate and silver pieces the easy way

I like to set a pretty table, so every now and then the silverplate needs to be polished. That's a pain unless you learned this 5 minute trick from the internet.
1 Boil the amount of water sufficient to cover items you wish to clean (silverware, silverplate, silver platters,silver bowls or the like).
2 Tear a piece of aluminum foil to fit the bottom of the cleaning vessel; add the boiling water and baking soda, 1 Tbsp soda to 1 cup of water (Decrease amount of water and soda if only using a small amount of water). Stir together briefly.
3 Immediately submerge your tarnished silver items in the solution, making sure all surfaces are covered with the water . After only a very few minutes you will have beautifully clean and glowing silver!
4 Remove cleaned items and rinse well with clean warm water. Dry with a soft lint-free kitchen towel and go back to blogging.

My china gifts from my mother, my thrift store silver plate which got polished this morning, my garage sale chairs, my grandmother’s glassware and dessert bowls, a vase from friends in Finland.

Disinfecting the bathrooms

Make an all-purpose bathroom cleaner by mixing two  tablespoons of dish liquid, two tablespoons ammonia, and one quart of warm water. Use this for the tub, sink, floors, and shower. Rinse with clean water. A baking soda paste can help get rid of marks in the sink or tub. Using a squeegee on shower walls after each shower helps stop mold and mildew from growing.

Leaving the lid up when you flush can spread fecal matter and germs all over your bathroom, even to your toothbrush. To limit nasty germs, clean your toilet bowl weekly -- and keep the lid down. Use a wet cloth and an all-purpose cleaner to wash the lid, seat, and outside of the bowl. Then use a toilet brush and the cleaner to scrub inside the bowl.

From: Web MD, Beat germs all over your house.

Closet cleaning tip

I saw a way to trim your closets: turn all of your clothes hangers around, then turn them back when you wear an item. If the item is never warn in a season, (year), consider discarding.

I don't need that trick. I can tell by looking in the closet what hasn't been worn, and there are several reasons: 1) Doesn't fit; 2) isn't comfortable; 3) it's not attractive on me; 3) it needs to be ironed, and if I wear it, I'll have to iron it.

So this morning, 6 nice cotton blend blouses are leaving the house. All have enough cotton in them that I spray starch and iron and look rumpled 10 minutes after I wear them, so I tend to choose something else. Four light weight cotton jackets--one is ugly, one wrinkles, one is uncomfortable and one doesn't fit. Also a fancy 2 piece blouse that I've worn for winter dress-up events, but it's actually too sheer to be comfortable in any weather. A kitty vest that I really like, but is about 12 years old.

This jacket is leaving home.

About 365 Less Things--a blog for decluttering

We declutter about every 4 years. This method wouldn't work for me (I already have 12 blogs, so I don't need another one), but I think she has interesting ideas. I found her looking for the value of a small toy plastic toaster with cardboard toast, which I unwrapped while going through a box in the basement, which contained my old toys. Also found a tiny doll house 5" x 7.5".

About 365 Less Things

My husband the architect thinks you design the storage first, then declutter. No, you always use the storage you have. Better to purge first.

Clean the kitchen week

No, you won't find it on any calendar, but I'm declaring this as "Clean the kitchen week." Pretend your mother is visiting; or that you are moving to a new place and you don't want to take anything you won't use.

Monday: Refrigerator; toss the frosty frozen stuff; make vegetable soup from the tired left overs. The photo above is chicken broth, tomatoes left from summer (peeled), a quarter of a green pepper, some celery tops, chopped onion, and some left over brown rice. Consolidate or pitch. Wipe down the shelves. Clean the cabinet above (if you have one) and the floor below. Don't forget to vacuum the dust.

Tuesday: Gunky, sticky stuff--Stove top, oven and microwave.

Wednesday: Hard to reach stuff--get out a step stool. Shelves in cabinets, both wall and base; pantry if you have one; bookshelves if you have one in the kithen. Look at past due dates on staples; resort your can goods so you know what you have; toss discolored or old food items.

Thursday: Hidden away stuff--Drawers, including that junk drawer where you toss everything you don't know what to do with.

Friday: Shiny stuff--Counter tops, sink, faucets, pictures and mirrors (if you have them) floor.

Saturday: If you're employed, I guess you have to do Monday-Friday all in one day. Otherwise, take the day off.

Cleaning up the cat hair

On the one hand, we have more time these days, and on the other, I seem to be less interested in cleaning. But we were going out Friday night with relatively new friends--my husband knows her through their artsy groupsy stuff and their common interest in Haiti. So we went out to eat at our favorite spot, with plans to come back here for dessert and to watch a DVD my husband had made of his last trip to Haiti. Having company is the best reason I know to clean--sometimes I'll invite someone just for that incentive. The plant we got for Valentine's Day had died (I forgot to water it), so that was probably my last big event. And we have a small cat--she's under 7 lbs, but loses about 10 lbs. of hair a week. So I really went over the furniture with my wide 2" painter's tape so they wouldn't go home covered with hair.

As I said, we really didn't know these people well. I had no idea they had seven dogs--six Goldens and one Lab. All house pets. I guess I needn't have worried about a little cat hair.

Thursday Thirteen--Cleaning the desk top

For many years when I was working at the Veterinary Medicine Library at Ohio State, I would have an annual review with my boss, Jay Ladd. He always did this in my office rather than his, because that way he could look around and see how things were progressing in my library (located a mile or so from the Main Library). Of course, you want to make a good impression, so we’d make sure the public areas were neat and dusted. But what to do about the mess in my office? I soon perfected this method. Scoop up everything on the top of my side desk, computer desk and top of the filing cabinets and dump ot into a large box which would then go under my desk (not visible to anyone but me). What I learned from many years of doing this was that if I left the box unpacked for 6-8 weeks or so, most of the “to do” list just disappeared.

Since Christmas (or maybe before) the clutter in my home office has been growing. So this morning, it all went into a box. I need a list of 13 things, so this will just scratch the surface of what's in the box.

1) Garage Slab, vol. 1, no. 1. This goes with my hobby bloggy, In the beginning, but I just got this one last week and haven’t entered the information yet.

2) Three 8 x 10 group photos of class reunions. I do that blog too, MMHS1957 and I think one of them is missing, but although I pulled out the photos, I haven’t checked yet.

3) A recipe for pie pastry and apple pie on a 3 x 6 lined index card found in a library book. Beautiful handwriting. Appears to be exactly the same as what I learned from my mother who was the best pie baker east of the Mississippi River.

4) 4 or 5 returned Christmas cards. Need to change the addresses in my records, but haven’t yet. Computers are not handy that way.

5) My I-Touch that I’ve never learned to use, inside a small plastic case designed for a calendar.

6) My little notebook for new words--one of my 2009 New year’s resolutions.

7) The warranty and instructions for my 1979 lighted make-up mirror, but the lady who wanted to buy it never sent me the money.

8) An empty bottle of Valu-Dryl I was using to look up the ingredients for my husband’s winter cold 4 weeks ago.

9) 215 photographs to put in a new album for our 50th anniversary event. The album is a Martha Stewart (too big for the box so it’s on the couch) on sale for about $7, and Walgreens was having a sale, $.15 per print. That way I don't have to take old albums apart. These were all stored on my computer.

10) A lighted magnifying glass that doesn’t work too great--should probably toss it.

11) A 2010 calendar of daily phrases in German. However, there’s no pronunciation guide, and I don’t know German. Must be why it was for sale at Marc’s for about 88 cents. It could be a note pad if I turn it over.

12) A letter and stack of genealogy information from 2nd cousin once removed Marianne in Iowa who is 93.

13) Several weeks’ worth of church newsletters with names checked of people I need to send cards to, but haven't gotten around to it.

That’s only the top inch or so. I have a ways to go.

This cleaning method only works if you don’t stop to put anything away while you’re filling the box. The original dump only takes a few minutes. Once you begin sorting, shelving and filing, it’s an all day job.
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Recipes I've never tried

Have been found while I was cleaning my kitchen shelves, rearranging things to find just the right spot for the new TV.


They include

The Saturday Evening Post Family Cookbook, c1984--supposed to be healthy stuff, bran raisin bread, carrot muffins, barley soup, which is probably why I bought it (library sale, $2.00

Joyce's Amaretto Peach/Blueberry pie with a note from her, 2005

Florida Key Lime Pie, on a post card purchased in Florida

"Fun food for football," real easy munchies from Columbus Parent Magazine; includes Mexican Chili dip and those meatballs made with grape jelly--plus a few I've used before--super easy

Chocolate chip ice cream pie, creamed chicken and biscuits and others on some fancy cards that must belong to someone else's set. "Grandma's Kitchen" www.grandmaskitchenreceipes.com

Hillary Rodham Clinton's chicken and rice deluxe clipped from the Columbus Dispatch.

Poached Salmon--hand written recipe, with note, "Norma--call me" but I don't remember who wrote it.

Blueberry muffins using Splenda

Sausage cheese balls using Bisquik.

Slow-cooker lasagna from the Dispatch

Corn stuffing--I think I might have made this a few Thanksgiving days ago.

Soup recipes from our Germany river tour in 2005, on MS Switzerland. They were fabulous on board as I recall. Probably not quite the same from my stovetop.

I think they'll all fit inside the Sat. Evening Post book, so I'll keep them.

The photo album

Last night I e-mailed a photographer from Wisconsin asking permission to use his photo as a reference for a painting, and he graciously responded OK (very interesting photos from all over the world). Then I decided I needed a special folder for this, because I ask and then forget where I saved them. When I changed computers about a year ago, my e-mail didn't transfer. Sooo....one thing led to another and I started moving other files--it began to take on a life of its own--like when I clean my real office. Then I came across this story, written in November 2004 for NaNoWrMo. When I write fiction, I have no middle or ending in mind, only the first sentence, so I wrote what came to mind, saved it, and didn't reopen it for five years. At this point, the inspiration is gone, but here it is.

Paula Bearfoot. I knew her the minute I saw the old photos glued to the page of the crumbling scrapbook laid out on the table at the reunion. I’d seen her photo a few times back in 1959, and the scrapbook was from the 50s--the kind with the ugly black paper. Something like a shoestring provided the flimsy binding.

How prissy the girls all looked then in black and white glossies, caught and preserved by a little Brownie Kodak. Neat, straight, pencil thin wool skirts, a short sleeve sweater with stitching on the sleeves, a white collar “dickey,” and white anklets in saddle shoes. What pride they took in their appearance. Oh, the wasted hours in front of the mirror. Leafing through the album, I realized somewhat belatedly that teen-agers weren’t fat then, they didn’t wear jeans when trying to impress guys, and they wore way too much lipstick. I looked around the room. Times had certainly changed. Fat mamas, all. Pale lips. At least no jeans.

P-B they called her. With a name like Bearfoot, she probably got a lot of questions. I mean, I would’ve asked--if I’d known her. What do you suppose she answered? Did she make up something clever or tell the truth? Did anyone ever hear the truth from PB? She was my husband's steady. Even at the reunion, he heard of yet another guy who had dated “his” girl. Even after 40 years, I felt just a little sorry for him.

No one had seen her since college. No one knew where her family had moved. Did she even finish college? Occasionally, letters were read at these every decade affairs. No one seemed to remember exactly what they said when I inquired, discreetly of course. She was a social worker. She was a lawyer. She was a secretary. She’d never married. She married three times. Her step-daughter was in the Clinton administration. Her sister had drowned in Hawaii. She lived in Maine. She lived in Arizona. The stories were told in such an off-hand, quasi-authoritative way, I just gave up.

The guy who owned the photo album looked carefully at her pictures. “I think I dated her,” he said, “or maybe her sister. June? Julie?” (371 words)

And that's all I wrote. NaNoWrMo should have been a natural for me, but it means writing on command (it's sort of a contest to write a novel in one month), and nothing will kill my inspiration like someone telling what, when, where or how to write.

Cleaning the office

Some dusting and a box of books ready to go out the door. You may remember the cat was inspecting my bookshelves and found them a mess.



It still looks cluttered, but much better.

A few notes on decor. The small chair with the wicker seat was my great-grandmother's, recaned by my mother. I think there are four of them--three here and one at my aunt's. The little writing desk was probably one of the first purchases of my husband's grandparents when they got married about 100 years ago. It has very delicate inlaid wood designs of flowers, but something leaky was set on top, and it's damaged. You might think we are into antiques, but not really. It's just that when you inherit them, what are you going to do? They all have stories!

In the photo of the shelves there's a little hand painted figurine on the middle top shelf. That was done by me in the 1940s in Forreston. There was a woman who had a little craft shop in her home and you could make plaster figurines from her molds and she also had all the paints and finishes. It was a very popular craft as I recall--even my mother made some. It's standing between a stack of Human Life Review, still just as accurate and truthful as when published, and Biblio, a nice journal about books that folded too soon (1999?).

One of the items I tucked away is the photo of my grandmother's grandparents Williford wedding photo (Tennessee, 1868). I didn't have it in a frame and it was starting to curl. They probably never had another photo taken. Need to take care of that. And all those spiral bound pages, 3rd shelf middle? Blogs, printed. Mine.

As technology goes, you can still see a few of the "antiques" like a cordless answering phone that's probably 10-15 years old, and a cd player/radio about 15 years old.

How do you clean sticky Tupperware?

In my pretend move, I'm reaching to the back of the tall kitchen cupboards, standing on a chair. And what do I find? A large Tupperware canister, suitable for a one lb sack of potato chips or a few dozen cookies. It is so sticky, it almost wouldn't leave my hand once I took hold. The usual things I try don't work. Is it decomposing? Is it absorbing chemicals from the cupboard finish? Is this left over potato chip grease from the 1960s? So I go to the internet and google "how to clean sticky Tupperware" and someone suggests Bon Ami, which is the only ceramic cleaner I use. I dampen my piece of Bounty and go to work. Wow. This really works. And while I was at it, I buffed up a handmade ceramic bowl I found in there too that had some marks on it probably from metal. From the color scheme--gray, gold, taupe and cream, I'm guessing early to mid-1980s, and probably purchased at an artsy-fartsy shop here in Columbus, or at an art show. The name on the bottom is huge both upper and lower case, Wilks. So I google that and find a Kelly Wilks from Arkansas who works in clay, and I e-mail the supply house with which she is associated and teaches. Waiting to see if I've found the artist.

Cleaning the bathroom

This story is for Bev, who patiently reads through my political stuff hoping for a good story. She loves me, my cat and my foibles.

I've never claimed to be an organized housewife. Drives my husband crazy. He knows exactly where his Boy Scout folding cup from fifth grade is. So today I started on the guest room by moving a few things to my closet off the master bedroom. However, that bathroom is my husband's, so after I rearranged my shoes which our house guests will never see, I started on his bathroom. I'll be using this while our California relatives are here, so for my sake, I decided to attack it. I don't care if a guy is a bachelor or married or a CEO with a private office suite and maid service, men's bathrooms are always YUK!

While cleaning the shower (on my knees) I got a good look at the bottom of the shower door. Double yuk. The seal on the bottom of the flap was so mold covered, I think that's all that was holding the trim piece on. I saw there were 4 screws, and needed a Phillips screw driver. I know how to do that, so I went to the basement and found a small Phillips. Three screws came out after much effort and a blistered palm. The fourth wouldn't budge. I think this is a type of Murphy's Law--4 screws, 3 come out. So instead of yelling until I was hoarse from the second floor to the basement the way the other person in this marriage does, I walked down.

"There are four screws on the trim piece of the shower door, and I could only get three of them out. I'm trying to clean off the mold. Can you do the fourth one?"

"Phillips?"

"Yes, I got it out of the store room."

"I'll get my bigger one out of my tool bin in the garage."

"What's wrong with my Phillips?"

"Not enough torque."

"What's torque?"

he explained.