ABC's of Homemaking

Well, I've been feeling like I need to lighten up here on the blog, but I don't really have anything to say lately. I lead a very boring life and I've already told you about my favorite TV programs, so I thought I'd try this ABC's of Homemaking meme that I've seen everywhere including, but not limited to, Sharon's, Andrea's, and Mandy's blogs.

Aprons - Y/N? If yes, what does your favorite look like? I have a blue one. It's just plain blue and I only wear it if I am cooking for a holiday meal, and guests are coming, so I don't want to get my outfit all messed up. That has been, like, twice I think!

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? TV dinners? Ha ha! Just kidding. I microwave those. Still, I want to answer chicken or something like that. I'm not much of a dessert maker. If I ever bake dessert it's out of a box, or the pre-cut cookie dough, or something like that.

Clothes line - Y/N? No. But I loved Mandy's answer: "I think I would love it for the first three loads and then I would think it was a load of crap."

Donuts - Have you ever made them? Yes, I made apple-cider donuts once and they were delicious! I should make them again sometime...

Everyday - One homemaking thing you do everyday. Well, a lot of the things I do everyday are covered elsewhere on this list, so I'm gonna go with sweep under the kitchen table, which I actually do, like, 10,000 times a day!

Freezer - Do you use a deep freeze? No deep freeze, but I do have an extra refrigerator in my garage, and both the fridge and freezer are always filled. I have no idea how I would manage without the extra space!

Garbage Disposer Y/N? Yes! I have lived in two places in my life that didn't have one and all I can say is...yuck! Having to scoop up that little drain strainer to dump the little pieces of food in the garbage made me gag every time. I will never go without one again!

Handbook - What's your favorite homemaking resource? Yeah, I don't really use anything. I do read Hints from Heloise every week in the paper, but I don't think I've ever used one of the hints. I guess everything I do I learned from doing chores at home when I was younger.

Junk Drawer - Y/N? If yes, where is it? Every drawer in my house is a junk drawer. I wish I were kidding, but sadly I am not.

Kitchen - color & decorating scheme. Oh, I love my kitchen! We just re-did it 5 years ago. I can't say there is a scheme per se, though we do have roosters on the rugs and kitchen towels, but that had more to do with the colors than the roosters. Anyway, it's painted tan on top with white wainscot on the bottom. The backsplash is a random pattern of burgundy, navy, tan, white and sage green tiles. White cabinets and appliances. Dark gray counter tops.

Love - what is your favorite part of homemaking? Hammering in the nails. Oh wait, I guess that's home building. Yeah, I don't really love homemaking, thanks. But I do appreciate a clean house at the end!

Mop - Y/N? Okay, I'm busted. Sorry, I cheat. I have a cleaning lady. I don't clean toilets either. Ever.

Nylons, machine or hand wash? I machine wash them, and then when I put them on they usually get a run in them right away, so I throw them away and buy a new pair. I should just cut out the middle man and go straight for the trash. Especially since I only wear them once every 2 years or so!

Oven - Do you use the window or open the oven to check? I use the window. There is always a toddler or small child hovering nearby so I open it as little as possible.

Pizza - what do you put on yours? Pepperoni, green pepper and onion when I'm ordering. When we make it at home we usually have "junk" pizza and use up all the veggies in the fridge - we'll have carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, peppers... you name it. If it's in my fridge, and there's not enough left to use anywhere else, we'll make junk pizza. The kids love it!

Quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Ha! ha ha ha ha! Hold on let me catch my breath...ha ha ha! Next question?

Recipe Card Box - Y/N? No, I have recipe notebooks. Big, huge, three-ring binders that I have been putting recipe clippings in for the last 20 or so years! I used to love to cook, but ask me what I make now that I have kids. Ummm, yeah, Hamburger Helper.

Style of house - what style is your house? 4 bedroom colonial. It's very cookie-cutter, suburban neighborhood, Joe Everyman's house.

Tablecloths and napkins? No tablecloth (unless it's one of those holidays I mentioned earlier) and yes, we use napkins, but they are paper (unless aforementioned holiday).

Under the kitchen sink - organized or toxic wasteland? Actually, it's practically empty - too many little hands wanting to get in there and go through everything. The only thing in there are packages of sponges.

Vacuum - how many times per week? Let's try, how many times per day? At least twice, probably more if a certain 2 foot high someone has gotten into the boxes of cereal again, which is very, very likely.

Wash - how many loads of laundry do you do per week? This meme should be called the Let's Get More And More Depressed As We Answer Questions About Household Drudgery And See How Completely Boring Our Lives Really Are meme. I'm just kidding, I had fun reading the other ladies' answers. I probably do about 8 normal loads, but I have a bed-wetter, so you can add 5 - 7 extra small loads to that.

Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off? I couldn't figure out, at first, how this question got here. Where is the X? And then I realized "cross" things off. Very clever you meme author you! Um, yeah I keep a list in my head. We do have a white board schedule hanging in the kitchen that I rely on heavily, but that's for appointments or paperwork that needs completing or whatever. The rest is in my airtight noggin, which means I regularly forget things, including where I put my keys. Did I ever tell you the story of losing my keys on Halloween day? All of the kids had parties at their respective schools and I couldn't find my keys anywhere, though I was sure I had just had them. I freaked out and called a neighbor to drive the older kids to the elementary school and then called another friend who goes to the same pre-school to see if she had room to take my 3 year old too. I was so upset though because I was supposed to help at the various parties and watch all the parades, etc. etc. I was actually crying and really hyper. Well, when my neighbor drove up to get the older kids he said, "oh, I see you found your keys!" I look out the door and my car is running. Then I remembered: I had come out 15 minutes earlier to warm the car up because it was really cold and I didn't want the baby to have to sit in the cold car. So I looked at my neighbor and in all seriousness said, "Yes, I just found them." Well, I wasn't lying! I had just found them. How embarrassing is that? Oh, wait, what was the question????

Yard - Who does what? Our philosophy in the yard and in the house is: if it needs doing, and you are there and able to do it, then do it. So, a lot of times I will mow the lawn if I get a chance. Usually John does it though because it's hard to get a chance to sneeze around here. I do the planting and weeding, but John is a big fan of trimming and pruning. He trims and prunes everything within an inch of it's life. As soon as something turns slightly brown he's all, "can I trim that back now?" For Heaven's sake, give the stuff a chance! But he's a whiz with our roses. Mostly because roses like pruning! The kids do all the raking in the fall. We don't have to do a thing with the leaves. They would consider the opportunity to rake to be a prize.

What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed? Oh wait, I get it, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ as in sleeping!! Funny! My last homemaking task of the day is to leave my hubby happy. You can make of that what you want, but I think you all have dirty minds! Ha ha!

If you play along, let me know, but you probably already have, because, as far as I can tell, this meme has been going around for 50 years and I am just now getting to it! (well, it seems like 50 years based on some of the questions don't you think? I mean, aprons???)