10 Things to Toss with No Regrets

[Texasmujer]

PR girl...I'll try to keep some of those ideas; especially about the car!! Mine ALWAYS seems to 'collect' stuff, until it is like a traveling junkyard...right now, it has: the window that the handyman was going to put in my new place (why is it STILL in my car? I think the handyman is serving jail time, and not around!), bags of books (paperbacks), old newspapers (I save them, and give the whole mass to the local animal shelter to use as litter), gym clothes...WHAT A MESS...I NEED to APPLY PR Girl's standards to my car!!

[PRgirl]

I know why the clutter is bad in many cars. People keep the things in there they don't want to organize in their homes. My husband's car is a trash heap. I hate it. People get in and they have to toss things off the passenger seat. trash rolling around, if there is an accident they don't realize that flying objects can hurt you in the car. Plus when you travel your mind is occupied on the road and other drivers and getting errands done and so on, and why make the environment in which you get from point A to B, more stressful with junk in the car? I have a little bag for trash. And potpourri, and I wash the car every week and wash the mats once every three weeks, I detail the whole thing once every three months. I just know I like an orderly vehicle and everything in place so when I drive, I concentrate on the road and getting things done and not on disentangling my foot from some empty plastic water bottle and balls of kleenex and old bags and old junk mail. I had to borrow my husband's vehicle and I went nuts. I stopped the car and threw the trash out and organized the non-trash so that it was in one bag for clothes, one for paper or books, and one for tools and miscellaneous and sports equipment and then vacuumed his veh and washed it and gassed up and put a potpourri in it. Lol. He loved the clean up, but turned over my car with banana peels and old kleenex on the floor. He drives me crazy sometimes with his semi bad habits in his car.

[Texasmujer]

OHhh!! You are SUCH a good example for me; I HAVE to say this: I keep MY side of the car free of any distractions or objects that can get in the way of simple driving; it's the REST of the car that is fearsome; I'll have to use your schedule in cleaning my car...I have the BEST intentions...I don't 'get around' to them, fo some reason...soy baga,quizas?!

[PRgirl]

This is my list Texasmujer (la vagita que no le gusta gastar tiempo limpiando su carro), sabes tengo una amiga de Mexico que tiene su casa super bonita siempre pero su carro es un vertedero de basura. JAJA. It is better to have a nice, organized home and let the car go in my opinion.

1. So many people are all thumbs with cooking. They either have a hard time coordinationg things and cooking techniques leave room for a lot of improvement. Or they get frustrated by not achieving a desired result, or they see it as a long and arduos and messy task. They don't plan ahead or they refuse to not be messy cooks and clean up as they go, making the final phase of cooking (the clean up and storage of left overs) a herculean task. I did not realize how complex cooking can be to people who aren't good at cooking at all, until I realized that when working with the mentally disabled the vast majority of them can do many household chores, such as: folding clothes, vacuuming and putting away stuff, but almost all of them could not cook. I asked why not? and then the lifeskills managers explained it to me, cooking and driving are very related. You have to have a good sense of reflexes, memory and recognition and you have to multitask and coordinate a series of deceptively simple sounding things to do it with good judgement and effectively. And you can't do it if you are not atleast in the 10-15 year old range of skill level in verbal and motor skills and so on. Interesting.

2. Washing dishes. So many people complain about this. My husband over the years has tried to get away with not washing dishes in every way. He tried not washing the pots and pans. And just leaving hot soapy water in it soaking and never going back and scrubbing and rinsing. NOT GOOD. IT stinks after a while. Or he would wash the plates, cups and saucers and leave the pots ignored and the silverware too. He hates doing silverware. He then doesn't clean the little bits of food in the sink, and doesn't rinse out the sponge after using it and letting it air dry after giving it a good final hot water rinse and letting it dry out. Instead he left the old dishwater in it and did not rinse it out and I found myself going through abnormal amounts of replacement dishrags and dish sponges. Lol. We don't have a dishwasher and as such everything has to be washed by hand. And we have no counter space. He did not know you have to sprinkle some cleanser or vinegar and baking soda in the stainless steel sink to make sure it too gets sanitized. Men. The details escapes them sometimes.

3. Scrubbing toilets, and bathtubs and cleaning mirrors and showers and bathroom floor tile. Also people don't like washing bathroom mats. It is an afterthought. When we moved in there was a cheap carpet in the bathroom instead of tile. Talk about a bad idea. Imagine cheap carpet instead of floor tile in a bathroom? The toilet overruns and you step out the shower and it all stays in there breeding germs. Got to get that carpet ripped out and taken out. People hate scrubbing bathroom tubs and toilets. But it aint that hard in my opinion, just do it consistently and it won't be so grungy and stinky and unappealing if left for weeks without attention.

4. Folding, sorting and stain removal and doing laundry and ironing stuff. Boy do people hate doing this one. They especially hate doing the hard to fold stuff like big fat comforters, sheet sets and little annoying stuff like sorting socks. My rule is if the sock looks old or has no match. THROW IT OUT. And keep only a week or two of clean socks on hand and force people to wash once a week or suffer dirty sockdom. Lol.

5. Throwing trash out. Boy do people moan and groan on this one. But it is critical especially kitchen trash.

6. Clean out the fridge. People hate this. Sorting through old leftovers never consumed and getting a big hot pail of water with all purpose cleaner and a big rag and cleaning the fridge and organizing the freezer contents is avoided like the plague.

7. Changing the bed linens. For some reason I have met people who think unless their bed linens are gray with body oils and dirt, the sheets don't need to be changed every week. SORRY, change the sheets. They stink otherwise. And what is more heavenly than going to bed in perfectly clean bed sheets and clean blankets and covers and nice clean pillows and so on? It is heaven on earth. Why not do it? Making the bed is cause for moans too.

8. WHAT IS EASY? some dusting, quickie vacuuming and watering the plants. Got volunteers for that. It is easy. All the rest draws protests.

I got a big dog too. And grooming and washing him is cause for moans as well. He is long haired and white and gray. That is a lot of work. Lol.

[Edited by PRgirl on 1st December 2004 at 23:23]

[Texasmujer]

PRGirl...I think you are one super efficient mujer!! ---thid id a tegent, excuse me, ya'll, but...PRGirl...I spoke to my Mom the other day...she will not be coming back to Texas...she has ALL the amenities she needs in Puerto Rico, and they are delivered better than here in Texas; she'd got medical care (the V.A.--she's a veteran of the Army); everything is relatively coinvenient for her---It's sad that she will be so far away, but, practically, it just makes sense for her to stay there...Cabo Rojo.

I have some hints...(the only thing is that it seems a person needs to be CONTINUALLY cleaning...)This is the 5-minute or 5-Things Daily Plan

Sat aside five minutes---minimum---everyday, and simply use it to focus on one organizing task. A lot can be accomplished in this amount of time. Or, this time can be used to cull things: pick-up, put away, pass on, or throw out five things from a drawer, closet, etc.

For example, you might: *Put away countertop clutter
* Take out the garbage * Bundle newspapers and magazines *Sort out a drawer of knickknacks *Rearrange a bookshelf

This plan can be done while watching---just do them during commercials.

[PRgirl]

I love this new service of TiVo. It is great. You program the tv and movies you want and watch them on YOUR schedule. You then delete the programs you are no longer interested in and say good bye to video tape storage.

I also really like method cleaners. They are cheap, biodegradable, non-toxic, never tested on animals, have pleasant scents and can be bought at convenient locations (they are a lot cheaper than the health food cleaners and just as environmentally sound).

I like all cotton diapers for rags. They are absorbent and easy to wash and all have the same size or shape and easy to fold and store. Old T-shirts and etc. are awkward and some are not 100% cotton (as rags they aren't as good).

Also noticed Pledge furniture polish is really good at cleaning leather fast. Like leather sofas. And I dream of buying these things for next year's household acquisitions:

* A new refridgerator (the one we have is the absolute cheapest model on the market and is not energy efficient, and on top of that is tiny, and doesn't even have a storage drawer for veggies or anything). We currently have five adults to feed and it is awkward.

* New front doors (ours are old and ugly with no style they stick out like a sore thumb with the pretty old architectural features of the front area of the home), they are old, cheap and ugly looking. This year we replaced the old ugly cyclone fencing with pretty wood and colorful gates. NOW the doors look awful in contrast. GOT TO GET THOSE DOORS REPLACED.

* Buy a new dining set. OUrs was bought 8 years ago with table and chairs costing $99 for the whole thing and it has seen its best days go by. I think we need a new dining set. The legs of the chairs, are chewed by the days in which our OES was a puppy. It looks awful. I tried painting over it. It still looks weird. I would really love an entire kitchen remodel BUT THAT IS SKY HIGH EXPENISIVE so, a little at a time is practical.

Don't give up the TiVo. That is great. Lol. And also, I need to organize my heavy kitchen utensil drawer. I have all kinds of kitchen utensils, for Chinese food, for Mexican, Italian, and Cuban and Puerto Rican food too. I have a tostonera, a pilon that says Puerto Rico on it, a tortilla press, a pasta maker, a steamer, rice cooker, deep fryer, etc. Even an expresso coffee maker. And no counter space. My cookbook collection has gotten widdled down there. Good. Just only the best books.

[Texasmujer]

PR girl...as tehy say, "Poco a poco!" WOW---I LOVE 'talking' to you---it's Puerto Rico again!! (In my mind, and in my memories...It's not perfect---but, what is?) It's beautiful, it's special and it was home for me
for awhile. Those memories...