For years I've said, 'if I only had someone to clean my floors, I can keep up with the rest.' A mantra I heard from all my friends and my mother. So when we moved, I hired the woman my daughter uses to clean my floors only. It makes a huge difference.
I do clean my own toilets. I'm weirdly proud of making them squeaky clean.

Morning all--much easier to find the thread over here.
I was looking up reviews of Roombas and pet hair yesterday, because the dog hair in our house is just impossible to keep up with, but it sounds like you have to clean the brush practically every time you use it. In which case, I'd actually prefer to just wander around pushing a vacuum or swiffer myself.

I have a severe case of the lazies today! How to get motivated on a Monday morning.....coffee or electricity?

With 3 dogs, I swear by my cordless Shark Navigator..super lightweight for stairs and small enough to get into nooks and crannies. I too am indulging in a lazy day cuz it's my birthday!

Happy Birthday michigammemom! I'm going to look up the Shark Navigator right now. I have a great Miele vacuum cleaner. I was just hoping that one of the little vacuum robots might be helpful with the daily shedding of dog hair between major cleanings. I am both obsessively tidy and unwilling to do the work necessary to achieve pet hair free floors between cleanings. Not a good combination.

Are you doing anything special to celebrate the day? Or is indulging in laziness the celebration?

Thanks feeny. A day of laziness followed by dinner out with family to celebrate mid 50.

Sounds perfect!

I love my miele vac, but I have cleaning "angels" that come bi-weekly to use it. Sadly, we do not have pets anymore, once they started to go, we decided against getting more so we are free to travel and visit friends more often. I miss having a pet tho'. But our floors stay much cleaner without the dog.

Happy Birthday michigammemom! Do something special for yourself today, after all, we only get one a year!

And what comes with a great big rain and wind storm? A 2 hour power failure, of course! No internet, no tv, no microwave. What did poeple do before electricity?

We used to light candles and read creepy Edgar Allen Poe stories during power outages. Loved it. Now our teenager just gets sulky that his internet connection is down and his favorite ice cream might be melting.

Well I called the utility company and they said the power would be out for 2 hours (it was) so it was the perfect time to do nothing. Slept for about 5 minutes, now I'm going to find something to eat, and pray for another outage so I can take a nap!

How's your paper grading coming along?

Painful. I take a Houzz break as a reward for each paper. It just gets more difficult to concentrate on them every year. It's the only part of my job I don't love.

Well approximately how long does it take to do one paper? I would imagine at least an hour?

Totally depends on the length and the student's writing problems. The more problems, the more time I have to spend identifying and discussing them in the margins and final comment, making suggestions for revision. The more polished and eloquent the paper is, the easier it is to grade. And grad papers are usually wonderful to read, but long.

feeny, do you find your students are getting more and more illiterate? The texting shorthand bothers me, because, despite what you see me post, I'm a bit of a grammar nazi.

Happy birthday michigammemom! I hope you're having a lovely day!

I am going to test your craft skills. I have a very ugly trunk that I found dumpster diving years ago. It was covered in a fabric similar to oilcloth when I found it and that was ripped and filthy. I removed that and there is no wood underneath. More like a pressed cardboard of some kind. I have had it painted every color under the rainbow. Several years ago, I painted it a terracotta color and put a finish over the top to make it look like copper. That failed miserably, so I stuck it upstairs in a corner until we moved. Now it's in plain view and I've GOT to make it pretty. I started painting it an off white and bought some stencils to use on it. I did part, stenciled it and hate it. I thought of using scrapbook paper and doing decoupage, but I can't find any pattern in the scrapbook paper I like. So now what? Ideas?

creeser, try Rustoleum's Hammered Copper paint., it's fabulous! But do it outdoors, it's smells really strong.

Bobbi, I have hammered dark bronze I bought to repaint my plant stands. I might try that on it and see how it looks. Thanks! What do you think of putting fabric on the trunk if the paint is a failure?

I tried fabric once on an old steamer trunk. It had so many brass fittings all over the place it became impossbile to do a good job. Does your trunk have these?

It has some, but not enough that I can't do a good job getting the pieces on there. It's a flat top trunk and I even though of padding between the metal "straps" on top and putting fabric over that. Too much you think?

This thing has become my nemesis. Even my husband refers to it as The Ugly Trunk. "Honey, where do you want to put The Ugly Trunk?"

creeser, you're so funny! Do you have a specific function for it? Or is it just for pretty? Do you want it to look like a hope chest, you know the ones by Lane that have a padded top?

I store quilts, pillows, etc in it. I have 3. One belonged to my Grandmother, one my husband and I bought early in our marriage and fixed up ...and ... The Ugly Trunk. The 2 good trunks I have at the foot of the beds. This one has no home yet, but I could easily put it in the hall. Our halls are 8 feet wide, so room for 'things'.

I just want it pretty so I'll want to find a place for it instead of a place to hide it. Open to anything that will make it look good.

Hey creeser, here's a cute trunk that is painted white and I presume stenciled to resemble a cancelled stamp.

michegammemom, that's cute! Actually, my husband had suggested trying to find travel stickers and put on it. Painting the stamps would work! I'll give that a try since I'm almost there with the white paint anyway.. Thanks!

OH, I love that! Try it creeser! And show us your "after" pics!

I just put on my first pair of last years jeans and THEY STILL FIT! It's a miracle!

To truly appreciate any improvement, I'll take a couple of 'before' pictures as well.
Bobbi, I am so jealous! Congrats girl!

Yes, do that! Befores and afters. Thanks, I 'm shocked and amazed, myself!

Just getting on board…There is a wonderful non-profit here on the Cape called "CapeAbilities". It provides employment, education, cultural activities for the mentally challenged. One of the many things which support it is a consignment shop. Last week I ran in with my friend, as she had never been. ( I had to laugh. I wish you were all looking over my shoulder as last week's convo was about paring down.)There in front of the entrance was this amazing handmade in England multiple metal queen bed in the turn of the century style. Perfect condition. $200.00. What's a girl to do?

Today I bribed cutie pie to take the truck and pick it up. The trip was about 30 minutes away. Of course I had to promise him something in return. (Bobbi P, no). I took him to lunch at an1700's barn with all homemade (gourmet level) soups, sandwiches, pies. He was in heaven.

You all would love this barn. All original, on 6A (called King's Highway) in Dennis, Ma, the cistern on the beams, wide pine floors, the original sliding barn door. The owner's brother is an artist and the walls were covered with his works…hundreds of local venues.

Judy M, when on the Cape you have to try this. Bonsari's Art Gallery and Tea Room.

judyg, it sounds wonderful! .... and I would've bought that bed on the spot and THEN figured out how to get it home. We need to see photos of that bed!

Hey! Why would you think that of ME??? hehehehe Or is it LOL? Groan.

Your bed sounds great, we MUST see it!!!

What's for dinner tonight?

Tonight it is barbecued pull pork on toasted Panerra asiago cheese bread, home made broccoli slaw and a marguerita. Love to torture you, bobbi p.

I think you do, judy, I think you do! Your dinner sounds great, we're having some kind of chicken and pasta. But I am making homemade bread! With a breadmaker, natch.

creeser, what about covering the trunk with outdated maps? They are big sheets, and easy to cut. If you belong to AAA, you can get them for no extra charge. After you get them on all the trunk's surfaces, consider putting the stickers from the ends of strips of US Postal Stamps, or airline destination tags for additional decor. Coat with a non-yellowing finish.

tipi, I like that a lot, thank you! When michigammemom showed me the photo, that's kind of where I was going with the travel stamps, but I had not thought of using maps. We went on a cruise to Alaska 7 years ago and it was the best vacation we ever took. I have maps and tickets from that I can use for the trunk. Now maybe The Ugly Trunk can actually be sentimental and loved!

Awww.....

Bobbi, I'm just a big pile of mush, aren't I? *L*

I think it's so cute! Did you start a new thread for today?

No, I haven't. Came on to see if you had and got distracted looking for it.

I'll go do it now.

I know! It's so easy to get distracted here, isn't it? Thanks!

done!

Yes it is. I started looking for your thread, saw a question that begged my attention and I just fell apart from there.

Awesome!