Yahoo! Answers

Photo by worak

Last week my daughter started a project for her archaeology class. She had to keep a log of every activity that took place in the kitchen. At the end of the week, she had to go through the garbage bags layer by layer to catalog and correlate the remains with the activity log.

She taped notes up everywhere to remind us to write down each kitchen task as we did it, whether or not it resulted in something getting thrown away. As we didn’t want to screw up her chance of getting a decent grade in the class, we complied.

Looking over the log yesterday, I was amazed at all that went on in the kitchen. I expected the usual stuff: fixing meals and cleaning the dishes. But this list included everything: feeding the dog and cat, opening mail, cutting tags off of clothes, planning the front garden, general discussions, talking on the phone, applying a bandage, making coffee, taking aspirin, washing hands, watering plants, reading, doing crosswords, cleaning shoes, paying bills, getting a glass to trap a bee, etc.

Granted, it wasn’t a very exciting list, but it was extensive and filled up many pages. The kitchen is definitely the hub of our house. Whether it’s just us or a group of family and friends, we always end up in the kitchen somehow. Our huge golden retriever likes to lie down in the middle of the kitchen floor so that we all have to constantly step over him–he likes to be in the center of all the action.

I don’t know how the archaeology project will turn out, but after seeing my daughter–armed with yellow rubber gloves-stoically picking through the garbage, I hope she gets an A. But I guess we’ll also find out if we’re really eating enough fruits and vegetables, and if we’re being as conscientious as possible with our recycling.

How about you? Is your kitchen the place to be? What do you think your garbage will reflect about your lifestyle years from now?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Photo by libraryman
Spring has officially sprung! In our house, the celebration of spring includes opening up the windows to let in fresh air, switching out the winter clothes for the summer clothes, and — the least glamorous tradition — spring-cleaning. Did I just hear you groan? Before you assume that I’m a neat freak on par with those “How Clean Is Your House?” ladies — I’m not. Starting the spring with a clean house just seems appropriate for the season of rebirth.  After all, it’s easier to keep an already-clean house tidy.

But let’s face it: When the sun is shining, I would rather be doing pretty much anything else than cleaning indoors. Since I don’t like cleaning (but do like living in a clean environment), I have devised a few ways of making the whole process more manageable, and a little less tedious:

I’ve swapped my commercial cleaning products for homemade solutions . I’ve found that simple household items like vinegar, baking soda, and ammonia  are very effective in place of their more-expensive commercial counterparts. For example, cleaning my windows with ammonia and newspaper gets them cleaner and less streaky than Windex ever has! With homemade concoctions, it is incredibly important to follow the directions carefully. After all, chemistry is not for wimps.  The “chemical” smells that come with cleaning products — homemade or otherwise — are unpleasant, and occasionally dangerous, so I open all the windows to maximize ventilation.

In our house we start the spring-cleaning process by dividing up the chores based on preference. While I may not love scrubbing floors, I loathe dusting; the chores get divided up on that basis. I put this to-do list someplace where it will be visible, along with a red pen for crossing off completed tasks. Is there anything more satisfying than proof of a task completed? Pardon my wistful sighs; I love lists. And pens.

Next we schedule the chores from our lists into manageable time frames. (Doing a marathon house-cleaning session may be effective, but can also cause serious burnout. Setting reasonable expectations when approaching large tasks is key — that way you can feel good about what you have accomplished, rather than disappointed in all the tasks yet to be done. We crank up the tunes and set forth working on our ascribed tasks. Sure, spring-cleaning takes a week or so from start to finish, but over the course of that week the house gets progressively cleaner.

What are your spring-cleaning tips and tricks?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Photo by basykes
My husband came home from work on Friday with a bag of friendship bread starter and a sheet of paper with some instructions and a recipe. He was happily explaining the process to me and said that everyone was doing it where he works. I could see from the look on his face that he assumed I would be ecstatic to add another task to my list of things to do in my vast and seemingly endless spare time.

I stared at the yeasty bag of slime in horror. My husband doesn’t remember this, but many years ago, a coworker gave me some friendship starter–and it was a monster that soon took over my life. I made the first batch and packaged up some starter for my own friends. What a great idea! I made a second batch–nice! On my third batch I started becoming anxious–did I stir the bowl today? Was it day six? Did I need to add sugar, flour, and milk today? Do I have any more friends to give this mess to? I can’t just dump it down the drain–what a waste! I wonder if our mail carrier would like some?

Finally, I found myself holding my bowl of the food equivalent of Star Trek’s tribbles over the sink–hovering over the gaping hole of the garbage disposal. Should I keep it going or just end it now? I faced the bubbling batter and won. I rinsed the remains down the drain with a sigh of relief and swore to myself that never again would I be caught up in the friendship bread obsession.

I gingerly took the toxic bag from my husband’s hand and tossed it in the bin.

Have you ever been caught up in a friendship bread loop or something similar? Please provide all the gory details.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Photo by makelessnoise
If you live in a big city like New York, you probably wake up knowing whether it has snowed or not. This isn’t because city dwellers have some acquired sixth sense regarding the mysteries of snowfall-it’s because every neighborhood has that one (or more) early bird who loves to loudly shovel his sidewalk at 6 a.m. It’s an altogether unwelcome harkening of snow’s arrival. Like fingernails on a chalkboard, that spine-tingling scrape can rattle you down to your fillings. If you are especially unlucky (as I am), your bedroom faces the street and that cacophonous sound reverberates through the dawn as if you were sleeping on the sidewalk.

As I lay in bed this morning, bemoaning that awful sound, I got to thinking: What would happen if no one shoveled their snow? Well, things would quickly turn into a great big dangerous mess-that much is certain.

Having grown up in sunny California, this whole snow shoveling thing is fairly new to me, and I wondered what Answers users had to say on the subject. Apparently, depending on where you live, there are specific laws holding homeowners and businesses responsible for keeping their public-access sidewalks free of snow. Many places, it seems, even require snow to be shoveled within 24 hours of a big storm. I found that many of you who rent apartments aren’t sure whether the onus is on yourself or your landlord to keep driveways and sidewalks snow-free. That, too, is dependent on each situation, but the best answer is to check your rental agreement or lease.

For those of you stuck with the painful task of shoveling, I found some great tips to help make the job a bit more bearable. For one, try to avoid lifting and throwing as much as possible-your back and shoulders will thank you for it. The best method seems to be starting in the middle and working your way out to the sides. If you find the snow sticking to the shovel, try using a little car wax, silicone lubricant, or cooking spray to keep things moving. Many of you find that using a snow blower (if you can afford it) is a heck of a lot easier (although no quieter!). Of course, if you are willing to throw a little money at the situation, there are always eager entrepreneurs ready to do your dirty work for you.

Fortunately for me, my landlord takes care of the shoveling. And now that I’ve read up on it, instead of whining about the noise, I guess I should be thankful that it’s not me out there at 6 a.m. making it.

What’s your experience with shoveling snow, and what tips can you share to make the chore more bearable (and less noisy)?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Photo by ifindkarma
I am a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. Last year, my resolution was to buy less-and I’m proud to say that I lived up to it. In addition to buying less, I also made a conscious effort to get rid of unnecessary items around the house.  Alas, despite the reduced amount of clutter, the disorder that remains is vexing.  Everyone has their own methods of getting organized, which is cool, but I’ll admit that some systems work better for me than others.  I’ll also admit to being a little OCD about being organized (I live by The List), which is why I find clutter and chaos so frustrating.  Here are my three favorite tips on how to get organized:

Tip 1: My mother has always said, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” I find it much easier to file paperwork if there is a file drawer, to shelve books when there is adequate shelf space, and to put clothes away when there is a place to put them.  If you’re not into getting rid of stuff, having the right kind of storage is critical. Personally, I’m a big fan of modular storage; but really, this is a case of finding storage solutions that you can get excited about.  (I love places like Storables and The Container Store, but IKEA has some interesting storage units, too.)

Tip 2: Look at what is cluttering your house with a critical eye.  How much extra paper have you accumulated? Every time I clean, I find a metric ton of paper. After I moved, I realized how many softcover novels I had. Now, some of them are favorites that I’ll revisit, but most of them are not really the types of books that I’ll reread. Our softcover policy now is that once we’ve read it, it either gets traded in at the used bookstore, or it gets donated to the library.

Tip 3: Stick with it. Once you have everything organized and in its place, don’t get too comfortable. Stay on your system by filing paperwork as it comes in, and putting things away immediately (instead of dropping them on a table). Another gem from my mother is, “A mess you don’t make is a mess you don’t have to clean up.”

What are you doing to get organized this year?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!