Whine and Cheese

Thanks Marta Pie! I just didn't feel like getting into it with her...but makes sense that you have to do that anymore to get peoples attention.

And your 'repeat until you find what you want' comment made me laugh and think of a shampoo commercial....'repeat...until desired results!" lol.

I don't think any of us expect too much. At this point a clean house so if anyone drops by unexpectedly we're not too embarrassed. And a clean cup to offer them a drink in. I don't think that's too much to ask.

That is all I want, a clear (safe) path to the front door. Not having to trip over all the garden tools because the front porch is loaded with them and closer than putting them away where they belong in the garage. I clear, clean walk from front door to the living room. It's only about 6 steps. The living room picked up and clean. I have given up on having the kitchen clean, I can seat them and go get the drink without them seeing the mess in the kitchen. Is that really too much to ask? Apparent! I reluctantly organized outside help. Not happy about it but did it. They postponed, didn't come to the first scheduled clean as they had a tooth trouble. So apparently it is all too much to ask for love or money. Woooo I can get into this whine, pass the cheese please!

Kiwi they cancelled b/c of a tooth problem? I never heard of such a thing..unless they had wisdom teeth out or something...that I can see.

Unfortunately our front doors opens to 4 different areas that you can see clearly...stairs...family room, living room, dining room. And if the 'guest' has to go to the bathroom forget it...they then pass the laundry room, toy room, garage, and kitchen. None are clean Except the stairs. Thanks goodness we don't have anything on the stairs...I already have enough trouble getting up and down them.

Oh and here is a whine for the day...did I mention that I LOVE this thread? haha. Speaking of keeping a house clean...try living with not one, but two hoarders. yup. Now that is fun stuff.

I think we are going to need a LOT more cheese. I have some wonderful spinach artichoke dip to serve next.

mmmm artichoke dip

And yes more cheese!

Kel, my sister is a hoarder. Big beautiful brick colonial bursting at the seams. If the neighbors only knew. There homes would drop from $300,000 homes to $150. She started after the death of her daughter. I can't stand to visit anymore.

Kim, they were scheduled to come on Wed. texted on Tues. "impacted tooth, seeing dentist on Thur, can we postpone until next week?" Uh...yeah, of course, what else. It sounds mean to say but I hope they do have tooth problems rather than just slagging off, you know what I mean.....I can handle tooth issues, not slagging off the first day on the job. I have a tip with the hoarding, lived with that for years. Let them keep all they want, just not in certain areas. I have "no hoard zones" Make them in the areas you want to keep as presentable as possible, state clearly what is and what is not zoned. There will be infractions, when they happen simply move the stuff (nice word for it) to a hoard zone, out of your way and feel no guilt at all. Oh dip, nice Toto, anyone like avo dip? Not proper guacamole, I can't get that down but avo, spices purred with some sour cream until smooth. I eat it with corn chips, just don't actually eat the chip, please yourselves as far as the chips go.

Well impacted tooth does sound like it hurts...but texting? hmm..not on the first job I don't think.

Yeah I started doing that...problem is with our house is that there was no hoard free zone to begin with....it was at one time...I was 3 though. Even my own room had boxes that seeped into it. Well, after I left one of my jobs in 2011, I decided I was going to do a 'corner a day'. So I started working on the rooms that I wanted hoard free , 1 corner, per day. Actually works pretty well...The room I am sitting in right now is much better...I had gutted this one out completely...and moved all the hoard to the toy room which is now the ultimate hoard room. Piles all the way up to the ceiling. You can't walk in there at all.

The worst is the kitchen...because it never seems to get better. I can clean it, gut it, make it beautiful. But in two weeks, if I don 't continuously watch out and reorganize, I find moldy things in the fridge, boxes of food falling out of the pantry because they aren't organized or stacked right..and just sloppiness. I think that is the biggest thing of all is the lack or organization and order. Sloppy, messy, just gross and pig styish. 2 against one...with new magazines making there way into the house daily by the mail and new groceries by the week...no wonder people feel like they are stuck once they are in it!

Hey guys! Bill is a garbage picker

Dorothy, great thread! Kel, good tip for the fridge is to get those cheap plastic baskets to organize stuff in the fridge... water bottles in one, lunchmeat in another, etc. It works well even if you have a lot of compartments, as you can organize within the large bins a little.

I get frustrated at how my house looks too, only time it gets vacuumed is for a showing! And we have a large dog, 2 cats, 2 birds and 6 people living here! Today it's clean, had one showing at 1pm, the next at 6 pm.

Susan, everyone is town here is a garbage picker! We have a "swap shop" at our transfer station that the town decided to close... all hell broke loose!

Helen, I will try that idea! The fridge really urks me a lot.

One of my hoarders is a garbage picker too. Especially if they think something was thrown away...(and it wasn't just put into the hoard zone...or they misplaced it themself)...they will go through the whole trash bin....find other things they already got rid of...change their mind...and bring it back into the house. That is sure frustrating. Sometimes they will go to big trash cans behind stores and stuff...luckily most of that stuff will stay outside in the garage. yuck.

Okay, got a question for you, what is the biggest hoard item you ever got rid of when they weren't looking. Mine was a 58' Ford truck. It was 5 houses and 2 countries ago but I'm still hearing about that one! Kel I like the one corner a day idea. Might steal it from you. I think kitchens are a nightmare for everyone, food dates, left over don't get eaten or tossed in a timely manner. I real whine for us all. Just don't toss any cheese, we are going to need every bit we can grab and it won't go off, just scrape off the mould if it worries you and server her up! That line on top of my fruit cake admission is going to get me questionable looks when I serve....Here is my frig tip. Not good for the planet but, hey at this point I can only do so much. I buy those plastic containers they use for take away food, what do you call it, fast food, no....carry out?, you know..food you buy at a shop and take away to eat. Anyway, buy them in bulk, they are rectangular and stackable and cheep as can be. I use them for left overs and when the left overs don'g get eaten, I very un-green of me, pitch the whole booming thing out. If I'm feeling energetic I keep the lid and wash it.

I am ready for whine and cheese...

It sounds to me like we all suffer from type A Personality disorder. We are all accustomed to keeping our own homes in the order we like and to take pride in it. Now, we are unable to brush our own hair and as far as picking up the cat hair, that is just bad joke!

What I MISS most is to be able to give a HUG to those I love. Anybody out there, figure out a way to put your arms around another? Let me know if you have!

I like the takeout idea...that would minimize the problems. We also have funky weirdly shaped and too big containers...that never have lids that fit...now I just chalk that up to the gnomes who take them away along with the lost socks in the dryer. lol.

Kiwi you definately win with the 58' truck. I got rid of two scotters unnoticed until a 10 yrs later...still hearing it once they found out...even though it was my scooter and my brothers when I was 5 and he was 3. haha.

Well I will definately give any spare cheese...though there is a lot of it here and that usually isn't around long enough to go moldy. Anything healthy like lettuce, fruits, veggies on the other hand...those we see turn technicolor.

Oh Diane, I can only imagine how hard it must be to not hug. My family is not 'huggy' so I wouldn't miss it at all, but if you did before I can imagine it would be rough.