In my life's patterns of overwork/underwork, I've gone into a small underwork period. My project oral exam is done (if you'd like to know how it went, the code is 11, and your magic decoder ring is here), and I have a total of one more day of work, and that only in the morning, before I start my summer travels next Friday. So I have basically a week to do what I'd like, and to get things done.
So what have I done? Not nearly as much as I could. I've watched a lot of football. I've done some cross-stitching. I've made a commitment I will most likely not keep, to clean and cook a bit more...I'm terribly undomesticated, which isn't really fair on Thor when he's working and I'm not. I've tried to read a whole book, but I seem to have forgotten how. I've met people for coffee.
So what am I missing? What would you do if you had a week to hang around at home? And is there a secret to being extra domesticated, some little trick I could apply to the apartment which might help my hopelessly tarnished reputation as a housekeeper? Anything which could give me domestic street cred, and/or would make the apartment look that much nicer, would be greatly appreciated.
22 kommentarer:
That sounds like a great plan...I should probably add in something like 'straighten up' or 'vaccuum' or, perish the thought, 'clean the floors' (which desperately need cleaning) somewhere in there, but otherwise, perfect!
Congratulations!! :-)
I'd do exactly the same: watch football, meet friends for a coffee and take it easy on the housework. If the weather was nice, I'd eat ice cream and go biking every day. Tidiness is overrated!
Marion, thank you! :-) And you have a very sensible attitude, which I shall copy...and the biking is a good idea. I never think about it except as a means to get somewhere, but the weather has been perfect for it!
Maddy, thank you!...It's very odd...I can see your comment in my e-mail, but it isn't here...you're plagued by blogging gremlins, my friend. I'm sure it will show up soon.
However, your blog is back...I couldn't find it earlier, and I was worried, too!
just stopped to say hello. nice blog.and post.
hmmm.... a week at home?
I would be inclined to spend the time lazing about.
I supposed I would try to motivate myself by saying for every one day spent doing something productive about the house, the next day would be spent doing something fun and/or relaxing.
But in all honestly, I'm not sure that that would work on myself and I would ultimately end up just getting one or two loads of laundry done and the rest of the time would be spent being lazy.
Invite someone to your house that you want to impress. It may force a clean up. It works for me.
when i have nothing to do, i throw away things. also i make marmalade. i rearrange the furniture. i blog a lot. i go shopping for silly things, eg new soap. i cook. i play games like singles 2. i watch dvds. i copy dvds and give them to friends.
Just exist. That can be a full time job in itself :)
Read a good book !! Nothing wrong with that. Housework will always be there, do it when you don't have time ... it gets done quicker that way !! Most of all, enjoy your time with nothing to do. I probably doesn't happen too often
Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care, Meow
If I had one week off I'd focus on the writing. The trouble is I never feel like writing when I'm not busy with other things :P
I also bought a computer game and I'm sure I'd spend hours at it. And I'd watch all the games on TV (I watch them anyway lol)...
I know, it's not very exciting...
Sangroncito, reading is definitely on the agenda. And I don't know how my internet access will be from Lisbon, but I'll be blogging in some way, you can rest assured!
Starry Nights, thank you, and welcome!
Vanessa, that kind of psychology doesn't work on me either, and I'll probably just laze the week away!
Jack, that's a great idea...if only I actually wanted to see more people this week. :-o
Chloe, throwing away things is a great idea...I will try to do that a bit.
Ms. al-Ferengi, very true. But just existing is so difficult!
Meow, alas, I have regular periods of not much work, and each time that happens, I feel more obliged to actually get something done in the extra time.
Ms. Mood, writing and watching games sounds pretty exciting, actually. Especially today!
hmm interesting .. i just posted about what to do when u have nothing to do on an airplane :)
awww awesome @ summer travel .. where do u plan to go? send many pics mate ..
and yes football .. i am loving the world cup .. awesome to watch the game .. did u see Argentina vs. Mexico game? went on over time and the tie breaker goal was like .. "Hand of God goal" ...
Hi Kimananda,
Please drop me an email.
Thanks,
Andrea.
andrea@expatwomen.com
www.expatwomen.com
Bryan, these are great suggestions. As of today, I've already done the sleep in a litle late...and I'll be doing some of these others as well. :-)
Nabeel, the Portugal-Holland game was amazing. As for Argentina-Mexico, there were a few of us at a party watching it, including one person from Mexico, who looked quite sad afterwards, as you can imagine. And I'll be reading your post about what to do on airplanes in a short while.
Andrea, welcome...but why should I e-mail you? Surely it would be better marketing for you to e-mail me with a press release about your new site? Or, how about letting me know why you want me to e-mail you. Is there a specific question you want answered?
Jackt, that is the best suggestion...but it is probably better to save my money for my summer of travel. :-(
for domesticky activity, i reccomend washing dishes/loading dishwasher, taking out trash, and applying some kind of vacuum device to any rugs (or a broom to hard floors). Not-difficult things that make a bit of noticeable difference.
If i had a whole week? of nothing to do? hm. sleep til noon. work on webcomic. Watch a lot of teevee. play a lot of Dragon Quest 8.
Watching football and cross-stitching sound good to me. I've been doing rather a lot of one of those. I'll leave you to guess which one!
Congratulations on the 11! Woo-hoo!
I would make an effort to clean and oragnize only 1 room and after that, the rest of vactaion is your to be frivolous with and that way you can still feel as though you accomplished a domestic task. (Wow, after reading my comment, I realize what a bore I am...I take it back and say that you should catch up on movies and shopping!)
I work from home so I am always trying to think of excuses to get out of the house. oops we're out of bread. Let me run to the store. oh I need to mail this bill before they throw me in debtors prison. I'll run to the post office. hmmm...I really want a rootbeer float. I'll go to A&W because if I keep the ingredients in the house I'll be eating them everyday. Those are the kind of thoughts that plague my day. I hope you find your week much more stimulatiing ;)
oooh I am so excited about Portugal. I haven't been there in so long. You are aware that I am travelling with you in spirit, right? Just so you know.
I forgot to tell you the barBQ idea is great. Give me a few weeks and I will definitely put something together WITH pictures
I am hopelessly disorganized and as much as I love a clean, neat house I hate cleaning...until I signed up for Flylady.com.
She(they) teach you simple steps to get organized and you only work at cleaning for a few minutes at a time but it works. I recommend it highly - my only bitch is it's got some god stuff thrown in...I ignore that and just use the tips on housework.
Morose, these are great suggestions...I am just so lazy, though!
Maddy, I'm glad to hear that cleaning makes you less grumpy now...maybe I just need to get into the cleaning habit.
James, when did you pick up cross-stitching? ;-)
Etchen, thanks...I'm quite pleased with myself, and plan to brag about it all summer! And I like your idea of cleaning a room...I may try that one tomorrow.
Daphne, I look forward to hearing about barbeque. And it's interesting, you look for reasons to go out, and I look for reasons to stay at home. Blogging is a very good reason to stay at home, actually. Maybe that's why I like it.
Day, you're the best person to give that advice...I've had several spells of multi-month unemployment here, and I still can't figure out how to do housework in those times.
Mr. Baldo, that brought virtual tears to my eyes. I wonder if using your product in my house would make windows and counters shine, too?
Mary, I just signed up...and then cleaned my sink. I felt like being an overachiever, so I also wiped down one counter. It looks really useful, and I can certainly ignore the god stuff if the rest of it is good. Thanks for the advice.
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