Homemaking Meme

I don't do memes a lot, but when I saw this one over at the Summa Mamas, I couldn't pass it up.  When, besides in a meme, would I ever get the chance to share all this stuff?

Aprons (Y/N): Only under special circumstances, like when I'm baking while wearing a black sweater, or making spaghetti sauce while wearing a white one.  I have a great apron - very cute, and embroidered with my name, even! - that my mom made for me; I just don't usually bother to get it out.

Baking (Favorite thing to bake): I bake cookies the most often, and I love them enough, especially lately, that I've had to give them up for Lent.  My absolute favorite baked good to eat is pie, but it takes more effort so I don't make it very often.  I do make kickin' pie crust, though.

Clothesline (Y/N): Nary a hint of one.  And, honestly, I wish I could say I'd like to have one, but the truth is that I would never, ever use it.  I can barely remember to put clean loads in the dryer, for heaven's sake.

Donuts: Whoever invented Krispy Kreme has my eternal devotion.  And my mom makes faschnats every year on Fat Tuesday in honor of her German heritage; I dream about them the rest of the year.  But have I ever made donuts myself?  No.

Every Day (One homemaking thing you do every day): Does unloading the dishwasher count?  I do that every morning unless my wonderful husband beats me to it.  I also make the bed almost every day.  Other than that, what can I say?  I'm a homemaking underachiever.

Freezer (Do you have a separate deep freeze?): We do, although we've only had it about six months, and it's pretty empty.  My dad, bless his heart, keeps us stocked with homemade bread and his amazing spaghetti sauce and chili, and we needed room to keep that stuff.  I'm working on filling up the rest of the freezer.  I'm sure I'll do better when the baby is older.

Garbage Disposal (Y/N): People who don't have garbage disposals have my deepest sympathy.  I use mine constantly.

Handbook (What is your favorite homemaking resource?): That would definitely be my mom.  She's the one I call when I need a recipe rescue, or to find out how to get a stain out, or whatnot.  My other favorite resource is teh Internets, which has all the cooking information you could ever want.

Ironing (Love it or hate it?): Bryan and I are each responsible for ironing our own clothes, and we do them on a piece-by-piece basis as needed.  So ironing is not so much a chore as a quick task on the way out the door, and it's no big deal.  I neither love it nor hate it; I hardly think about it ever.

Junk drawer (Y/N) (Where?):  Oh good heavens yes.  At least three of them that I can think of: kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.  Although only the kitchen one is technically designated as a junk drawer; the other two just kind of evolve into junk drawers within days after I organize them once a year or so.  I cannot imagine how organized I would have to be to be able to do without junk drawers.

Kitchen (Design and decorating): Our house was built in 1990 by builders who took the cheap way out every time they could.  Then it was owned for years by people who did zero home maintenance, as far as we can tell.  When we bought the house in 2004 the kitchen was uninspired at best, and parts were disgusting.  We've slowly been working on rectifying that: we painted before we moved in, and bought a new stove immediately (the old one was CAKED with grime, I kid you not).  We replaced the floor a few weeks before Camilla was born, and got new countertops and sink last month.  Once it's warm outside, we plan on refinishing the cabinets, and then we'll have made over our entire kitchen since we moved in.

Love (What is your favorite part of homemaking?): Cooking, no question.  I love to cook, and although I'm not hugely consistent at making dinner (we eat a fair amount of takeout) I'm getting better.  And, if I do say so myself, I can make a pretty good meal.

Mop (Y/N): I was trained to mop by my dad, who was in the Coast Guard, so I can wield a mop with the best of them.  Growing up, I did it weekly as a mandatory chore; in my own house I do it once in a blue moon.  Our new kitchen floor is five months old and I've never mopped it, so that should give you an idea.

Nylons: I'm not sure what this means.  Do I wear nylons?  Only occasionally.  Certainly never while doing housework!

Oven (Do you use the window or open the door to check?): The window, most of the time.  Our first two apartments had older ovens where you couldn't really see through the door, so I got used to opening it, but with my lovely fairly-new oven I can actually see through the door, so I try to use it, but sometimes I still forget.

Pizza (What do you put on yours?): I'm basically a meat girl - pepperoni, sausage, bacon - but I do like pineapple and banana peppers, especially together.  Other toppings I can take or leave, except olives (which I hate) and green peppers (which ruin everything they touch, in my opinion).

Quiet (What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?): It depends on how energetic I'm feeling.  If I'm exhausted I'll try to get a nap; if I'm just kind of tired I'll read or surf the Internet; if I'm energized I'll rush around tidying and switching laundry loads until Camilla wakes up.  (It goes without saying that right now, my only quiet moments are during her naps.)

Recipe card box (Y/N): Yes.  When I got married my mom wrote out all my favorite recipes from cookbooks she owns that I didn't have.  I have most of those cookbooks now, but I still use the cards, plus other cards that I've added over the years with recipes from other sources.  I also have a folder of recipes I've printed up from the Internet.

Style of house: One-story ranch with partially-finished basement.  Large, open living-room/kitchen area, three small bedrooms, two small bathrooms.  Lots of windows, surrounded by lots of trees.  Not my dream house, but definitely a very decent starter.

Tablecloths and napkins?  Place mats and cloth napkins.  I grew up in a bare table and paper napkin kind of house (except for special occasions, where my mom goes all out) but Bryan really appreciates place mats and matching napkins, and I'm happy to humor him.

Under the kitchen sink (Organized or toxic wasteland?):  Neither, really.  It's certainly not organized, but we don't keep a lot of stuff under there, so it isn't a toxic wasteland either.  Just a minor jumble.

Vacuum (How many times per week?):  Is that a joke?  Some people vacuum multiple times per week, really?  Vacuuming, like mopping, is a chore that I was forced to do weekly while growing up, and that I now do hardly at all.  I don't necessarily mind doing it; it's just low on my priority list.  Honestly, when it gets done (and the high-traffic areas in our house are lucky to get vacuumed every other week) Bryan usually does it.

Wash (How many loads of laundry do you do in a week?):  I'm just guessing here, but I'd say maybe six?  We have a pretty high-volume washer and dryer, and Camilla's clothes are small.  I'm embarrassed to admit that we always have a huge backlog of laundry.  Sometime when I'm feeling heedless I'll take a picture of the piles on the laundry room floor (fortunately, it's in the basement).  You might not believe it.

X's (Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?):  Like I need another reason to be depressed about how little I'm accomplishing.  When I have a productive day, though, I do like to make a verbal brag list to my husband at the end of it.  ("Today I went grocery shopping AND folded two loads of laundry AND gave the baby a bath..."  You know, that kind of thing.)

Yard (Who does what?):  Whatever gets done, Bryan does.  I am not-so-much a gardening or lawn maintenance person.

Zzz's: I don't get enough.  Does anybody, with an infant?  Our bedtime routine is to (usually) start the dishwasher, turn down the heat, turn off the lights, and get to sleep as soon as the Billa lets us.

Wow, I've left you with no illusions about my skills as a housekeeper, huh?  It's a good thing I can take care of a baby, otherwise I'd be pretty much worthless around here.

 

My best job

Anyone who wants to do this meme, consider thyself tagged.  I dare you to try to beat my record for how long it took me.  (Four days.)

Comments

[Amy F]

When my first son was Camilla's age, I would have responded to the vacuuming question the same way you did. Then he started crawling and eating every tiny bit of bleck off the floor and vacuuming became a once-or-more daily activity. I have a picture of Peter around 5 months sobbing because I was vacuuming. Leo is so used to my vacuuming that he likes to follow it around and climbs on it.

[Sarah]

I got tagged already, and did it a few days ago. Here you go!

http://wee-sleekit.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9BAC5219BF1F28F5!361.entry

[Maren]

IF you have time, I would love to see that pie crust recipe posted. I've been experimenting with my stand mixer and am eager to have new ones to try.

[Amie]

I did this over at my blog.:D

[Christiana]

Can I do it if I'm not a stay at home wife/mom? My answers will probably be similar to yours, or worse. :-)

['Ailina]

(Got here from Amie's.)

Now that's too sweet.

And thank you for your honesty. I share some of your "dirty little secrets" (no pun intended), but have not as yet had the courage to admit it to anyone other than my kids.

My first Meme to follow....

[Arwen]

"Can I do it if I'm not a stay at home wife/mom?"

Of course, Christiana! You still make the home, don't you?

And I'm sure my answers would be even worse (especially on the cooking part) if I also worked outside the home.

[Dooneybug]

Well that meme was so much fun I did it myself! I think all moms should have an exemption card in the homemaking department. :)

[Maggie]

That is probably the cutest Billa picture that I have ever seen. Today. I can't wait to see her on FRIIIDAY!!

[Rebekah]

This was great, Arwen! I just did it over at my blog. It was lots of fun!

Your little one is SO CUTE! You must just want to eat her up. (I hope you're not one of those people who thinks that is a barbaric thing to say!)

[halloweenlover]

I couldn't agree more on the green peppers. Blech. I won't even let Josh get it on the other side of the pizza because the smell stinks up the whole pizza.

[Tracy]

It's a lot later from when I first saw this meme and thought "that might be fun". I finally did it and it was fun.

[andrea_jennine]

I think I take the cake for longest time lapse!