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Who Cleans the House?

That’s the question I just posed to my good friend from back in high school who just moved to the Tampa Bay area. Her husband is an athlete, to remain unnamed. Let’s just say they have more money than sense at this point. The house they just bought is on the Bay and bigger than my daughter’s private school. I just walked around looking at the craft room, the playroom, the game room. The room for her husband’s strength equipment, the six bedrooms, the seven bathrooms, and the other living space and wondered who in the world is going to clean all of that floor space?

It turns out my friend does not believe in nannies or housekeepers. She likes to do it all herself. Good for her. I could barely keep up with my ex husband and my daughter. My fiend has four sons. I cannot imagine cleaning up after all of them and a hairy, sweaty husband and his jock buddies. I’d be petitioning for a housekeeper at least once a week, thank you very much.

In the meantime, I am happier than ever when I look around my tidy little ranch house and see how keeping it clean is not too much trouble at all.

We all have different notions of what it takes to get in shape. I have been looking into a way to lose weight and keep it off, and in my quest I have looked at some of the things my close friends have tried.

I have one friend who went to the gym twice a day and pretty much lived on water, egg whites and protein shakes. She did lose weight, but once she tried to live a normal life of eating regular meals and only going to the gym once per day, she gained back her weight.

I have another friend who took weight loss pills, but she was one of those very rare cases who had an adverse reaction. She actually lost the sight in one of her eyes and the doctors all say it is due to the pills she was taking and her blood pressure. Of course, there are safer medications than the one she was using and you should always be under a physician’s care when you are taking weight loss pills.

One of my friends had gastric bypass surgery and she looks great, but there are minor health problems she has to deal with now and she is always concerned about her nutrition levels. It is a lifetime choice to have that surgery and you have to be ready to work through the issues forever.

Another friend used Weight Watchers and she lost her weight very slowly, but she has kept it off, even during the pregnancy and birth of her second child. I see the merits of a slow pace when re-shaping your body.

I do not want to take drastic measures. I want to combine a few techniques and make it work. I am interested in the paleo diet, since that would not only help me lose weight but also address a host of health issues. I also want to develop a walking program here in the neighborhood. I live in Florida, so walking outside in the summer is difficult, but there are various indoor facilities, including the mall. It’s absolutely doable.

I have always been fascinated by the concept of a tankless water heater. When we moved into our last house, the water heater went out within a month of us living there. When we called to have it replaced, I asked the company about putting in a tankless water heater, for a number of reasons. I wanted to free up closet space, I liked the idea of not always having a store of hot water on hand even if you were not using it, and I have heard you end up saving a lot of your utilities.

In the end, the company explained that we would have to have a lot of our piping redone, especially since we were in a two-story house with the water heater on the second floor. We went with a standard water heater, but I am still fascinated by the tankless concept. I am doing some research to see if I can have one installed in this house, which is a ranch style home. I especially think tankless is a good idea for this house, because there will come a time when there might be periods where no one is living in the house and I do not want to have to worry about remembering to turn the heat down or flooding.

Do any of you have tankless water heaters? Did you have to do anything special to have them installed? How are they working out for you?

I do not usually fall into the frenzy that retailers try and create around minor holidays. Aside from the little box of Valentine cards my daughter bought to give to her class, I completely resisted shopping for Valentine’s Day things until yesterday, when things were all marked 50% off. Yay for me, but then I am sure I did not need that little bag of chocolates.

The furniture stores are nutty over the idea of President’s Day, which will be celebrated Monday here in the United States. For some reason this year, I have the urge to get out there and look around at the couches and beds. I know I do not really have room for a lot right now in the house, but I am overwhelmed with the urge to have new things, instead of the holdovers from my marriage. It’s all about purging the past and making sure that bad memories do not have a foothold, you know? So, I suppose I will put on some comfortable shopping shoes, check the balance in my checking account and brave the crowds this weekend.

When you have a daughter, you tend to lose sight of what it is that young boys are into. When my daughter is invited to a birthday party for one of her female classmates, the gift shopping is a breeze. I can usually take Gigi to the store with me and buy something she likes, knowing that her friends tend to share her tastes.

When she is invited to the little boy’s birthday party, I start to sweat. For the most part, I have no idea what the little guys these days are into. I do have a nephew who is only a year and a half older than Gigi, but he cannot always be with me. I call the guy on the phone like he is a mini shopping consultant. Thankfully, he is eager to help. Now, when I was shopping for his last birthday, I was out of luck. I wanted everything to be a surprise, so I could not very well just call him up and ask. My sister had told me he liked the Transformers and also wanted some new games for his Playstation 3. You will not believe my good luck! I was standing at Toys R Us in the Transformers aisle, worrying over which of the 150 thousand different figures to buy, when a little boy and his mom sidled up next to me and began to discuss the finer points of Transformers.

I turned to the little boy and asked him how old he was and it turned out he was exactly my nephew’s age. So, I let him play shopping assistant. I asked him which Transformer he would love best if it were his birthday. He picked out the biggest, most expensive Bumblebee toy,…and I bought it. Needless to say, it was the hit of my nephew’s party.

Sometimes I glad I never burned any bridges when it comes to my old design clients. There are months I do not get any incoming design work, and months it comes rushing in like the floods of spring.

There is a big packaging show coming up and my old employer, as well as some of his customers, all need their trade show booths designed. They are working with a local company that can build out the actual booth elements, but I will do the design work, color conceptualization, and basic theme work. It’s not my actual design niche, but I’ve done it enough in the past that I’m just fine with the task. Plus, I already know the customers and how they want their products to be showcased, so the awkward part of getting into the client’s mind is already finished.

Last night I was craving chocolate, so while I was at the store to pick up milk, I also bought a Ghirardelli brownie mix. It was OK, but a mix is never as good as something made from scratch. It made me think of my aunt Brenda’s Texas SHeet Cake, which I ADORE. It is rich and simple.

Preheat oven to 350º.
Lightly grease a jellyroll pan.

Cake:
Heat until boiling:
2 sticks margarine
1-cup water
4-tsp cocoa

Pour into a large bowl and add:
2-cup flour
2-cup sugar
1-tsp soda
1-tsp salt
2 eggs
½-cup sour cream
1-tsp vanilla

Pour into greased jellyroll pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Icing:
Heat until boiling:
1 stick margarine
4-TB cocoa
6-TB milk

Pour into a large bowl and add:
1 box confectioners sugar
1-tsp vanilla
1-cup nuts

When cake is cool add icing and enjoy.