House Cleaning

 

The other day I saw a segment on one of the morning talk shows about a woman who cleans houses for free.  I can't remember if she lives in Finland, or Sweden or some other country because the point is, it's not the USA, where I live.

 

They showed her cleaning houses with some before, a little during and the after and it was pretty amazing.  She said the worse the place was, the better.  She just loves cleaning.

Now, while I can't remember the country she's from, all I could think is I would be willing to pay her airfare for her to come down and clean my house!

While there's some truth to my willingness to pay her to travel to the US to clean my house, I will say this.  A number of years ago I paid a service to organize two of my bedrooms.  The before and after images were incredible.  But here's the thing, I had initially told her I didn't want her throwing anything out.  I told her to put stuff she thought was trash in one area and I'd eventually go through it to determine if it was trash or not.  But she kept coming back and asking if she could please throw some things out.  I finally agreed to let her throw out magazines and "obvious" trash.

She hauled a couple of garbage bags to the garage.  When I went through them - months later (I had been sick and that's why I was paying someone to organize things for me) - she had decided that FRAMED photos were trash!  Books were discarded, even though I had specifically told her NOT to throw out any books.  She also threw out one of my paintings - my favorite at that.  Not to mention that she "kept" a lot of actual trash - filling up boxes and suitcase (yeah, great when I ended up needing them!) with trash.  So yeah, the rooms looked great but they weren't truly organized and, sadly, still aren't all these years later.  It's a project of mine but something that is hard to find time to do.  Someday . . .

In the meantime, I can dream of having someone come and take care of it for me, for free.  😀

Walking the dog

 Over the years I've had a number of dogs and walking has always been a part of that.  For the most part the dogs I have had have been larger dogs - 60 lbs and up.  I had a lab that I sadly lost almost seven years ago.  But when he was young, I took him to obedience training.  I had a harness that went over his shoulders to try to help reign him in when we walked - he was a puller!

 

The trainer told me that a halti, which fits like a bridle fits a horse - over the nose, was better.  It applied pressure to their "nose" like their mothers had and helps train them not to pull.  They still can, but they typically won't.  Max didn't, for the most part.  It made walking with him easier and more enjoyable.  It also kept him from choking when he would pull because the pressure isn't on their necks.  Max weighed as much as 125 at times during his life and I could walk him using the halti without issue.

Then came Oreo.

I met Oreo almost two years ago when the fence between mine and my neighbor's yards fell down after a storm.  He was being crated for 18-20 hours a day and he was only nine months old so I offered to watch him during the day.  (He lives here full time now.  😀)

Part of his "doggy day care" I provided (at no charge), was daily walks.  Well, Oreo is a puller!  He gets excited about the next place he can hike his leg and wants to run to it!  

So I invested in a halti for him as well.

Here's the thing, my 125 lb lab was easy to walk with the halti on him.  He rarely pulled with it on.  Oreo weighs 18 lbs and I feel like I'm running behind him so that my arm doesn't get ripped out of its socket!  I mean, the exercise is good and all but whatever happened to a leisurely walk?

Add to this, Oreo seems to LOVE cold weather.  It really seems to get his juices going.  He goes into high gear when outside when it's cold!  So I go to take him for walks now and it's like the starting gun has gone off and he's off to the races and he's determined to win!  It's crazy!

And he rarely lets me "skip" a walk - he's insistent we go every morning.  Every. Morning.  I figure that since I'm so accommodating about walking him every morning, the least he could do is accommodate me and go a bit slower, right?

Good thing I love this little guy.  💕

Book Review Club - December 2020

 

Okay, so last month I posted an old review I'd written before I joined the book club and well, I'm going to do that again.  I've read several books this month but none I felt compelled to review.  I will say though, I'm currently reading The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalain while simultaneously watching the series on HBO Max.  Like a lot of books made into movies or tv series, a lot of things are different but both are good.  If I were finished with the book, I might have reviewed it this month.  😊

 

With that said, below is the review of Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl I wrote back in July 2009.

Sophie Kinsella has a knack for creating quirky characters that you love. And TWENTIES GIRL is no different.

For me it is kind of a cross between IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and BRIDGET JONES' DIARY.

Lara Lington hears a not-so still small voice in her ear at her great aunt Sadie's funeral. The problem is, the voice is coming from great aunt Sadie's ghost! Sadie wants the funeral stopped until they can locate her favorite necklace and she won't let up on Lara until she successfully stops the funeral. With no warning and no time to come up with a better plan to stop/postpone the funeral, Lara declares that her dear old great aunt (who was 105 at the time of her death) did not die of natural causes, but was in fact murdered. When pressed for specifics, she's hard pressed to come up with details, particularly considering she never really met her great aunt Sadie but the word "murder" was enough to delay the funeral.

As if dealing with the fallout of the declaration of the supposed murder isn't enough, Lara is also dealing with a floundering business and the end of her latest relationship - not to mention her meddlesome aunt's ghost. And in typical Kinsella style, it is hysterical.

As the story unfolds, the relationship between Lara and Sadie grows. Yes, there is a romance thrown in for good measure but, for me, the heart of the story lies with Lara and Sadie.

TWENTIES GIRL is about values, family and leaving your mark on the world - whether you realize you've done so or not. It's a touching, feel good story that had me laughing hysterically (thankfully I read it at home!) and getting emotional about the characters. Not only is it my favorite Kinsella book to date, it is quite possibly my favorite book of all time.

I highly recommend it. 

 

That's what I wrote in 2009 but for more reviews click on the link below.

 

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@Barrie Summy