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| Baton Rouge to Nashville |
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| Snyder to Baton Rouge |
Teresa, my sister Julia, mom and I are taking two cars and traveling to each before returning to Snyder.
I put pencil to paper. According to my math, we'll cover about 2,200 miles of interstate and asphalt in our big circle that'll take us east out of Texas, south through Louisiana, then north through a minimal amount of Mississippi, a lot of Alabama, up and across in Tennessee, southeast through the rough roads of Arkansas and then west, back across Texas.
So with time running out before we blast off, we're still wrapping up some loose ends, putting ducks in a row, pushing rope uphill and herding cats. We've conquered the multitude of 'little things.' Now, we're tackling the bigger, more sweat worthy tasks.
That means we're cleaning house. I don't know about you, but T and I do not like to come home from anywhere at anytime to a dirty house. It's a great philosophy until it actually comes time to clean one's house... but we're up to the task and we are armed with a collection of cleaners... and presented with a couple of surprises.
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| My Tool of Choice |
My tool of choice is our Shop-Vac. I call it our most helpful but cumbersome domestic engineering device. It'll suck up everything but moving around furniture, across rugs, around corners tests my patience.
If the cord's not long enough, then the extension cord gets trapped. It's like the sucker hose has a mind of its own. It has wheels, but they might as well be blocks. And, if you're trying to pull it behind you... you better go in a straight line and make only right angle turns. Otherwise, it gets stopped by the tiniest of corners and curves. Still, the Shop-Vac's my go to in my three prong attack on west Texas dirt.
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| Pistachios in the Couch |
My job is taking care of the floors, wiping down the furniture... the big stuff. Sometimes, that includes running across a few surprises like we did this morning.
Teresa said, "Ewww, that couch needs a good dusting."
So, I went to work with Huggies Baby Wipes... the best dusting tool ever!
Within seconds I asked, "Who's been eating pistachios on the couch?" I was both surprised and really surprised. First, I love pistachios. But they're expensive so I'd never waste so many. Secondly, I haven't bought any in a long time.
"What," Teresa asked because neither one of us can hear squat.
"Who's been eating pistachios on the couch?"
"The mouse."
"What," I asked because like I said... neither one of us can hear squat.
What's really kinda sad about this whole conversation is that neither of us was particularly alarmed that a mouse was hording pistachios in our couch. And maybe even more sad is, neither of us ever noticed a pistachio eating mouse in our house. I did wonder long ago,,, "where are all my pistachios." Suffice it to say, my Shop-Vac took care of the mystery nuts and we probably have one very hungry and angry mouse.
Teresa is Olive Oyl to my Bluto of house cleaning. She's the nook and cranny girl. Her tools of choice include just about everything on aisle 10 at our local grocery store.
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| Teresa's Cleaning Tools |
Each bottle, spray and wipe has a specific purpose. Earlier, I mentioned the value of Huggies wipes. Teresa's a firm believer in that a top shelf wipe is a top performer in the great game of dusting.
Thanks to those sprays, bottles, wipes and more, dust is doomed at our house.
You have to know I clean my ears by jabbing a cotton swab in my ear. Teresa meticulously twists a baby wipe and gently and deftly releases if not all, most of an adult woman's ear debris.
And, that's the way she cleans house. While I on the other hand.... slam, bang and smash my way through the 'damnit, let's get this done in a couple hours' process.
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| Love me some Swiffer! |
Another great tool of the trade is the Swiffer. I'm SWIFFER MAN! This stuff is like fire, the wheel and sliced bread. While T's dusting the sound holes in the telephone, I'm doing my best impersonation of a sailor swabbing the deck.
First, the dry Swiffer to get up any dust missed by my trusty, but clumsy Shop-Vac. Then, the glorious, glossy wet Swiffer.
By now, you probably figured that we're wood floors type of folks and the Swiffer is da' bom. It completes our three prong attack on the west Texas dirt that settles daily like plaque on teeth.
Our next chores before take off range from talking to our banker to picking up my seersucker suit and Teresa's rehearsal dress from the cleaners, plus gobs of laundry. Meantime, DON'T WALK ON THE FLOOR!!!
Bill Robertson, I wonder where that mouse is now. He better not be eyeing my chips.
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