So what is it you do to keep your place cleaned up to par? Have you any ideas for a messy bachelor and his messy nineteen-year-old son?

-- Zoomer (fortyfiver@yahoo.com), March 19, 2000

Answers

Just letting you know, this topic is connected to the Monday, March 13, 2000 entry at the following link: http://sr6.xoom.com/fortyfiver/45-mon.march13,2000.htm

The entry was written by me at my journal website: ALIVE AT FORTY- FIVE! http://members.xoom.com/fortyfiver/aliveat45.htm

Come check it out!

-- Zoomer of ALIVE AT FORTY-FIVE! GETTING MY KICKS AT FORTY-SIX!-- http://members.xoom.com/fortyfiver/aliveat45.htm (fortyfiver@yahoo.com), March 20, 2000.

The best thing you can do, is to pull your bed sheets up. You don't actually have to make the bed... Just pull the bed sheets up. It's almost made up. If someone wonders in, they don't feel like they're interupting you. It keeps the sheets clean from critter hair, and other critter surprises, if you have a pet. The fact is, you can pull those sheets up while you're still in bed! Just grab hold of the ends, and stretch... then slide out the side... Hey, the room doesn't look too bad!

Other ideas include: Keep the counter tops clear. If you have an area that seems to collect "stuff", either slide that stuff into the drawer just below it, or get a basket with a top to collect that stuff, and keep it out of sight. Don't be afraid to throw "stuff" away, (or otherwise get rid of it). News paper's collect... consider cancelling the subscription if all your're doing is collecting the papers. Magazines collect... (I mean really, are you going to really read that article...???) Books collect. Maybe you already read that book, and it wasn't that good the first time... If you decide to read it again, maybe you could go to the library, or even buy another copy! Clothes collect. How about that shirt in the back of your closet that you haven't worn in years, and you wouldn't be caught dead wearing.

Projects that you're working on get left out... for long periods of time, -indefinitely. It isn't honest. Too often, the feeling is, "Oh, I'm working on that..." When you're done working on a project for the day, put away.

A lot of "House Beautiful" isn't about what you have, but about what you don't have... Dust collectors, broken junk, projects that you,re going to work on but haven't worked on in weeks or months...etc.

-- Gayle (platter@arn.net), June 03, 2000.