on housekeeping & car maintenance...

i went to bed exhausted

i woke middle of the night neurotic

i went back to sleep and woke refreshed

i wanted to cure my cabin fever.

due to the vagaries of my life, and an artistic nature...

money comes and goes.

altogether too quickly.

my car sits in my driveway like a girl at a dance in the wall flower section.

she sits with her snowy carpeting

on again,

off again.

then on again

and maybe off again.

then another few rounds of snow blanketing.

our area has enjoyed a few nor'easters this january.

there is a huge snow deposit living in our southern new england area.

so snow dispersal and removal

depends on the generosity of my kids.

their dispositions.

my ability to wheedle and whine enough so that they help me do this.

they like sweeping the snow off the car and onto one another.

when the last discomforting car system failed

(ball joints, steering system and now solenoid),

my 17 yo son, aka "the boy",

detached the battery.

I had NO idea that he had done this.

he is an untamed force to be reckoned with.

he constantly does things that no one knows how or that he did.

rarely are they homework, cleaning his room or leaving his sisters torture-free.

i blame myself for breast feeding him and eating organic when i was pregnant.

i had no idea that he would best me in every way imaginable from his healthy start.

as a matter of fact,

i am a stay at home mom so that i can try my honest to goodness best,

to keep abreast of whatever hi-jinx he gets into.

of course, he has a lot to deal with since he is stuck between two very feisty sisters.

i feel for him.

and i feel for the girls too.

so back to the car...

no wheels means no transpo and

less freedom than i like.

it also means, since inherently i am a lazy person,

that i am am stuck in the house.

a fresh wind or quick walk is great exercise,

makes me feel refreshed and re-energizes my self righteous streak,

and gets the doggie out of the dust bowl we all live in,

but the constantly developing crap-fest in my surroundings

is evolving even while i am not there.

most of the time, i am unable to get far enough away from it to

clear my own cobwebs adequately.

and really, how cute is this dog?

how could anyone hold a grudge against him for shedding?

even if he is a dog that supposedly does not shed...

why would i want to either?

I HATE BEING THE HOUSEKEEPER.

mostly because i am an irreverent slob.

also it is a "sysyphusian" task.

i roll the rock/vacuum up ... a steep hill/all over the carpets...

with carefree and concentrated abandon.

then the 4 other inmates and our beloved, fluffy, non-shedding dog

crud it all up all over again.

internally i grimace and i groan loudly, outwardly.

i clean the toilets and marvel at the fact that i have more than one college degree.

at least one more than any of us here.

however, i remain the only one qualified to scrub things to within an inch of their porcelain lives.

DID I MENTION I HATE THE HOUSEWORK HERE?

recently,

i decided to make a greater pass at this cleaning business within our cottage.

after a few days, things were almost dare i brag,

unhairy and taking on a rare gently gleam.

don't start cheering,

it was not yet remotely close to shiny and bright.

i washed all the cast iron grates from my commercial stove top.

i vacuumed.

actually moving furniture and shit(yeah i said it)

as i went. i even evicted a few cobwebs out of my living room.

(mind you it is where i LIVE.)

and i felt flipping smug as all hell.

now two weeks later, the condition of hair and dust

and hair and sand

and hair and clutter...

have all come back home to roost.

i guess my life is just like the instructions on the old Prell shampoo bottles.

"RINSE, LATHER and REPEAT"

and

now with my daughter home from college for the weekend

(talented, smart & sarcastic houseplant that she is)

there will be more of an opportunity to practice my mantra.

rinse, lather, repeat OM.

more people make more mess.

and this is why a car is sooooo very important.

I can leave this behind for a while and refresh my tattered sensibilities.

as mentioned earlier, the car issue is

a dead dead dead option.

so i am choosing to spend time

reading my holiday gift from my daughter(college girl)

a fresh spanking new tome.

"Where Women Cook".

It is a fantastic foil to the other beloved read I must have:

"Where Women Create".

if the snow keeps coming,

you will find me buried in my basement...

up to my earlobes in earring , necklace and bracelet components.

in beads, chains, metal flowers, enamel findings,rhinestone chains and other jewelry components.

perhaps i will even be sorting, organizing and ogling them.

it is a big project...

and the issues of "where women do stuff shit"

will be my bellwether.

(yes, i said it again. call this a p.g. posting today)

wish me tons of good luck please,

i need to keep at this.

it is as daunting as bringing my wheels back to life.

time to go down the stairs to roll a rock up a hill.

xoxo. w.

some of the recently made earrings for the upcoming

cabin fever indie show

http://www.cabinfevershow.com/