Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Housework Is Never Done

Hollywood Studios, Disney World, Orlando, FL - February 12, 2013
 
This is why we cannot keep toilet paper out.
Sorry for the long delay between posts. I was trying to get better at updating my blog regularly, but sometimes it seems impossible due to the volume of work that is always rolling my way at the office. We finally got a chance to take our honeymoon and decided to go to Disney. It was a long, fun week, but there really is no place like home. Of course, when I got home, I was welcomed with floors full of cat litter and generous bushes of fur covering every inch of my house. There was also shredded paper littered around the toilet from Andy digging in the trash like always.
 
 
I am well aware that my cats roam the house with no boundaries when we are not home. I found cat litter on my counters, my kitchen table, my side tables...which I find absolutely disgusting. I love my cats dearly, but I do not approve them walking around on surfaces with poo paws where we set or prepare food. This is especially annoying for a person who has an obsession with cleanliness. I am constantly sanitizing the surfaces in my house. I have an after work ritual where I will walk in, and immediately grab the broom, sweep the litter, wipe the counters, dishes are done while the dinner is cooking (unless I'm presenting an astonishing display of boiled turkey dogs and steamed veggies in the microwave) and vacuuming just about every other day. Disciplining them with spray bottles and "cat off" spray, is always a pointless punishment. Although Andy despises the "Cat Off", Poster happens to enjoy it. When we lived in our apartment a few years ago, and Poster was but a wee lad, I took drastic measures in keeping him from constantly getting into everything. I sprayed the spray around the base of the TV (since he was always behind the TV, rolling around in the wires), and around the side table/cabinet where he enjoyed the noise the dangling handle would make as he batted it around. Much to my disbelief, he promptly walked over, sniffed the area near the TV, and then proceeded to roll around in it, happily. I had been defeated by a tiny bear. A tiny bear who winked and smiled at me as he did so.

My mom has a small decorative wreath with knitting in the middle that has survived our several moves that reads, "A mother's housework is never done", granite I am not a mother of two human children, but I do have a house, a husband, and two 16 pound cats, so I think this applies to me too. That little wreath is right, it's NEVER done. I swear I did 12 loads of laundry when we got back from Florida last weekend, and the minute I turn around, there is a pair of dirty underwear in the basket. WHERE did they come from!? Did those underwear spring tiny limbs from a drawer upstairs and parasail into the basket? At what point during my days worth of washing and folding hundreds of articles of clothing, did those underwear appear in there? I felt inclined to do a whole load of laundry with the contents being only those underwear because I was so frustrated with them. I thought about just throwing them in the garbage. But alas, the underwear remained there, and I finally got to relax on the couch with my nice washed blanket, fresh out of the dryer. Ben hates putting things on that just come out of the dryer, so I like to throw the hot clothes on him when the cycle is done. This usually results in clean clothes all over the room, but it's worth it.

So, as I promised, I was going to give you an update on the green coffee bean trial I did - or...didn't do.

I took the pills as directed on the bottle for a week straight, and although I did not notice a spike in energy or any difference at all really, I did notice that I seemed to get worsening symptoms of acid indigestion. So I stopped taking it. Ben on the other hand, took it for about two weeks, and between eating better, running and taking green coffee beans, he lost around 13 pounds.

So ultimately, my results were inconclusive. Normally I would not encourage pills as a part of dieting (especially Hydroxycut and Ephedrine-these do NOT work and are very bad for you), but these are actual coffee beans. If you choose to try a trial of these yourself, look for the all natural ones.

In truth, sticking to good old fashioned exercise and good eating habits, is the appropriate and healthy way to achieve the best results.

Also, I wanted to point out again that my good friend Danielle is the health coach and owner of Refresh. She has amazing tips and is an inspiring and awesome person all around. Check our her 'about me' to learn more about her story.

Thanks for reading. Have a litter free day :)