Wherin I'm a cleaning fool

In my continuing saga of counting down to Trout season, part of my getting ready countdown entails spring cleaning of which I tackled in earnest this weekend. I took half the day off on Friday to get a jump start on things and was home by 11:00 in the morning...just in time to let the carpet cleaners in the door.

Prior to their arrival I dusted and removed all the furniture from the rooms to be steam cleaned. I took down all the draperies, cleaned those, ironed the ones needing ironing, and put them all back up. I vacuumed all the carpets, used the crevass-tool thingy to get deep into the corners, removed any and all cobwebs from the corners and commenced doing laundry.

Doing the wash is a pretty mindless chore. Really, it just plain sucks. I should have waited til Saturday when we had our new washer and drier delivered and installed. Our trusty 'ol Maytag lasted 21 years. It was truly on it's las legs. The spin cycle on the washer..well, it didn't spin so much anymore....but I'm not gonna complain...21 years out of the old set? Dang...you won't get that nowdays.

Now this new washer and drier we got by Fisher & Paykal...holy smokes...quiet! Super quiet. The washer spin cycle spins so fast that when it's done, and the clothes are put into the drier...it only takes about 10-15 minutes for them to be dry! SWEET! The self cleaning lint filter on the top load, yes, TOP LOAD drier...too cool! I still hate doing the wash though.

Nothing better than a clean house lemme tell you...clean carpet especially! I have decided I need to get me one of those steam cleaner mops for the kitchen floor though. When the capert cleaner was doing his job he happened to drag that steam extractor thingy across the kitchen floor in a couple of spots and, damn, well, lets just say the kitchen floor needs a good steam cleaning too! I've seen these things advertised on Tee-Vee but I wanna know if anybody out there has ever used one before and if you like it?

Now that the house is ship-shape for the most part inside, it'll be time soon enough to start on the outside....I got a list a mile long of things I/We want to accomplish...I got windows to wash, the never ending chore called yard work and landscaping projects that need to get accomplished. While I am kinda a do-it-yourself kinda guy I ain't gonna kill myself trying to do it all...the landscaping I'll hire out...Why do it yourself if you can pay someone to do it for you right? I don't need any lectures about the satisfaction one gets from doing it themselves cause, well I do plenty of things myself and a few indulgences here and there are necessary...besides, a guys gotta have time to go fishing right?

Wherin I want to inspire

I know we have all heard that life is short and hence we must all live every second that we have to the fullest. But, think again. Are we all really truly living our every second on earth to the fullest? Are we following our dreams or are we just merely existing as faceless human beings going about the mundane routines of our lives?

Speaking or rather writing about that inspires me to share with all of you my favorite quote:

I first chanced upon this quote whilst randomly surfing the Internet and it got me thinking that I could do so much more for myself and the people around me instead of being a pessimist when negativity strikes.

One must always follow their dreams positively because wouldn't you rather have failed than not have tried at all? A person who has truly failed would be someone who has, in actuality, never tried achieving his dreams at all. This quotation illustrates that a life with any form of regrets would be a life not worth living at all.

Imagine living a life full of regrets. Imagine waking up everyday and thinking I should have done this yesterday. I should have told her that I love her. I should have studied harder. I should have acted on stage when I was presented with the opportunity instead of shunning it away just because I have stage fright. I should have submitted my painting for the competition even though my heart tells me I would never win. Life might be a matter of "should haves" and "would haves" but it is totally up to us to make a difference to our own lives because we would never know of the true outcome until we try.

I want to live my life to the fullest.

I want to be able to say to all the people I meet, I have done all this and I want to do more.

I want to look back and smile while being able to say I managed to do it despite the obstacles I faced.

All because, in times of adversity, true strength and character is born. Any goals that I may have failed to achieve, I'm still happy because at least I know I tried. In life, its always the smallest of things that matter. And the fact that I have tried will make a difference to how I live my life. So live every second of your lives to the fullest and go all out in achieving your dreams because a life full of regrets is simply not life.

Wherin It Must Be Spring

It's official. It must be Spring.

I've got Fly-fishing on the brain and I added my countdown timer to the top of my web page to count down to the traditional opening of Michigan's trout season which falls on the last Saturday in April each year. Some of you have Spring Fever...Yup, I got the Trout Fever!

I've got alot to do. I need to clean out my fly boxes. I need to check the flyline on my reels. I need to clean and inspect my fly-rods, I need to make leaders, tie flies...and I purchased these today:

Wading boots. Very fashionable eh? Money well spent if you ask me!

I'm looking forward to a extended weekend with all the misfits I have for brothers and friends at Trout Camp...Eating good food, smoking cigars, drinking beer and bourbon and fishing of course...all the while enjoying the great outdoors free from the confines of work, home and family.

We ain't got now power, we ain't got no running water, we ain't even got a cabin...just an old 1962 camper that provide us with shelter and a place to lay our heads at night. It may not sound like much, but to us, it is living like kings!

Wherin the kids make me laugh

Teenage daughters are curious things. One minute they're best of friends, next, worst of enemies. Most of the time they are mysterious to me, you know, in a dazed confused sort of way. I'm beginning to think that my wife is correct in that I'll never understand them....maybe that's a good thing?

The other day I get home and the 2 eldest are chasing through the house. While not unusual, this time the younger of the two is chasing the older one and she has a can of Lysol disinfectant in her hand. She's trying to spray her sister with it.

The eldest pleads with me to tell her to stop, which, being the ever obedient dad I do.

Of course I have to know just what in the world is going on and why in the world is the younger, inherent dangers aside, was thinking trying to spray the older with said Lysol...that's what I really wanted to know.

The reply I got was priceless: "Well, Dad, It says right here on the can that it eliminates 99.9% of germs...I keep spraying here but she just won't go away"

1000 points for creativity.

Wherin I see a sign

So, I'm like in the bathroom...sorry but, ya know, it's quiet in there and the kids, well, they pretty much leave you alone whilst your in there u-mmm, reading...and I hear this bird singing....

It-it sounds like...like a....can it be???

Pulls up, Zips up....can't forget that....Phew! Runs out, grabs coat, grabs camera as an afterthought....

Outdoors, in slippers....scanning around...listening...hears bird singing again....there it is!!

Crap!....no literally...I stepped in dog crap....damn...bird singing again...yup...it is, it is what I thought it was...It's a sign, a definate sign!

Spring must be here!

Wherin I yearn for days gone by

My Moms sister, my Aunt, died this past weekend. She was 91. I was having a discussion with my Cousin yesterday about this...and the passing of her generation, our other Uncles, Aunts, Grand Parents & Parents.

One thing that we discussed is the ability they had in drawing family together. Work was important, by family was more-so. I have great memories of these gatherings. We're not talking about 10 to 15 relatives, no...more like a small community size gathering. when our extended brood got togehter. After church in the summer for coffee, sometimes dinner too, at the cottage on the lake, the pool party/cookouts at another Uncle and Aunts and, at each, the boisterious kids running around, being noisy, carrying on and the adults letting them do just that...cause they are kids after all...let them have thier fun!

Somewhere in the space of years gone by these gatherings fell by the wayside. I don't know if everyone just got too busy...of if we just have the perception that we're too busy, but we have been negligent in carrying the torch. Maybe I'm just being melancholy in light of recent and past recent events. But, looking back, those were great times, cherished memories, and it's a shame that our generation has not carried on those traditions. Maybe that's why they call the generation passing on before our eyes the greatest generation. Besides being sad events maybe what the death of those dear to us is, is a call to action and to make us remember because, inevitably, that is what we do.