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Living overseas

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Original poster

Streupflicht und Schneeschaufel

699 replies

finknottle · 05/01/2009 12:45

Thanks Gabster for the inspiration for the thread!

Add your resolutions here & I can slip alongside and pretend I'll make some too.
Still too fragile - my sleep patterns go haywire when I'm home, stay up till 1 or 2am, then awake at 5am (6 here, usual flipping school time) then I come back & keep crashing on the sofa at 10pm and wake up at 4 bright & breezy.

We have snow, very pretty and h is off till Weds so am pushing him out for Streupflicht, bartered it for a fry-up with real English bacon, hmmmmmm.
Forecast is for -12C to -14C tonight - and when the children go back to school on Thursday. Yikes.

OP posts:
admylin · 04/02/2009 09:59

So have you made a cleaning plan for today? That's what I do the day after visiting a place lik ethat, I start and grab all the papers, books and pens/pencils that are always spread around the living room, I dump them in a pile in the dc's bedrooms then I get it all straightened up and dust (I always forget to dust) and swear to keep this up but I always slip back and within 2 days it's a mess again.

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 10:02

Well you know I think my place is clean (bit cluttered and stewn about effect but clean and reasonably tidy). I don't think anyone would gag in my home but I could clean as much as I wanted , it would never look like hers.

You know it was not that she had done a massive clean up or anything, that's her way of life.

She makes her own muesli. You can't eat bought muesli because it has so much goodness taken out of it in the processing and has too much sugar apparently. So she soaks her oats? or whatever she has in it overnight, every night and grates fresh fruit into in the mornings.

She doesn't eat carbohydrates with fat - ever

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 10:06

She cooks 4 course dinners for her dh's business associates 2-3 times a week. I'd have to spend 3 months planning something like that.

How on earth does she do it? She must be so disciplined and just never ever lets up

admylin · 04/02/2009 10:10

Sound slike it's her vocation. We're just temporarily in the wrong job!

ErnestTheBavarian · 04/02/2009 10:16

Blimey, no wonder you feel bad! I feel inadequate just reading about her

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 10:17

i THINK SHE must be like that whatever she does you know. Well good luck to her. Actually it didn't have the effect of galvanising me into a Putz frenzy. Makes me feel tired somehow and lazy. I am going to lounge about reading a book and try to recover from the whole experience I think

thequietone · 04/02/2009 10:23

aaaargh...domestic goddesses! Just HOW do they do it? I went to a friend's house and they had glass doors! And there were no toddler pawprints on them at all. How?

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 10:24

their toddlers were gloves at home I think

thequietone · 04/02/2009 10:29

you're probably right! She also casually asked "cuppa?". Out came the bone china, cake, cake forks, cream for tea...what am I going to do? I can't invite her here to drink from our mismatched mugs and Liebnitz Pickups?

admylin · 04/02/2009 10:54

That's why I'm so pleased to have my neighbour. At first I always met her at the front door and kept saying I'll invite you in when I'm unpacked, then it was when I'm sorted and then the 3rd time I just said you might as well come in and see the mess because otherwise you'll never get that cup of tea! She's the same so I know she's just thrown massive piles of ironing into the study when we go up there!

taipo · 04/02/2009 11:11

I always used to go into a cleaning frenzy before I had guests to try to maintain the illusion of being a domestic goddess. Now I just chuck stuff in drawers and think they'll just have to accept me as I am. Still a bit self-conciouse though if someone comes round who I know has a spotless house.

How do you manage it though? I've no sooner cleared away one pile of crap papers, then another two spring up somewhere else, like mushroooms. And as for the dust balls and cobwebs and grubby pawprints on doors and windows how do you eliminate those completely? I mean I do spend a fair bit of time on cleaning but clearly nowhere near enough. Except that it is enough. Really I have better things to be doing with my time.

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 11:15

maybe you get up at 4am or something. I don't know. You for sure don't MN though!

I don't know really, think it will remain one of life's impenetrable mysteries for me tbh

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 11:16

LOL at hiding the ironing. I always have to do this.

taipo · 04/02/2009 11:24

I only ever use the iron very sparingly

MmeLindt · 04/02/2009 15:35

Oh goodness, ZZZ I feel quite faint after reading about your playdate.

Actually, I am waiting for DS's playdate to arrive and just realised that my house is gleaming, or at least the ground floor is. My cleaner just left and we have only been in the house 10 minutes so have not had time to get it cluttered and grimy again.

I am feeling quite virtuous today as I have changed the beds, put up a curtain rail in DD's roomm and hung the curtains. Then I put the borders on the walls that have been lying around since before Xmas. The kids rooms look a bit nicer now. DD has Disney princesses and DS has Spiderman. It is not what I would have chosen, but I decided not to inflict my taste on them. They got to decide themselves what they wanted.

We then went to the park for an hour or so to let the cleaner do her stuff. And went shopping.

No 3 course meal, but spinach and salmon pasta and lots of white wine with a friend tonight. DH is going out for a drink so we will have peace.

MmeLindt · 04/02/2009 15:37

I have to admit to being an un-domestic goddess. It takes me all my time to tidy up enough so that the cleaner has space to actually clean.

Although, I am getting better. Each time we moved, I threw out loads of stuff. The secret of a tidy home is not to hoard things, imo. And not to have kids. But too late for that one.

ZZZen · 04/02/2009 16:02

How are you settling in ML?

I know, haven't felt up to much today, knocked the stuffing out of me a bit. Worst of it is I will have to invite her in return, won't I?

MmeLindt · 04/02/2009 17:35

You will have to start a major redecorating job, then invite her in the middle of it, apologising profusely for the mess and bemoaning the builders from hell who left you in the lurch.

ZZZen · 05/02/2009 10:19

I have a feeling I might be very busy for a while and just meet her out and about for an hour here and there. Is that being a wimp?

How is your dd at school these days and how is she coping with the French now more time has elapsed ML?

admylin · 06/02/2009 08:12

Lol at taipo 'I only ever use the iron very sparingly'!

When my 2 dc were small I didn't iron at all! I used to fold the clothes and put them at the bottom of the pile in their wardrobe and our stuff just got smoothed over with my hand as I folded it. I've slowly got back into ironing but still don't do everything like some people. I know someone who even irons undies!

I wonder if Ernest is on her way to the airport? Hope it isn't cancelled.

ErnestTheBavarian · 06/02/2009 08:39

Hia - nope still here, fly tomorrow and it's looking good

ought to think about planning my w/e now

I love ironing

zzzen, you're just gonna have to go into hiding

admylin · 06/02/2009 09:02

Dd has been invited to a sleep-over party for her class mate's birthday next weekend. They all have to bring sleeping bags. We do not own a sleeping bag so she has begged and pleaded for me to get her one. I can understand her, doesn't want to be left out etc.

All these girls she plays with now have lived in Hannover all their lives in one place and when we have done all our moving about I've been getting more and more minimalistic so we don't have alot of things. Anyone know where I should get one and what it is going to set me back ? In UK I would have just gone into Woolworths and got her a basic one, couldn't even do that now! Searched abit last night but all those camping website offers are so expensive and I doubt that we will ever need it for camping.

ErnestTheBavarian · 06/02/2009 09:03

shame you're not round the corner, we've got loads. dunno about cheap & here? Has woolworths closed down here too?

ErnestTheBavarian · 06/02/2009 09:05

maybe ring the mum? The famils might have a few of their own, but not enough for the whole party, so telling to bring with, but if you ask probably in a position to help, or ask one of the other mums whos kids invited, asp if kid has siblings - chances are they'll have a spare. I wouldn't buy one.

admylin · 06/02/2009 09:14

That's what I suggested first, or even asking our neighbour upstairs. BUT, dd has been dreaming about this sleeping bag she will own and she wants to sleep in it when she gets it, straight away on her own bed and only she will be allowed to sleep in it etc ...wonder if Woolworth here will have that sort of thing. AFAIK the German ones haven't closed down. I was thinking of 'Real' in the sport section?

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