Speaking of co-ops

I've often thought of running one out of my garage. Buying in quantity usually saves money assuming you can store and use everything you buy. Think about bottled water, eggs, paper products. Even meat. How about products that live on the shelf of your pantry, or on those tiny shelves in your refrigerator doors, that you bought because you needed a tablespoon of it for a recipe three years ago?

In a perfect world, I would post what I buy and what I paid for it. Perhaps there would be a website or an email chain where anyone could buy or sell what they have at cost. There is no profit motive here. Just a desire to pass along savings. 

There are some things I would give away. Like the other half of a bunch of cilantro that would otherwise go bad in my fridge because I've already used what I needed. I know it only cost me a dollar but if someone else can use some, we can avoid waste.

I have a similar idea for small tools like a drill or a ladder. I don't need these things all the time but it would be nice to have access to them when I need them. Like a lending library. In a perfect world, this particular library would have a small pickup truck for moving things like the aforementioned ladder, or large purchases that might not fit in a standard car.

Or maybe even a "second car." We don't really need two cars. But every once in a while a second one comes in handy. 

Since I don't live in a commune, most of these ideas wouldn't work. However, I have had the opportunity to share coffee, strawberries, and dates with neighbors just by reaching out and seeing who is interested. So that's something.

Here's another something. I was going through my checkbook and noticed that I had shared some dates with neighbors last year in August which means we can be on the lookout for fresh dates in a couple of weeks.

Who wants some?

Housecleaning Co-op

OK. Clearly, I'm bored.

I've been cleaning my own house lately and by "lately," I mean not even two months. Most of my life (and nearly all of my married life which pretty much covers the same timespan), I've hired someone to clean my home. I've been lucky in that the people I've hired have been extremely good at what they do for the most part. The house gets clean but every once in a while there's some minor damage to a wall, a vase, a barstool, sheetrock. It happens.

Even when I retired a few years ago, I kept my housecleaning service. But after I came home one day to find that a toilet seat had been broken, I decided it might be time for me to clean my own house.

So far, it hasn't been too bad. I mean I thought it would be harder on my aging body but I don't do it all at once so it seems wholly manageable. Plus, it gives me something to do and, in some respects, I actually do a better job than the people I hired. Mostly, it comes down to the details. Small stuff that I wouldn't expect anyone else to do for what I was paying.

I find that I mostly clean while Hubby is away doing whatever it is he does. I have no trouble imagining that I could easily become resentful if all I was doing was cleaning house and all he was doing was sitting in a recliner. But when he's away, I don't mind busying myself with some housecleaning. Plus, I feel good about the results. Results I can see. An accomplishment, if you will. Items crossed off the list.

But, here's what I'm wondering. Would it be more fun - can I use that word in this context? - fun or more sociable if there was a housecleaning co-op? What if a group of people got together to clean one of the co-op member's houses, each person taking a job they either like (or are good at) or otherwise dislike the least? The job would be over in an hour and then in a couple of days, they could clean another member's house and so on. 

But if it's all done in an hour, what will I do for the rest of the day?

Hm... What if wine was served?

Has anyone actually stopped on a dime?

And, why? 

In the continuing quest to slow aging, drink coffee.

 MSN | Coffee found to have startling effect on aging, says new study

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Safe cautioned. 

 Can I volunteer to be a test subject?

Accidentally Finding Something to Do

I need to wipe down all the countertops in my laundry room. I spilled some coffee beans in there and I picked up as many as I could find but the counters have a speckled pattern to them so I'm not sure I can see them all. Plus, they probably need a good dusting anyway.

(Ask me later why there's a coffee grinder in my laundry room.)

PRO TIP: Remember to take the lid off the coffee grinder before attempting to pour coffee beans into grinder.

Follow me for this and other housecleaning tips.

I wasn't wearing my Apple watch during my workout. Does it count?

It wasn't a marathon by any means. Not even a half marathon. It was just some pushups and sit-ups with a few squats, a plank, and stretching. But I did it which is what matters, right?

Please feel free to validate me here as my watch will not do it.

Make a List

To motivate myself, I made a list.

My mom's strategy for making a list is to start with a couple items you've already completed. That way, you get to cross a couple of things off the list right away giving yourself an immediate sense of accomplishment and the confidence to conquer the rest of the list.

I'll put that on my list.

I made a list of things to do that day. What works best for me is to make the list when I have only a limited amount of time to complete all the tasks on the list. That helps me to prioritize, focus on what's truly important, and get motivated. They can be completely mundane things (chores, errands) but that's the beauty of it. It's hard to get motivated to do some of those things except when you can make a game of it:  a challenge, if you will, to cross things off the list and beat the clock. At the end of the day, I feel accomplished despite the list's mundane nature.

Now I have a new list which elevates the game. With a renewed sense of purpose, I made a list of larger tasks such as repainting the baseboards, shampooing the carpets, replacing weather strips, cleaning the refrigerator's water intake line. Here's the beauty of this list: I now do the mundane tasks on the previous list automatically so as to avoid the list of larger projects. By practicing work avoidance, I actually get stuff done. Pretty tricky.

Somehow I've decided that I need to organize some persona documents. This is so time consuming, that all lists are being avoided.

But that's sort of the point, isn't it? I've accidentally given myself something to do.

(It got pretty dicey there for a minute. I actually talked to a recruiter the other day. That was terrifyingly close to actual work.)