Mortie

It is Monday morning and I need to face up to it. This is something that just is not effectively done in bits and pieces. It needs my full attention.

My plan was to go to school today and enjoy those first day festivities - orientation - but it did not work out. Scheduling. mmm. 

Here I sit with a blank calendar day. And it is staring at me. I hear the commercial now. The two little old people, one is Mortie and his little wife.  "Who would have thought two people could manufacture so much dust!"  It makes me laugh every time I hear them. 

Every once in a while though, you have to face up to the dust. And clutter. My organizational methods keep things 'fluid' in this house. Something is always being moved around.  But the dust - where does dust come from anyway? 

Roger had his territory and I never had to worry about these things. Gel gloss the tub and shower every six months. Toilets regularly. Dishwasher loaded and run after every dinner, full or not. Sink was always left spotless and dry.  Floor was swept immediately after dinner. Light bulbs were always working - the second that one (incandescent) went out, another went in. He was even great with the crock pot. 

That I had to clean up the water  EVERYWHERE and scrub the mirrors filled with soap and toothpaste splatters seems  now like something that never should have bothered me.  Actually, I would always just shake my head and say - " how in the world do you get so much stuff on a mirror?"   Unfortunately, I could never help solve that mystery because he was up before the crack of dawn doing the damage and - not me.   Water all over the countertops too, with a towel sitting nearby - dry. 

Oh the silly things that can bug us in the course of daily living. 
And how we miss them when they are gone. 

I'm a pretty good cook, but I do miss the ability to walk in the door and smell something yummy. Roger was my crock pot king. If you could pile something in the crock pot and let it simmer all day and have it ready for mayo at night, he was all in. I can't even duplicate his 'recipes' because I was never allowed to interfere, much less add my touch to whatever he was simmering. 

Of course, the photo is not Roger. He might have worn a white shirt, but NEVER one with long sleeves, even rolled up.  He would never have worn an oxford shirt in the kitchen!  And the apron - well that was his joke. Mostly, he was neat and wiped up with a towel.  

I'll have to get busy and dig in this morning, and I will thank God that Roger was one of those guys who was not phased by a little housework. (No laundry though - he did that once and I begged him to never give us pink clothing again!)  Indeed, I was spared a lot of housework for almost 41 years.

Roger's Lesson:  He would say to pitch in and get the job done - and then laugh and say "But I draw the line here - I will NOT answer the door in my apron"     

And I would laugh every time!

And his trade off, of course, was that even though he would run in the blazing heat, he did not like to do yard work  - in any kind of weather.  

Oh, the craziness of married life!  
I'll go nab that dust now.