Goddess? No.  Slave?  Yes!!!  My check-list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter, although if I made a list, that might really help.  What I want to do is bake or play…what I need to do is clean and organize.   

Last week, I bought 30 or so 5lb. bags of flour – at 99 cents, they were such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up!  Baking season is soon upon us.  I know that using all that flour will take a while, but I'd rather not open a weevil restaurant, so I went and borrowed the poucher from the FHSC*, and pouched most of it.  (When you put the little oxygen pack in it, it sucks all the oxygen out and then you won't get buggies in it because there's nothing for the bugs to breath…not so technically speaking).  We will probably use about 40 to 50 lbs. through the holiday season, but not 150 lbs.!!!  Now I need to find a place to put 4 big boxes of pouches of flour.

I wonder how many other women have "food pouching" on their lists.  I seem to make plenty of trouble for myself.  But things do get in the way of making progress.  Like when pesky little ants find their way into an open box of Oreos and package of Lucky Charms and they alert the whole colony that it's dinner time…right about the same time that I decide it time to start fixing dinner.  I hate using ant poison, but Windex works pretty good. **  The kitchen is still in a disheveled mess!  But after I got done pouching, it was too hot to clean.  Now that it's bedtime, the temperature down in the kitchen should be just about right.  It's always a hard decision…sleep or clean. 

So while I would love to be baking, or something else creative, I'm turning to my tidbits from Confessions of an Organized Housewife, by Deniece Schofield.

"Dressing and acting the part of a housekeeping pro will help us speed through our work.  Even though people on television clean house in chiffon evening dresses and Farrah washable suits, dress in loose, comfortable, and appropriate clothes.  Although you won't look like you're ready for a night on the town, have yourself looking neat and presentable.  If you feel good about the way you look, your attitude and disposition will improve.  Also, if your state congressional representative comes to the door soliciting votes, you won't have to hide your appearance by talking through a cracked open door." 

Where do I start?  First, I have never aspired to be a house-cleaning professional.  I don't have a chiffon evening dress, so I'm safe there.  A Farrah washable suit?  Does she mean Farrah Fawcett?  I seem to recall a 2 or 3-piece pant suit that her character, Jill Munroe, would wear.  Ms. Schofield wrote the book slightly post-Charlie's Angels, but maybe it was something that was still in fashion.  Or maybe it's a misprint and she meant Farah, as in men's wear.  Regardless, neat and presentable is what I try to be when I leave the house, not work in it.  And if I look out my peephole and see my state congressional representative coming to the door soliciting votes, I won't be opening it, not even a crack.  Nope, no one coming to my door is going to mistake me for a person ready to go out on the town.  Loose and comfortable is appropriate attire and when I clean my house, I put on my old and grubby (but clean) attire (Fancy Nancy would say "attire is a fancy word for clothes.")

So, pardon me while I leave to set ant traps and check on lizard traps.  Oh…and by the way:  This Saturday will be the 1 year anniversary of my just helen blog.  If you leave me a comment, you will have the chance to win some more Rhodes Frozen Bread Dough coupons…up to $7.oo free frozen bread!  It's not a trip round the world or a new car, but for anyone that has had it before, it's some delicious bread!  I will close the giveaway midnight, Pacific Standard Time on October 2nd.  In case you're wondering what the coupon will buy, here's a sample of what I did last Sunday.

Yum…this is even better than being organized!  Back to work…or maybe sleep!

*Family Home Storage Center – dry pack only!

**Not a recommended use for Windex and probably not a good idea for most surfaces.