Amazing Household Feats!

[azskyman]

I spent 20 minutes yesterday trying to fold a fitted sheet into a square. Mrs. Azskyman can get 4 square corners out of that sheet in less than 3 minutes! Not that this is crucial to our marriage, but it is an amazing feat nonetheless. Been trying to learn her method for 32 years!

The most amazing feat for me around the house is my ability to paint small murals and artwork. It may take me hours or days to do, but when it's done, it definitely sets our house apart from others AND if we ever sell it...well you can paint over it in 3 minutes flat!

Any of you have talents around the house? Do your own electrical work? Hang your own wallpaper? Keep your socks in color order? Change your own oil? Fix your own TV? Keep a spotless garage? Make homecooked meals more than once a week?

[weatherwunder]

I am currently remodeling our kitchen, and adding a bathroom to our house. I am doing this on my own (boy am I dumb!)

It is a bunch of work, but fun at the same time.

[breeze]

LoL, Steve, bless Mrs. Azskyman's heart, I STILL can't
get that fitted sheet into a perfect square!

I'm obsessed with keeping the front porch and back carport
swept clean....they're kinda like the outdoor den areas,
you know? The latest magazines have a particular place
on the coffee table...cushions have a particular way to
sit on the sofa and chairs......man....you can tell that
I have lived alone for quite some time, set in my ways, eh?

[JetMaxx]

Sorry Steve, but when it comes to home repair, I'm about as incompetent as Tim "the toolman" Taylor was on the tv sitcom "Home Improvement"

While I've never glued my head to a tabletop or stapled myself in the face (yet ; I have suffered my share of plumbing mishaps when trying to replace leaky faucets, install a new toilet, etc).

I can neither paint or sew worth a lick....not if my life depended on it. Am not a great housekeeper either...not a slob like Oscar Madison, but not even close to either Felix Unger or my sister Becky...who's also known as Mrs Clean

What am I good at???
For one thing, I am a pretty good cook (for a man ...good enough to survive without Domino's or Pizza Hut delivery. I'll never be as good as my grandmother or Becky (both of whom are excellent cooks); but I am far better than my dad (I ate his cooking after mom died...I know

I'm also an awesome lawn mower....especially on a riding mower

Take care,
Perry

[streetsoldier]

I'm the resident clothes/sheet folder, washer/dryer man, cook, dishwasher and countertop expert. I also am called on to paint Christmas decorations, polish jewelry and anything metal, and I do a fair amount of picture/awards hanging/placement.

And, at 51, I find that my primary function is doorman/feeder/walking companion for a li'l apricot toy poogle puppy ho'... ...so much for past accomplishments!

[Miss Mary]

Well, w/o me this house would just fall apart......LOL! They all 4 (the dog too) look to me to provide meals, do the laundry, know where everything is. I hear "Mom!" or "Mary!" all day long. My youngest daughter is the worst. I threaten to start a day soon with "Laura!" all day long and she how she handles it.

My special knacks would be though.....

Baking cookies. Or caramel popcorn.

Killing spiders. Yes, no one around here, I repeat no one even hubby, has the guts to kill spiders. Or bees for that matter and I'm allergic to bees!!!! They're all running around - spider, bee, and I just go over and take care of the job. Standing nearby is the dog waiting to bite the bee, which of course wouldn't be a good idea.

See why they can't do w/o me? he he Actually though, have to be honest here. I was in the hospital twice 4 years ago, first time for 7 days. Hubby ran the whole show and did a fine job I must add. He strutted around like the proud peacock for months after that. LOL

I also make great window treatments, which saves us a bundle if professionally done.

[azsnowman]

Well, not to brag, but like Mary, if it weren't for me, this house too, would fall apart "JUST KIDDING!"

Seriously, I LOVE to cook, I don't mind cleaning, yes ladies, I do windows and YES....I'm taken LOL!

I do 99.9% of the home repairs, WITH the exception of electrical, me and the *juice* don't get along, can't begin to tell you how many times I've been shocked doing SIMPLE, LITTLE things! Other than that, I do it all! *sigh* it's hell being so gifted........."NOT!" LOL!

Dennis

[JetMaxx]

Miss Mary made me remember something else I'm good at.....

I'm an expert pest controller (have perfected the art of chemical warfare vs flies, mosquitoes, wasps, spiders, and other unwanted guests in my home

[Colin]

Well, my mom makes homecooked meals many times throughout the week! Nothing really that I can do other than sit on the computer for hours at a time.

My grandfather is obcessed with keeping EVERYTHING clean... We have to take our shoes off at the foot of the carpet... etc,etc... He's always outt here waxing the two CADILACS... blah, blah, blah...

[hunter84]

3 years my wife and I decided we were going to build a new house. We hired a contractor to just put up the frame roof it and side it. Then we stood there with a house 10% done and wondered how we were going to finish this thing . I really didn't know much about anything. Every step from there was a hands on learning, from insulating ,electricity,plumbing, sheetrocking, mudding , hanging doors, everything. I didn't know any of it. Man was that not a good idea. But I learned alot and am pretty comfortable doing mosts things now.

[Guest]

Wow that's pretty impressive Hunter84.

My house too would fall apart if it were not for me. From laundry, to cooking, to all cleaning, grocery shopping, etc etc. Nothing would get done if I didn't do it. Well, actually, Chad helps sometimes I guess. LOL, if I leave a note, or as he prefers to call them, a honey-do-list, I might get the yard mowed or the trash taken out. LOL

I'm a neat freak for certain. And everything has to be in it's place, from how the pillows sit on the couch, to how our shoes are lined up, to the placement of the dishes in the dishwasher. LOL, Chad thinks I'm crazy.

[coriolis]

OK steve, here's the scoop on the sheets. Fitted sheets are a pain because of the rounded, rumpled ends. You need to keep folding the irregular edges to the inside. In order to end up with a square, one of your folds must incorporate two unequal "halves" to obtain a square. You might do that on the very first fold, so that the rumpled ends don't line up and make a big ball. Once you obtain a square, subsequent folds will be half squares and then full squares.

I can get a queen size sheet folded up to the size of a CD case.

And if you believe that......

[Amanzi]

I dont like mess but it seems to like me

I would love things to stay where I put them and have them all nice and tidy (the way I put them in the first place) however, they seem to stay that way for a total of 1hour untill hurricane Alex gets his winds blowing through the house... Oh and daddy seems to help with the overall messing up of the house to My husband cooks better than I do, but I normally cook every night of the week (unless he offers), do the laundry,dishes,floors..blah all that gunk (I totally freak out when the bathroom gets messy.. I cant stand grimy bathrooms, you know that slimy stuff that hangs around faucets!... AAAAA Yuck) I know if I did not have a family my house would be picture perfect

Toys and stuff lying around I can cope with, but I can not stand grime and slime.

[hunter84]

mrschad wrote:
(My house too would fall apart if it were not for me. From laundry, to cooking, to all cleaning, grocery shopping, etc etc. Nothing would get done if I didn't do it. Well, actually, Chad helps sometimes I guess. LOL, if I leave a note, or as he prefers to call them, a honey-do-list, I might get the yard mowed or the trash taken out. LOL )
lol thats sounds like something my wife could have said. so true. I don't know how you(wives/moms) can juggle all those things and make it look easy

[Momlett]

Bring in the front loader. My 3 kids can trash this place faster than I can blink but I compensate by violating the child labor laws. (Just kidding, officer.) When I got married 8 years ago, I was just starting to eat meat after being a vegetarian for years, so I had no clue how to do a roast, fry chicken, grill a steak, etc. and I actually cried the first time I went shopping for my husband, out of sheer confusion. It has taken quite a while to get acquainted with the kitchen, and even now, it's not my favorite place to be but I can prepare a decent meal if properly threatened. I will admit that I almost like to do laundry, but fitted sheets baffle me too. (I mean, I understand that you put the corners inside each other, but it never seems to look right when I'm done.) The rest of the house is just an interruption from my passions, the computer and my guitar. I guess if I had to strain to come up with a household specialty, it would be keeping the clothes in my closet in order: pants grouped together, short sleeves, etc., but I'm not anal enough to sort by colors. Okay...let's face it; my gifts lie elsewhere. Does playing the guitar prevent roaches?

[azskyman]

Momlett...well if you played guitar like I do...not only would the roaches be kept away...but so would the neighbors!

I'm going to try the fitted sheet again...and keep going until I get it right or until 2004, whichever comes first. I will let you know if I am successful. Of course...I can always cut the round corners off to solve the problem.

And what's this about loading a dishwasher a certain way. Yes, I understand some of the rules, but others don't make sense to me. Biggest to smallest, all facing inward. Sometimes we select our meal for the night based on what space is left in the dishwasher! (Just kidding of course!)

And here's a new challenge for all of you...reminded to me by Ed.

No matter what you fold..you can never fold it HALF MORE than 6 times. Paper, Kleenex, tableclothes, even FITTED sheets.

Don't believe me? Try it.

Meanwhile..check out my new topic...WHO PAYS THE BILLS?

[ColdFront77]

I don't think I will ever fold a fitted sheet... which means those
of us that don't do so will have no where to store it, unfolded.