You Asked For It!

Hey y’all. Thanks for the questions yesterday. Now I’m going to get down to business answering them…

Candy asked: How do you keep a clean house being a mommy and working full-time? Any tips appreciated. : )

My husband responded with a comment of his own which is rare for him. He said, “That's an easy answer. Her husband. Just kidding Amy.”

Hmpph.

In all seriousness, I’m extremely blessed with a husband who does his fair share and mine of housework.

I do work full-time outside the home and it is very hard to keep a clean house, work, do things for church, have some down time, and raise a preschooler at the same time. And Jackson is VERY GOOD at making messes and NOT AT ALL GOOD at cleaning them up. So I’ve devised a new method, and thus far, it’s working very well.

I’ve taken a page out of my Mom’s book.

Any toy I pick up off the floor during cleaning time goes in a trash bag.

Before you gasp in horror at my meanness, I wouldn’t actually throw his toys away; I’m just not going to let him know that. And no, not a single toy has made it into a bag.

And so far, it’s working like a charm.

And no, my Mom didn’t actually throw our stuff away either and it worked like a charm for her too!

And I echo my Mom's comment about not opening closets if you coming over to visit. Just kidding. Not Really.

My biggest problem with housework is that I don’t mind doing only half of it. For instance, I don’t mind washing, drying and even folding clothes, but I loathe putting them away.

I don’t mind unloading the dishwasher, but I am disgusted by loading it. It's so icky and you never know what gross substance you might get on your hands.

I don’t mind cooking, except for touching raw chicken, and even enjoy it sometimes, but I can’t stand cleaning up my mess, especially when it involves raw chicken.

So that’s where Jeremy comes in. So basically, to answer your question, to keep a clean house, get a “Jeremy.”

Michelle asked, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll in the Tootsie Pop?

I have to give Michelle props on asking a question that made me LOL.

Now Michelle you would probably believe me when I said I tried this when I was a kid. I gave up around 500 licks because I was tired of counting. That and I always just end up biting tootsie pops to get to the center. So to answer this question I did some research and found that it according to tootsie.com it “depends on a variety of factors such as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc. Basically, the world may never know.”

Especially if you cheat like I do…

Anonymous asked, “When are you going to give Jackson a sibling?”

I’m thinking this may be a sly family member or close friend that asked this question. Sneaky. Sneaky.

My answer is going to be purposely vague with, “it’s in the plans (hopefully God's too!)” and that I know in my perfect world I want to be done having children by the time that I’m 30 and that is going to be in September 2010. Is that a good enough answer?

The Silva's have a friend going through some fertility issues and after I popped over to her site and left a comment, she commented over here that she wants to get her friend something, and did I have any suggestions?

As someone who did briefly struggle with fertility issues, I know the frustration and disappointment it offers. May I suggest this, this, this, or this for your friend. Each offers a little bit of encouragement and support without being too pushy or intrusive about their situation.

Alicia W asked, “What do you do for a living?”

Without giving the exact place of employment because I’m not into giving too much “real life” specifics, I work as a “Ministry Assistant” for a large religious organization (not a church) in the South. Our office deals with churches in conflict and church administration. I like my job, and in this economy I am forever grateful that I have such a wonderful working environment, but I really want to begin working on writing a book. I have a few ideas for children’s books (and novels) that I think would be great, so if any publisher’s are out there reading, email me at auflag@yahoo.com and we can get together! It’s all about self-promotion right?

Hi Jenny! It’s okay that you didn’t leave me a question, I’m just glad you dropped by. And yes, you really should comment more!

Ethan, Zach, and Emma’s Mom asked, “Beer or wine? Or Soda?”

You mean, “Coke” right? Remember, everything in the south is ‘Coke” and then when they ask, "What kind?" you give specifics like, “Sprite” or “Dr. Pepper” or “Coke.”

Let the record show that I always choose Coke.

To answer your question, I don’t drink alcohol. It’s not that I haven’t tried it, because I have, and it’s not that I’m judgemental or offended when other’s drink because I’m not.

I had 1 beer and 1 wine cooler in college and thought both were disgusting. I know, such a lush right? Then when we went on our cruise to Mexico I had one of the fruity drink specials when the ship was leaving port, and on one of our excursions I had more than a few cups of what I thought was just punch. It turned out it was rum punch and I was slightly tipsy for the duration of the day.

It turns out that I don’t handle alcohol so well.

That and I simply don’t like the way it tastes!

But I’ve never been drunk. I promise Mom!

Great questions y’all, and if you have more send em’ on!! This is fun!!