I’ve learned a few things while living on my own these past four months. I picked up a few tips before Ruth passed, but I’ve thrown them in the mix just the same. Here’s some things to keep in mind.
Ruth and I had a system for loading the dishwasher. If the door wasn’t closed tightly, the dishes inside were dirty and we could add more. If the door was shut tight, the dishes were clean. Our system worked well for us. I don’t mind loading the dishwasher, but I don’t like unloading. Unloading required me to put them away. I didn’t always know where things were supposed to go. Ruth arranged the cupboards the way she thought made the most sense. I was clueless to the organization, so some dishes were just left on the counter.
Now I have to do everything. I’ve learned that if I pace myself, and do a good job of loading the dishwasher, I only have to run it once a week. Unloading has become less of an issue since I tend to use the same utensils over and over. We’ve been in our Florida home for just short of six years, and I recently discovered three kitchen drawers I didn’t know we had. They contain fancy napkins, placemats, exotic skewers, and bedazzled knives, forks and spoons. I’ll probably never use them, but now I know where they are.
One of the things I dislike most is making the bed. Washing the sheets and pillowcases just complicates things. Before I was married, I often slept a night or two without clean sheets. It was just me, the mattress pad, and a blanket. I made the bed when it suited me not because it was the norm.
Before I retired, Ruth came to Florida for three winters without me. While she was gone, I slept on one side of the bed one week and moved to the other side the second. That saved a lot of bed making and sheet changing. I haven’t started doing that again, but I’ve given it some thought.
I do the laundry whenever I think I have a load. There’s no specific day. Ruth always did a thorough job of sorting each load. Not me. For example, I don’t wear a lot of white clothes. Ruth did. About the only thing white for me are my underwear. It makes no sense to wash a small load of seven pair once a week, so I throw them in whenever it suits me. I don’t wash them with red clothes, but other than that I have no guidelines. I throw them in whenever. That way I always have a clean pair.
I’m still trying to figure out why Ruth bought “dryer balls” for the dryer. I’m supposed to have three balls made of wool about the size of tennis balls in the dryer at all times. We have them in both homes. Ours are white. I was in a store the other day and accidently found the dryer ball department while looking for a bed skirt. (That’s a story for another day.) In any case, the ones I found in the store were gun metal gray. Seems to me that being color conscious inside your dryer is a bit much.
I’ve purchased a cord free battery-operated broom. It’s rechargeable. I run it every other day on all the hard surfaces. I keep it close by in case I get sloppy while preparing a meal. It’s great at picking up crumbs.
I’m not much of a duster but do my best. I’ve got a couple of light weight specialty products designed for specific areas. Ruth had some pink dust gloves that she used. I know where they are but haven’t given them a try. I do a great job with spray furniture polish and always focus on our dining room table because it’s a focal point of our house.
I’m very good at cleaning the bathroom. I’d say it’s one of my strong suits. I have a friend whose prospective wife made him promise he’d sit down each time he peed. He loved her, wanted to get married, so he agreed. I have no firsthand knowledge of this, just what I’ve been told. We males are known for splatter, so I’m very conscious of this when I clean. As an aside, my friend got a divorce. I don’t know if it was splatter related or not.
When I cook, I prepare enough for two or three meals. Preparing solo meals seems like a waste of time. I’ve tried but prefer having planned overs. I’m a pretty good cook as we shared those duties throughout our marriage. The hard part is deciding what’s healthy and what I should avoid. Healthy doesn’t always taste good. Most of the time the fridge is pretty bare.
I learned a new thing the other day. The microwave kept displaying an “open and close” message. I kept opening and closing but it still didn’t work. I looked up the problem on YouTube and found a video that addressed my concern. There are little sensors spaced along the inside edge of the microwave door. The sensors can get dirty and need to be wiped off. I never heard of such a thing.
In any case, I ran a wet cloth over the sensors and solved the problem. I think the sensors were invented by the same guy that came up with the dryer balls idea.