Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Baird'sBearsLouise, I wish my good days looked that good!
I'm finding that my slobitude backfires. I had to clean up my bear den last week because I literally could not find anything. Anything. Even though it was all around me. Strange?
Ironing underwear, hmm. Starch? :D
Eileen
Oh Louise you look absolutely wonderful!!! I'm so glad to put a face to your emails :D. Garnet looks great too!! And oh my gosh! Your mom ironed the underwear???? Maybe she needed a hobby?? 
LuxembearsHayley, I think you and I are twins! I feel the same way you do about house cleaning and bear making......well I guess we are all the same. The urges to work on bears override the washing and so on ......
I too, have three children, Hayley and Shelli...and OH BOY>>>SHELLI has THREE boys!!!! Hats off girlfriend! I have two girls 13, and 8, and a boy 2.5 years. Shelli, how do you get anything done with three boys????!!!!!I love my little boy but he is soooooo active and, well...boyish...wouldn't want him any other way though.
I just got home this afternoon from a weekend visit to my dad's in Wooster Ohio...what a gorgeous town. My son behaved beautifully on the way there on the planes(had to change planes at O'Hare...talk about a gazillion peolpe!)...but today!!!! WHOA!!! The flight attendant told him he had to turn off his Video Now player while he was in the middle of wacthing Sponge Bob( all electronic devices must be turned off while landing)...........then he let out the most ear-peirceing series shrieks........on a 54 passenger plane...not a big plane....oh my goodness...the more we tried to calm him down the madder he became. I even tried dancing my bear (yep Bob came along too) on his lap.
Winney, I like your basket idea...I can use all the ideas I can get. I think I suffer from clutter stress. My mom always says that a house isn't happy unless it looks "lived in".;)
Baird'sBearsYou never forget changing planes at O'Hare with small children in tow. Don't get me started . . . :D
Eileen
Past Time BearsOh yes, Louise . . . my mom ironed underwear, sheets, and t-shirts (the undershirt kind)!! My sister and I were expected to help clean the house on every Saturday of the year and when we got old enough (which was REALLY young in retrospect) we had to wash the outsides of every window in the house once a month. And if my mom saw any streaks, we had to do it all over again. Talk about O-C!! My windows are lucky if they get cleaned once a decade!!
LuxembearsI forgot to add, Louise, You look GREAT! I really like how you addeed "momma bear" and Poppa Bear". I'm glad you posted your photo. I think you DO look like your bears.:)
PottersHouse BearsDoes anyone else see a pattern here? Bear makers with less than presentable houses. I also fall into this category. Like so many of you have said, my house looks like something on tornado ally most of the time. But I can also go into high gear if company is coming and get it cleaned up (just don't open a closet door). But the way I see it, we bought this house to live in not to create a Better Homes & Gardens centerfold. And live in it we do. But I have also had many people tell me that they feel very comfortable in my house. That means a lot to me.
Judi - Wooster, Ohio is just a short way up the road from me. Is that where you were raised?
Fool's Gold Bears"Routines keep our homes maintained. Routines keep our pantries filled with good food. Routines keep us from running around in a panic." ~ FlyLady http://www.flylady.com/
This site has lots of great ideas for keeping things in order. Of course, she swears all her ideas are time savers, tho getting a zillion emails a day from her overwhelmed me a bit. Even so, I gleaned a lot of nice thngs to think about. Now I know I COULD have a clean house if I wanted to (hee, hee!) 
:D
Baird'sBearsThanks, Laure
I'm definitely going to check this out. Maybe even forward it to my lat-home daughters?
My tutorees tell me my house is "just like home" , but when my kids were little, their friends' moms used to give me a lot of grief---of course, I never dropped in on them uninvited to spend the day . . . :rolleyes:
Eileen
DoodlebearsLaure ~ FlyLady http://www.flylady.com/ ia a hoot! Who has time to read all that stuff and then spend time doing it! Just plug in the vacuum cleaner shove it around, flick a duster occasionally, get the household members to move their junk to their own rooms (it's up to them what goes on inside their own rooms) and get on with making bears. this works for me. Not to say that I don't like a clean and tidy house but a house is just a house but a home is somewhere we've made our mark. Since becoming disabled I have to sit back and except that I need help and that different people have different standards...my Mum used to iron everything socks, pants hankies, the lot...not me if you can't see it it don't get ironed! :rolleyes:
I have an autistic son so cushions on the floor and piles of wrestling magazines here and there are a permanent feature of my lounge. There's always parts of half made bears in my dinning room and the study is over flowwing with books...yep I've got a home not a house and I love it! :D
Jane.
Baird'sBearsI had a look at Flylady too!! Lots of fun, and for a moment there I thought it might actually work for me. Then I got to the 11 Commandments, one of which went something like 'don't get sidetracked by the computer'. That's when I gave up--
Hopeless but happy,
Eileen
You never forget changing planes at O'Hare with small children in tow. Don't get me started . . . :D
Eileen
Heck, I'm getting to know that airport like the back of my hand! (it IS just 30-60 minutes away depending on traffic :rolleyes:)
Seriously though.. it sure is overwhelming! My daughter has been going to Oregon every summer to visit her dad since she was 10 from O'Hare. She's 17 now... and I hope they still let us walk her to the gate! I'm afraid she'll get lost even at this age. (she's not the most observant of people LOL!) Security has gotten MUCH tighter since 9/11... and they always reserve the right to NOT let parents escort kids to the gate. Scarey for Mom!
we had to wash the outsides of every window in the house once a month.
Holy cow! Heck, I figure the dirt on the windows helps to keep out some of the summer heat 
.
Our home is fairly neat... but that's because I have a hubby who prefers it that way so he helps. NOT saying I don't have things smushed into closets though And we do have a small home. What we TRY to do is if we haven't used an item for a year or so... and really can't see us using it in the NEAR future.. we sell it on eBay. I use a different ID to sell my "house junk" on eBay than my bears.
Edited to add..... Of course it's MUCH easier for me cause I really only have about 8 years of "stuff". When I got divorced I left with basically only my clothes & photographs... and my daughters toys and clothes. Does make it easier when you are starting over!;)
Baird'sBearsGood ol' O'Hare. Whenever you have to change flights, the next one is at the opposite end. I finally got smart and loaded my 3 kids on a luggage cart! Hard to steer, but faster than toddler legs.
Totally agree about windows. The dirt keeps the heat out in the summer. Besides, if you want to see the outdoors in the summer, all you have to do is step out. I can see having clean windows in the winter, when it's such a production to get outside. So long as somebody else cleans them!
I have heard that the only ways to get rid of clutter, past a certain critical point, are to move or die. I'm definitely not moving, and I'd rather not die just now, so I'll just shift it around a bit and hope it settles in better order.
My plan, and I do have one, is to earn enough $$ tutoring and making fabulous artist bears that the state of my house won't matter to anyone but me. The family still thinks I've lost my mind, but so far they're indulging me in my delusion. Actually, the only artist bear I've actually seen or touched is my own first attempt, so I'm not at all sure the plan will work. I mean to spend all day at the Toronto show in August and learn what the real thing is like in the fur!
Eileen
bears by beesley TMI just figured it out!! We move often. Garnet has worked all over the world as an electrician. We started out in a small town where we both grew up and since married have moved at least 20 times. Poor kids! I have never felt attached to a house because we are never in it long enough to get attached. We have built 5 new homes and purchased 3 used homes in our marriage. We have probably rented over the years 15 or so. I dont know any more. Guess that might be why you guys thought my house was clean. HAHA. We have a very small home now on 13 acres in the country and the only way I plan to leave this one is in a box!
Hugs Louise
Baird'sBears That explains it Louise!! You're forgiven for being neat!!
Eileen
