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Tips for making the most of your spring cleaning
The next few months, with
the exception of a rainy,
chilly day here and there,
promise to be beautiful.
Although most mother’s 1
know, myself included, feel like
we clean the house constantly,
there still comes a time when
surface cleaning is not enough.
Spring is the perfect time to
roll up your sleeves and do
some deep cleaning. Open the
w indows and let in some fresh
air-but check the pollen count
first.
Here are some tips to help
you get organized for your
spring-cleaning marathon!
* First, decide on a day or a
certain weekend. Because of
extracurricular activities, 1
understand this can be tricky.
Try breaking up your cleaning
schedule into sessions-half a
day Saturday and half a day
Sunday, for example.
* Get everybody in on the
act. Unless you are the only
Phrase ‘Bless her heart’ can be used to
Kim, who lives in
Asheville, couldn't
wait to phone long dis
tance with the news. "Guess
who I just saw at the grocery
store?” Before I could guess,
she rushed on. "Colleen."
Big deal, 1 thought to
myself. Colleen, a casual
acquaintance of ours, never
has anything interesting to
say. This time, though, she
surprised me. In fact, she sur
prised everyone who has ever
known her.
Turns out that Colleen,
w ho just turned 50, has decid
ed to have a complete over
haul. Full facelift, eyes and
liposuction on hips that have
seen too many slices of the
Death By Chocolate cake that
she made famous by winning
blue ribbons at three state
fairs.
All that in itself was sur
prising but the most startling
was that Colleen had decided
to have it all done by a fancy
Beverly Hills surgeon who is
married to a famous Holly-
Singin’ in the Rain this
week in Gainesville
By Anne Madison
FCN Regional Staff
Most movie musicals begin
life as Broadway productions.
"Singin' in the Rain" broke
the pattern by starting as a
popular Hollywood movie that
became a successful
Broadway musical.
The Broadway touring
company will bring the live
show to Gainesville March 25
for the Arts Council Pearce
Series. It's the show's s()th
anniversary tour and the
series' 20th anniversary.
“This will be my first time
to actually see it." said Gladys
Wyant, the council's executive
director. "Probably most folks
know the movie, but I don't
know many who’ve seen the
Broadway show."
The show’s cinematic birth
is appropriate because
“Singin' in the Rain" is set in
th? early days of Hollywood,
at the very beginning of the
talkies era.
It was a time when careers
were made and broken.
Beautiful and talented actors
with limited English became
unemployable; others, previ
ously sidelined, broke through
on the strength of fine voices.
The new technology turned
an industry, and lives, upside
down.
“People want to get back to
warm-hearted stories and
times when people liked each
other and themselves," Wyant
said. “We brought ‘Singin’ in
the Rain’ here because there is
so much out there that isn’t
like that. This is a family
show. Everybody can see it."
The actors, producer and a
skeleton crew will arrive here
with two tractor-trailers full of
sets and costumes, Wyant said.
The rest of the crew is provid
ed locally. Paid crew includes
the technical wizards who can
adapt a generic lighting plot to
Pearce Auditorium's special
equipment.
The original 1950 s set can
home
matters! “I
by Adlen
W. p Wj
Robinson 1 XJH
for the
Forsyth
County sass Jmh
News ■fir JB
one who lives in your home,
there is no reason at all why
the other inhabitants should
not pitch in and help.
Begin by making a master
list of everything you hope to
accomplish. Then, assign
chores to all family members.
With that said, it is always
helpful to dahgle a carrot-a
family reward for hard work.
Possibly dinner out and/or
Dixie
irMI
by
Ronda Rich®
for the fl
Forsyth
County Hflßi' fl
News afl
wood star.
She had already been to
California for the consultation
and w as preparing to head out
again.
You can splurge on such
extravagances when your
grandfather was an early
investor in a product called
Coca-Cola and your father
was his only child. But even
for Colleen's pocketbook, it
seemed like such an over-the
top expenditure when there
are so many competent sur-
be enlarged or reduced to fit
stages of any size. A company
supervisor will direct the
setup, but volunteer coordina
tor Jan Brown has to supply
the grunt work.
Sr chocolate
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a movie after the cleaning is
done.
* Preplan lunch and dinner
for cleaning day. That way, you
won’t have to waste time
deciding what to make and
then preparing it.
For lunch, either make
sandwiches ahead of time, or
pick some up at your favorite
sandwich shop.
For dinner, haul out your
crock-pot, or better yet, plan on
going out for dinner.
* Avoid distractions. On
cleaning day, let voice mail
handle your phone calls. Do
not check your email or bother
reading your mail. Focus on
the job at hand.
* Post your master list of
jobs to be done on the refriger
ator. Check them off as you
complete each one.
Some Suggested Spring
Cleaning Tasks to Tackle:
* Replace or clean air fil-
geons in the Southeast.
"Why on earth is she
going all the way to L.A?” 1
asked.
Kim sighed thoughtfully.
"Well, bless her heart,” she
said, edging her words in
sympathetic pity. “You know,
she never was much to begin
with. She needs the best doc
tor she can find.”
I fell off the sofa laugh
ing. She said it with such
moumfulness and completely
excused the acidic remark by
beginning with "Bless her
heart."
That’s the trademark
phrase for the women of the
South. Any well-bred, ill
bred or half-bred southern
woman knows there’s magic
in those three words.
That’s because of the
flexibility of the phrase.
"Bless Her Heart" can dress
up the cattiest remark,
express the deepest sympathy
or denote the strongest admi
ration.
It’s very confusing to out-
"We need community vol
unteers to hammer it together."
she said. “I still need a couple
of carpenters."
More info: (770) 534-2787
or www.theartscouncil. net.
ters.
* Clean out the fireplace.
* Clean baseboards, vents
and fans.
* Clean carpets yourself or
have it professionally done.
* Re-caulk windows.
* Check grout and re-grout
as necessary.
* Clean out closets-put
away winter clothes and coats.
Sort through children’s
clothes, separating the ones
they have outgrown. For hand
me-downs, make sure you
clearly label the box you store
them in: Boys Size 8-10, for
example.
* Take everything out of
your kitchen cabinets, clean
the shelves, then put every
thing back in. I am always
amazed at how dirty the inside
of cabinets can be. Use the
opportunity give away things
that you no longer use.
* Take everything out of
the refrigerator and freezer.
siders. It’s a shrewd maneu
ver on our part we like to
keep our friends and enemies
guessing.
A true southern woman,
though, knows exactly how
to decipher the code. We
always know whether it's a
compliment or criticism.
I was shopping with a
friend who was talking about
a smart cousin from her
mama’s branch of the family,
who had just graduated with
honors from an Ivy League
college.
She concluded the story
by clucking her tongue and
remarking. "Bless her heart,
though. She got her looks
from her daddy's side.” Even
without seeing her cousin. I
knew that wasn’t good.
Jenny, a pretty California
transplant, moved to the
heart of the South and imme
diately found herself per
plexed by many of our
expressions and tradition.
Most confusing to her.
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FORBYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, March 21,2004
Clean the shelves thoroughly.
Take inventory of your freezer
and post the list inside the
freezer. Check off items as
you use them.
* Take down draperies and
have them dry cleaned.
* Clean blinds and shut
ters.
* Remove all screens from
windows and clean them.
Before replacing them, clean
the windows-inside and out.
* Clean out the gutters or
arrange to have it done.
* Take everything out of
the garage and reorganize.
While everything is out, thor
oughly clean the garage floor.
If you follow this plan,
chances are you are going to
end up with two things: a very
clean home and a bunch of
“stuff” you no longer have any
use for. Take the opportunity
to either have a garage sale or
donate your “stuff’ to one of
the terrific non-profit agencies
mean many things
though, was the constant
usage of “Bless her heart"
and it’s propensity for sel
dom meaning the same thing
twice.
“I finally figured out that
it is used to excuse anything
ugly, stupid, in bad taste or
to be truly sympathetic,” she
explained.
"It can be very good or
very bad. It can be kind or
Service of
Holy Communion
J of tie Lori in our Sanctuary
Each Wednesday
A at Noon
All are welcome
Cumming First United Methodist Church
770 Canton Hwy • Cumming, GA 30040
(2 miles west of downtown Cumming)
(770) 887-2900 • www.cummingfirst.com
in town. After all, do you real
ly need fifteen extra blankets?
Probably not, but somebody
else might really need one.
If you have children, use
spring-cleaning to teach your
children about the joy of giv
ing.
Encourage your children to
find things in their rooms to
donate. If you decide to have a
garage sale, donate whatever
does not sell. Use your pro
ceeds to purchase something
the entire family can use-or
use the money to do a special
family activity.
Adlen Robinson’s "Home
Matters” column is published
in every Sunday’s Lifestyles
section of the newspaper. You
can also read her food column
in Friday’s newspaper. She
welcomes reader tips, com
ments and suggestions! Please
email her at a4kidz@bell
south.net or write to her at the
newspaper.
wicked. And the best part is
that you’re never sure which
it means."
Bless her heart. That girl
may be from the land of sun
shine and sushi, but she’s a
quick learner.
Ronda Rich is the author
of What Southern Women
Know (That Every Woman
Should) and Mv Life In The
Pits.
PAGE 7B