tmv's Profile

Before you change out a sink or vanity, try just changing out the hardware and faucets. Makes it look much nicer and isn't anywhere near as expensive. Light fixtures are incredibly easy to change out on your own, as well.

We bought our faucet off Ebay for half what the manufacturer wanted for it.

STH, you probably have to watch the show to get it -- it's not actually much of a joke on being girly, which is how you seem to be reading it. To geek out for a second, the joke (my favorite in this episode) works on a couple levels:

First, there's Tom's insane consumerism and obsession with luxuries and the latest trends, which is a running gag. Second, the show is making a joke about how men aren't supposed to want to pamper themselves. They're supposed to live in basic, skeevey bachelor pads. The joke is more along the lines of "who would want to live like that, when they can live like this!?"

Tom's apartment is infinitely more luxurious than either Anne or Leslie's place. The joke is that women, who are allowed to self-pamper, instantly recognize the beauty of Tom's apartment, whereas society overall would think it was odd.

You get the same sense from Tom and Donna's "Treat Yo Self" episode. The necessity of occasionally indulging in something you want, even if it's frivolous, isn't ultimately seen as a terrible thing, and (hilariously) helps one of the male characters pick himself up from a down point.

You might want to check out the show -- it's absolutely wonderful and speaking as another woman, probably one of the more outright feminist shows on the air right now. (Start with season 2 if you Netflix -- they were still finding their footing in season 1.)

Your post explains your situation in its first few sentences. Boys are too often raised with fewer chores than girls. We are put in the situation of having to do more from the time when we're very young. They grow to expect it, and so do we.

The people informing you that "keeping score" means you're doing it wrong have been resigned to their role as suckers. Stand up for yourselves and try to make sure the housework gets divided fairly, people. Money doesn't even enter into it: You both have a finite number of minutes in your life, and that means your time is worth as much as your partner's.

Can I suggest not using a sponge? Do you really want to keep and reuse something that was used to clean your toilet? (Aside from the unavoidable toilet brush to get the underwater parts.)

Paper towels are much better. Toss 'em out, use new ones next time.

I love my maidenhair fern, but it's the most sensitive plant I've ever encountered. I've found that the way to keep one going is to dump a splash of water on it, no matter whether you think it needs it or not, every three or four days. They like it moist. Any dryness at all and they wither instantly.

That said, if they do wither, just cut off the dead stalks and start watering again. They're incredibly hardy. Mine's recovered from several near-death experiences where it was down to a couple sad, lonely fronds.