So it’s Saturday night and I haven’t posted all day. I’ve been busy, but I have had time to post. It’s just that both times that I sat down, nothing seemed to flow.
I could whine about how it’s supposed to get cold and rainy again and how I just want spring to get here and STAY already! But I think I’ve about exhausted the topic of weather in this blog.
I could grumble about the fact that R has hit that delightful (please sense my sarcasm) stage where she knows exactly what she wants but can’t communicate it, thus her tendency to erupt into a Category 5 temper tantrum every time she doesn’t get what she wants. Good times.
Or I could mutter about the lady working in the deli at the grocery store today who looked at me like I had three heads when I politely informed her that the ladies public bathroom had no soap or handtowels. Her exact words were, "I can’t do anything about that right now, but I’ll try to call someone." Well, yeah, that’s why I was telling you. I figure someone who works here ought to know. And please tell me this is not the bathroom the employees are using. Because it is, you know, a grocery store. Where people are handling my food. I’ll refrain from allowing my germophobic imagination to run wild with this scenario.
Or I could bemoan my constant yet ever-changing stomach ailments, because there is nothing more pleasant than hearing the details of someone’s intestinal disorder, especially if you have the habit, as I do, of perusing blogs while indulging in a little edible treat.
You see a pattern here? Complain, complain, complain. And really, I’m not even grumpy or in a funk or anything like that. It’s just that there’s nothing that exciting to talk about. I mean, Bunco was fun last night, we had a nice visit with my inlaws this evening, and oh my gosh this post is so lame my own mother has probably given up on it by now.
So I think I’ll give up on it too. Congratulations if you made it to the end! Nighty-night, Internets.
You know how I said it’s impossible for me to be on a diet and a budget at the same time? (I can’t for the life of me find that post to link to, which is getting on my very last nerve!)
Well, anyway. At the time, I was struggling with a few of those pesky winter pounds because I’ve been home so much over the past few months. And when I’m home, I tend to snack. A lot. But I also spend less. Cause I’ve discovered that if I don’t see it, I don’t know I want it. Thus my rule to stay far away from the mall.
But now that the weather is so nice, I’ve found myself out and about much more. The good news is, I lost those pesky pounds. YAY! The bad news is, I haven’t been as, um, committed to that Operation No Frivolous Spending thing.
The kids have been needing a few things, which necessitated a few trips to Target and Kohl’s. And then last week I had to take a trip to the minefield mall because I
found myself in desperate need of some, um, foundation garments. So I hightailed it to Nordstrom because there are two things I refuse to
skimp on — foundation garments and baby shoes. And Nordstrom has professional fitters, which I highly recommend if you are ever in need of such a service. I mean, let’s face it, after 3 kids
and a total of 81 months of nursing, getting the girls back up where
they’re supposed to be is a job for a professional.
During the same outing, I actually wandered through Gap Kids and Ann Taylor and didn’t buy a thing. Yay me! Unfortunately I didn’t fare as well when I hit JCrew. Ooops! So as you can see, I’m beginning to lose some of my resolve.
I need to get myself back on track. So my strategy is to make as many social plans as possible. That way I stay busy, but away from the mall. Sound like a plan? Maybe I can diet and budget at the same time after all!
So tonight I have my neighborhood Bunco game. Does anyone else play Bunco? It’s such a fun time.
And tomorrow night my inlaws are coming for dinner. I am one of the lucky few who has no complaints about my inlaws. They are just delightful. So I’m looking forward to seeing them. And of course the kids always enjoy a visit from Nana and Gramps.
Then on Sunday our church is having a potluck lunch after the morning service.
So my weekend is full. Do you have any exciting plans this weekend? Share, share!!
Well, it’s 5:30. I am SO ordering pizza take-out for dinner. And opening that bottle of wine that’s been sitting on my counter calling my name all week. ‘Cause I’m fried.
But I’m very satisfied with what I accomplished today. In addition to all the sorting and organizing and purging I did in the master bedroom, I have cleaned two bathrooms (don’t look too closely at the powder room, although it was cleaned last weekend), mopped the kitchen and laundry room floors, vacuumed the carpets upstairs and down, done a gazillion loads of laundry (which is now folded in piles all over my bed waiting to be put away), and ironed a month’s worth of ironables.
But I think I got a little carried away in my cleaning frenzy. We have a wood floor in our foyer, and I’ve never cleaned it. Never. I’ve lived here over a year. I vacuum it regularly, but it was in SUCH need of a good cleaning. I had been putting it off because I didn’t know what to use on it, and I’ve heard stories of people ruining their wood floors by not using the correct cleaning agent, and so I have been procrastinating. Good reason not to clean, eh?
But today I was determined to have my whole house clean, so I went online to see if there was something I could concoct here at home that would be safe for cleaning the wood, and I really didn’t find much (except those made-especially-for-wood cleaners).
I finally found a site that suggested wiping it down with equal parts oil and vinegar. I was skeptical but DETERMINED to clean this wood floor today. I will not be satisfied until my entire house is clean! So I mixed the oil and vinegar and wiped down my floor. It took some "elbow grease", but it did seem to clean up the spots, and when I was done, the floor was gorgeous and shiny.
I was all excited about this new-found homemade wood floor cleaner, and I was even thinking I would submit it for next week’s Work For Me Wednesday tip, when I took a step and about went sliding into the next room. I barely caught myself before falling on my tuchis, but there is a muscle in my back that will need a good week to recover from that little acrobatic maneuver.
Afraid that my children will suffer the same fate or worse, I went over the floor with a clean towel, trying to wipe off some of that slippery oil, but it didn’t help much. Needless to say, we will all be treading carefully on the wood floor for the next few days, and I will be purchasing some of that fancy made-for-wood-floors cleaning product before taking it upon myself to clean the foyer floor the next time.
So other than the bazillion piles of laundry on my bed waiting to be put away, the house is in pretty good shape. I always stand and fold my laundry at the dryer before bringing it upstairs. A lot of people I know pile it up and bring it out to the living room or the bedroom and fold it whenever they get around to it, but I’ve never been able to do that. Even when I didn’t have a pleasant laundry room in my last two houses (the laundry was in the damp unfinished basement), I still always stood there and folded each piece as I took it out of the dryer. Granted, it might sit in neatly folded piles in a laundry basket next to my bed for a week, but it’s always folded right away.
So, what do you do? Are you a folder or a piler?
Well, I’m off to rest my weary back and wait for the pizza man to show up. Cheers!
How is it that housework multiplies exponentially once you start cleaning? I’ve been working like a dog for the past two hours, and somehow my house is more of a mess now than it was when I started. All I’ve managed to do is create MORE housework.
I decided to start upstairs. First I went around to all the bedrooms and stripped the beds. This, of course, created a mountain of laundry and 4 beds to make up later in the day.
Then I took a look in our master bedroom walk-in closet and decided that I can’t wait for Laura’s 30-Day Organizational Challenge, which is when I was planning to tackle this chore. I already started the ball rolling when I went through our winter clothes last weekend, and there was still a heap of my clothes to give away and sell on the floor of my bedroom. So I attacked the closet with a vengeance this morning, which created yet another mountain of laundry, another pile of clothes to give away (Husband’s this time), and a whole bag of trash.
Next, I went into the master bathroom to start cleaning, but I couldn’t make it past the linen closet. This closet has been begging for organization for probably a year. It’s been driving me batty, but I keep closing the door and saving it for the future. Well, the future arrived this morning. It’s AMAZING how much trash I found going through just two shelves! I washed all the containers that I use to separate stuff, and now I need to go back up there and organize everything. I also cleaned out the drawers in my vanity. I just have one word for them. EW.
And meanwhile, the playroom looks like it vomited wooden train tracks
and puzzles. That would be due to the children I left unsupervised while I was preoccupied with organizing and purging.
So here I sit. I have yet to begin actually CLEANING. And my laundry room is buried under a mound of winter blankets, bathroom mats, a month’s worth of Husband’s laundry (which I also found when I attacked the master bedroom closet), and 4 sets of bedsheets.
But.
I can actually walk in to my "walk-in closet" now. What a concept! And I can open my bathroom vanity drawers without fear. Other than that, I have accomplished very little so far.
So, my Coke is about gone. It’s time to go put my linen closet back together and dig out the Soft Scrub. At this rate, I’ll be happy if I just finish cleaning the upstairs today. The downstairs may have to wait till tomorrow. Or, you know, June.
Yes, I’ve used this title before. And for the very same reason and I use it this morning. Thursday is my ONLY day of the week that I have absolutely no obligations to be anywhere or do anything.
Once I get my son out the door at 8pm to go to the bus, I’m free as a bird! Well, except for that minor responsibility that is the two little girls I have to take care of. But, you know, I can just sit them in front of the TV all day and surf the Net till my heart’s content.
Just kidding. Sort of.
No, really. I have no intention of surfing the Net all day. Although the TV thing is still up in the air.
I’m really regretting my decision to send C to school all five days next year. Because I am really going to miss my Thursdays. I initially signed up for the 3-Day Pre-K class. But she has been begging to go to school "all five days like D" for two years now. And she doesn’t like going to the Bible Study we attend on Tuesdays. So I switched her to the 5-Day Pre-K class. And now there is a waiting list a mile long for 3-Day. So I’m stuck. But I really dread having to be out of the house at 8:50 every. single. day next year. Argh.
So today. My house is a pit. I haven’t done a thorough cleaning in, well, maybe since last fall? I can’t even remember. It’s not like I don’t ever clean. I just do what I have to do each day to keep the place livable and to be able to have people over without dying of mortal embarrassment. But I am really craving a head-to-toe-cleaning. And I’m thinking today is the day.
One last mug of coffee, a few more blogs to catch up on, and I’m going to tackle this house. It will be so nice to go into the weekend with a clean house!
Well, that’s just sad. I do think he lost his spark in recent weeks. But the fact that "Mowgli" and "Miss Texas" are still in the running is really hard to swallow.
On the up-side, I thoroughly enjoyed Gwen Stefani’s performance tonight. Fun, fun, fun!
**UPDATE**
I can’t take credit for the Mowgli association. Someone’s husband came up with that, and I’d give credit where credit is due if I could remember which one of you guys came up with that! But I’m drawing a blank.
