Saturday, April 6, 2013

Day 931

Theresa is over a year old now.  Laundry is manageable, I guess.  I've got five loads waiting to go.  I get a bunch of loads piled up, and I don't want to wash any of them because I'm wearing something that goes in one or more of those loads, and I don't like having one lone sock or shirt that has to wait for a full load to get cleaned.
Thank God for towels of various shades.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Day 526

Things I'm thankful for:
1. A Healthy Baby
A friend from high school spends most of her time in the hospital with her son, who has a medical condition of some sort...that's probably killing him.  He actually died last night, but they brought him back, thank God.  I'm following the posts of a Facebook page for a little boy named Liam, who was born with half a heart.  He's a year old now, and his family is still hunting for a doctor who can fix him.  They post pictures of this adorable little chubby baby...covered in tubes and monitors.  He's on painkillers, and they're trying to wean him off them. I have friends who delivered at 25 and 26 weeks, and friends who suffered miscarriages.  I WEEP when I think about how lucky I am, how BLESSED, to have a child who is in perfect health.
2. My Wonderful Husband
Matt has taken to fatherhood so very well.  :)  He takes care of me (I sit on the couch and feed the kid - he brings me my painkillers and rubs my feet and unpacks boxes and checks my incision and tells me I'm a good mom), so I can take care of Theresa.  And he helps take care of her, too...changing diapers and rocking her to sleep.  He does not have that godawful "taking care of the kids is YOUR job" attitude...which is good, because I might smack him.  ;)
3. Team Grandma
My in-laws are in the process of moving here from out of state - they just bought a house not too far from ours.  My mother-in-law comes over every day to make sure we all get lunch and dinner, and she cleans the kitchen.  My mom is staying with us for two weeks, helping me unpack (we just moved two weeks ago!!), and helping me not have an utter and complete meltdown on account of this kid.
4. The Internet, especially Facebook
I would have lost my mind weeks ago if it weren't for being able to look things up online, talk to friends, and generally waste time and screw around online.  :)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Day 470

Merry Christmas!  No, silly Protestants, it's not over.  We've got another week left!  We're celebrating Epiphany on the 8th this year.

Also!  Laundry Monster: 2, LM Slayer: 345672834!  Or at least that's what it feels like.  I did a TON of laundry this weekend.  Spent most of Saturday watching Scrubs (like 10 episodes, good Lord, that's a lot of not-very-good TV)...and doing laundry.  Got almost all of it done, just 2 or 3 loads left to go.  Changed the sheets...yeah, that was a little overdue.   Tomorrow, since I don't have to go to work (YAY!!!), I'm going to finish the laundry.  Awesome goal: everything that is dirty will be clean, and everything that is clean will be PUT AWAY.  :)  Huzzah!  Hopefully I can do it.  And not get to the last load being in the dryer and go, eh, good enough.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Day 429

HA!  Take that, Pessimism!  It's not Christmas yet!


We've been married for over a year.  Hurray!  And we have a tiny person to show for it (well, she's still baking, but she'll be here before March is over).  Oh, so much more laundry to come! 


Advent starts this coming weekend (NEW TRANSLATION FOR THE WIN!!!!!!), and I'm not quite ready.  I can't find the purple table runner I started making during Lent.  I want a tree, but Matt says he doesn't like decorating (my response: Too bad.)  I need to get a wreath together,  but I don't know when I'll have time...maybe tomorrow after work.  Matt's getting inducted into the Knights, so dinner is off.  If I can leave work at a decent hour, maybe I can stop by Wal-Mart and pick up candles and Stuff for making the wreath.  I don't think it will turn out as lovely as any of Auntie Leila's wreaths, but she's got decades of experience on me, so I will try to remember that and not feel like a failure.

I want to decorate for Advent and Christmas, but I really feel like I can't, because my house is a wreck.  :(  Perhaps that will be the endeavor on Monday - to get the house Reasonably Clean, then on Tuesday we can shop for decorations.  Wednesday, get nails done, then drive to Memphis.  Good plan.  Solid. 

OK, I will now set the timer for 15 minutes and Blitz the living room.  If that doesn't take the whole time, I'll do the dining room too.

Monster Slayer out.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Day 357

1. I haven't posted here in awhile.

2. Last week, I let my husband do a couple of loads of laundry.  I sorted them and told him what settings to use, but PROGRESS (for me, in the whole being-less-OCD department)!  I read somewhere that it's better to have housework done by a five-year-old than not done at all...not that my husband is a 5-year-old, but the principle applies.  Half-assed or incorrectly done housework is better than not-done-at-all housework.

3. Today, we sorted, folded, and put away what seemed like 7 loads of laundry.  It has been sitting on the loveseat for about a week, getting bigger an bigger as the clothes come out of the dryer.  We now have clean underwear, socks, towels, sheets, and clothes for work!  There's still a pile on the back of the couch that needs to be hung up, but it's relatively small.

4. There is actually...wait for it...CARPET in the second bedroom!  Not much, but some.  Meaning that I've gotten the ginormous pile of dirty laundry down to several small piles, with...SPACE between them, so you can actually see the carpet in some places!  HURRAH!

5. I think after a couple more weekends with some time devoted to cleaning, I can actually get this place under control.  Which is IMPORTANT, because my mother AND my mother-in-law are coming to visit in about a month...and I really need the place to be somewhat close to presentable.  Not that they'll judge me or think less of me...this is FOR ME.  I want to be proud of the home I live in, and I want to feel good about showing it to people.  I'm frankly tired of being relieved when no one comes to Monday night dinners, so I don't have to worry about the fact that my house is FILTHY.

6. Oh!  Labor day weekend, I cleaned the master suite.  Closet, bedroom, and bathroom - all Reasonably Clean!  I even mopped the bathroom floor, which I think I MIGHT have done once since we moved in...a year ago...ew.

7. I'm collecting new blogs to read!  I love them!  A Year in Skirts is really cute (she posts pictures of her kiddos, and one of herself in the skirt/dress she's wearing that day).  I LOVE Like Mother, Like Daughter.  LOVE IT.  Auntie Leila is WISE and wonderful.  And a good Catholic, so bonus there.  I'm trying to get a mental grasp on this stay-at-home-mom thing, trying to get ready for what it will be like for me in a few months.  I'm really looking forward to having TIME to clean, time to cook, time to read and learn and grow things...time to live this vocation of wife and mother, instead of the holding pattern I'm in right now.

8. Why I've decided to stay home.  So I have this independent streak.  My father encouraged it.  I like being able to take care of myself, to provide for myself, and (now that I'm married), I like to feel like I have a right to live here, eat food, buy things, and occasionally indulge...and most of the way I feel is based on the fact that I work for a living.  I feel like my salary contributes to the functionality of our household, and I don't feel like a damn mooch.  If I were to quit now, I think I would feel all kinds of guilty...anytime I drove anywhere (gas and tolls!), anytime I wanted to go out to eat (sometimes you just don't feel like cooking), or if I wanted to keep getting my nails done (I really like the way they look, and I don't chew on them anymore, which is really good...).  This is going to be really hard for me - adjusting to not working.  I've been working since I started college, and it's been central to my formation as an adult - central to my identity.  What I'm choosing to give up isn't my identity - it's just a job.  A job I don't really like that much anymore.  And what I'm gaining....is the ability to raise my own kids.  Instead of spending half my salary paying someone else to raise them, plus HUNDREDS of dollars every month in gas and tolls to get to work.  At that point, it's not really even worth it. What I'm gaining - being able to raise my kids - is worth more to me than FEELING like I'm contributing.  Because I CAN contribute to the financial stability of our home when I'm not working outside the home - I just have to re-adjust my thinking and find ways to conserve, to be more frugal.  Perhaps find a method of generating income that doesn't involve leaving home or ignoring my children.  Or stupid internet scams.   I will likely be dealing with this topic (adjusting to the idea of staying home) more in months to come.  But by the time I post here again, it will probably be Christmas already.  Hmph.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Day 190

Gave the Laundry Monster a serious beating last week.  Unfortunately, he's back and taking over the second bedroom.

Gaming with Husband today!  Laundry Monster can jolly well wait until we get home.