Category Archives: housewoes

Swimming in stuff

You know that scene in Labyrinth where the old Muppet Junk Lady tries to distract Sarah from her quest by showing her all of her own belongings and Sarah begins to pile her own junk around her until she suddenly realizes that her stuff is keeping her from her destiny and she escapes through the ceiling?

This scene right here?

Yeah, that’s totally me right now. My entire house feels filled to the brim with junk that is keeping me from saving the world (or some dramatic shit like that).  This weekend I’d like to be outside doing stuff, but my junk is holding me hostage with death threats to “organize or else I’ll smother you in your sleep!” My soul is screaming, “It’s all junk!”

 I swear I have Depression Era tendencies to hoard because I feel like I’ll never have money to buy anything again and for the love of all things mighty, you just might need that cord, bucket, box of old books, container of canning lids that have no jar to screw into (true story… I’m a mess).  

So a purge is coming. possibly this weekend, but nevertheless, soon.  Very soon. If not I fear I may actually turn into that junk woman, weighted down by all my crap. I’m the worst at this. Send me your strength, folks!  Ima need it. 

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Sunday Sunday Sunday

In an unexpected turn of events (that included having some out of town family over for lunch Saturday, spending Friday night cleaning, and not being home Saturday night) my house is super clean! What a nice way to start the week! Happy Sunday everyone!

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PS… I want new kitchen chairs.

I’ll spend my days at the office, sing a little bit of these working mom blues

Last night when I went to Grammy Jane’s house after work, Josephine took one look at me and screamed, “NO! DON’T TAKE ME!!!” When it was time to leave, she cried and said, “I want stay here.” When we got home and were brushing our teeth she told me, “I no want be here. I want go to Grammy’s”. When we were putting on pajamas she told me, “Grammy is happy.” When I asked her what mama was (I know, I shouldn’t have asked) she said, “Mama is mean.”
After story time, as we were getting ready to go to bed, she said in her sweet voice, “Mama, you be here in morning? You no go to work eeever again.” (FYI: eeever rhymes with fever in Josephine talk). Then she looked at me and said, “Now you say, ‘Have to go work’.”
I didn’t realize how often we have the Mama’s going to work tomorrow conversation. So much so that she can recite both our parts to me. Luckily, this time I got to end it with, “I’ll be here tomorrow because it’s the weekend. I’ll see you when you wake up. I love you.”
Dang. Now, who wants to give me a shit ton on money so I can stay home and never have to have that conversation again? Happy weekend everyone…

Couch, I hate thee.

Coffee, check. Day off, check. Motivation…. Motivation? MOTIVATION?!
Well, two out of three isn’t bad. But, seriously. I can’t seem to get myself off the couch and do something. Like dishes, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, organizing. Or even playing. Ugh.
Can I borrow a cup of motivation from the neighbor? Does it work like that? It just dawned on me that I should have named this blog lazilyliving.com. Or mediocrity.com. Or simplysurviving.com. Cause this girl is not living today. Boo.

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MolASSes

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This unfortunate incident happened in my kitchen this week. Glass and molasses everywhere. I also dropped a sheet of baked gingerbread cookies and parchment paper into the oven and burned my hand/smoked up my house. Christmas baking is not going well this year. That’s it… I am officially suggesting we postpone Christmas until I’m in a better mood. Bah Humbug!

Want a close up of my molasses nightmare? Here ya go.

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Oh so tired

I have been so tired and behind on everything lately. I can’t seem to get a thing done. For no good reason, I have not recovered from Las Vegas yet. I feel exhausted and drained. My body feels as though it could just shut down at any minute. The only nice thing about that is that I’m sleeping much more soundly. No insomnia for me when I can barely make it past 9:30. That also means I’m getting much less accomplished, since 9-10:30 are usually my get shit done hours. Boo!
Because of Josephine’s flea bites we have been trying to keep her indoors (we’ve sprayed some stuff out back and in the front, but I’m waiting until the lawn is mowed to take her out). Therefore, nothing at all outside has been done. Nothing. I thought we’d be at a better point than this. But we’re not.
I’d like to have people over, entertain, maybe have a birthday party in November, but the way things are going the lawn will still be overgrown, the artwork won’t be up. We are stuck.
I need inspiration, motivation, energy.
I’m trying to assess why I feel like shit. I’m not eating well, haven’t exercised in months, have one million VERY IMPORTANT things due at work that are stressing me out. That combo is probably killing me. Knowing the steps I need to take is not enough. I have to change now, or my poor health will destroy me. So, since I love lists, here’s one to help me out of the hole I’ve plopped myself into:
1. Eat better. Less junk food (I’m talking to you, Halloween candy), more fruits and veggies. More water, a tad less coffee. Just a tad.
2. Get some intentional exercise multiple times a week. Dancing for 30 minutes with Josephine totally counts. Bring on the Yo Gabba Gabba dance parties!
3. Put up the damn art. Because I’m pretty sure everything will fall into place if we do.
4. Make a relaxing spot outside. Somewhere to sit, entertain, etc. If you build it, they will come (and then I’ll be forced into yard work again).
So there you go. Not too crazy, it seems do-able right now (doesn’t it always though?)
I’ve got to do this, y’all. I’m fading fast.

On a more positive note, Taylor has started finishing up our bathroom (yay!). He put in the toilet and bought our new vanity. It’s nice to have two toilets again. Very nice indeed. Thank you Taylor!
And, although I’m exhausted, we have been having a lot of fun the last couple of weekends with friends (probably directly contributing to the tired, but what can you do? Life needs to be lived, right?!)

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Photo from the booth at Sean and Melanie Duncan’s wedding reception. Getting our silly on.

Once Bitten Twice Shy

We have a flea issue. Well, not so much of an issue as a problem. A really annoying problem. You would think I’d be ready for all of this, having grown up in the country, but apparently my mom did magical things that I was unaware of to ensure we didn’t have a flea “problem” in our home.
I, however, don’t know my mom’s magic tricks. And so fleas it is.
It all started about a month ago. Josephine would have some bites that I would attribute to summer mosquitos. I would see a flea occasionally, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, all of a sudden, like locusts descending, the fleas came. And for some reason they decided they like young blood, so Josephine has been taking the brunt of the biting. Poor baby. She looks like she has the chickey pox. She even developed hives for a few days that we think might have been linked to the bites (although I suppose it really could have been anything, stupid hives).

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Oatmeal bath to soothe the itch. She looks tortured, I know.

Now, to be fair (and to ensure that people will still come visit me at my home ) there are people out there with far worse flea problems than me. All you have to do is google “fleas” and you will be doused with stories of people who are practically bathing in fleas. The fleas jump into their cereal bowl, do the back stroke and dance a victory dance. I don’t have that kind of problem (although I am entertaining starting a flea circus. That sounds fun!) I have a more low key, extremely annoying flea problem. They don’t jump on your legs when you walk through the house. In fact, everywhere other than the guest room they are ninja fleas and you don’t really see them out gallivanting. However, they are here and don’t seem to understand that it’s time to leave.
Because of our precious child and our cat and fish, we are not willing (at this point) to flea bomb. I am willing to use poison on the guest room carpet, but not anywhere else where we frequent. At this point our plan of attack is a steady routine of vacuuming and laundry, vacuuming and laundry, vacuuming and laundry…over and over again. Thankfully, Taylor is taking the lead on all the vacuuming lately, because JESUS! I really hate vacuuming. We have our cat Bacheecho flea medicined up to the hilt. Supposedly, when a flea bites Bacheecho it will die. We have turned our cat into a walking flea trap, so hopefully the combo of vacuuming, laundry and the flea incinerating cat will do the trick.
And so I pose this question to you
friends, acquaintances, random people who googled “why do dogs eat poop” and ended up here… do you have any suggestions for natural flea decimation? I will take any and all help.
It’s getting better with every vacuum, but it’s not over until the fat flea dies!

Stressed

I am feeling stressed, which is unfortunate, since I just returned from a truly wonderful weekend of camping and fun at the Strawberry Music Festival (stories and pictures to come). Real life has a way of doing that to you, I suppose. Today I lack patience, which makes everything harder for everyone. I just want to go to sleep and stay there for a week with no one talking to me. Post vacation blues? Pretty much. I need another vacation. A little hair of the vacation dog that bit me, if you will. Luckily Josephine and I are going to Seattle soon to visit my sister, brother in law, and my beautiful new nephew, Emmett. That should do the trick! If I suffer from post vacation depression after that one, I always have our October trip to Vegas (sans baby) to look forward to. That should get me through until the holidays. I know, I know, poor me.

Paused

I have been on home pause for the last week or so. I really haven’t done anything to move towards having the house settled or getting the land in order.
Work has been ridiculously busy, which my colleague keeps saying is the new normal (and I have the sinking feeling he is right). I have been in meetings pretty solid for about three weeks. It has been slightly exhausting (I’m being kind on that one. It has been downright excruciating, especially given the amount of work I still need to get done in between all these meetings). Also, my neck decided that this was a good week to take a shit on me, so I was mostly unable to move my head for a couple of days. Add to that one sleepless night due to neck pain and worrying, and a child who has decided that she would like to wake up to cry for 5 minutes right when I have just gotten to sleep each night, and you have the picture of my week.
Tired of hearing me complain? Yeah, me too.
So here’s the deal folks. I am going to tell you what I am going to accomplish by the end of the weekend. If I don’t accomplish said goals, I will pay all three of you who read this $5. Deal?! Juuuuust kidding. But really, if I don’t accomplish my goals, feel free to harass me about it until the end of my days. Sound good? OK! Now, on to the goals. I should say, my weekend is fairly busy with Uncle Spencey and Auntie Chris coming over today to spend some long overdue quality time, the Thrift Store Outfit playing at the Oakdale Concert in the Park tonight (shameless plug, starts at six if you are in the area), and the much anticipated Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party we were invited to tomorrow at noon (my child might die when she meets Plex and Foofa. Seriously. She has an addiction and I fear overdose).
My practical list (trying not to set myself up for failure):
1. Dust the house
2. Clean the bathroom
3. Mop/sweep the floors (so easy with my new fantastic Shark cleaner. That thing is epically bad ass. I cried tears of joy when Taylor bought it for me. Same as I cried when he bought me a new washing machine days before Josephine was born. Apparently the way to my heart is through home cleaning devices. But I digress.. )
4. Harvest my tomatoes
5. Dehydrate tomatoes
6. Get my dresser drawers in (yes, only half of my dresser drawers are in. My clothes are in piles on top. I’m a classy lady)
7. Finish weeding around the swing set
8. Beware of wasps while weeding around the swing set (one of the little bastards got me last weekend. No fun)
9. Start weeding the fire pit area
10. Look through boxes of CDs to find that one you have been looking for for years
11. Finish washing and putting away all the blankets

OK, I think that’s enough for now. I’m pretty sure I can knock this shit out. In fact, I’m going to start riiiiiiiiiight NOW!
Happy Friday!

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Boiling Point

Last week we hosted our first house guests. Our friends Mario, Casey, Andrew, Ben, Andy, and Josh -otherwise known as The Preservation -came through on tour (if you haven’t heard their music, check it out. So good!) We were so excited to see our friends, and it was amazing to see our home filled with friends, laughter and good times. They just happened to be our first visitors at the last house too, visiting two weeks after we moved in. That time we had the house set up and all the art hung before they got here. This time, not so much. However, we got to test out our set up and enjoy the bad ass front porch for hanging out. Success and good times all around! It was fun to have people in our house playing music and enjoying our country home.
So, The Preservation left on Friday. That was five whole days ago. 1 2 3 4 5 days. And I just completed all of the dishes last night. Now, this isn’t because there was a crazy ton of dishes. In fact, Mario was so nice and did dishes twice when they were here. It’s taking me so long because we have no dishwasher. Additionally, because we have plummed (Spelling? Anyone? Is this even a word?) for a dishwasher and haven’t installed it yet, we have no hot water in the kitchen sink. So do you know what that means? It means I am boiling water to do dishes. Yes, you heard me right. Boiling. Water. Pot after tea kettle of water so that we can eat off of clean dishes. Every night.

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And since we only have a small dish rack and I draw the line at drying my dishes by hand (a girl’s gotta take a stand) it has taken me all of those days to play catch up. And I’m finally done. Right in time for our next visitors this Thursday 🙂

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