Resourcefulness

Today I actually have some energy. I do not know if I will finish the painting that I started earlier this week, but I should be able to complete a few rooms and feel 'together'. I need to restart my creative life like I was talking about. There is a fly in here that is driving me CRAZY. Like insane. It is landing in my hair,my foot, taunting me and evading my swats. I am going to go absolutely cookoo on him in a sec here. Can't take it. I will be focusing on laundry and tidying today, and finish up the kitchen- why is the housework always chasing me? I had called Merry Maids last week to request and estimate, and my appointment was yesterday, but I called them 2 hours before and cancelled. I let them know that I have 'control issues', and cannot let someone else come do it for me. Yard work I can justify- but housework? No way. My house is too small, I think I have no excuse there.

Plugging Along

Hey Everyone,

I am checking in to tell you everything is good. I am chugging away at the business, and things are running, well, fairly smoothly at home. We suddenly realized that due to either the foundation moving, or a pre-existing problem getting worse, that our kitchen tile is detatching itself from it's subfloor! There is a huge bubble in the middle of the room and since it is ceramic, I am just ready for the cracks and the shards to come up, yikes! We have such a money pit. I am desperate to work on this house but I am just so sick of all of the new things that come up and the fact that EVERY DARNED ROOM has at least one light bulb burned out or one plug that doesn't work. I don't care how busy anybody is anymore, I have said it before and I will say it again, "We can't live like this!" I am over it. But guess what, I can't take much more DIY, either. Other than that, I am happy as a clam.

Today I get to do a little work, and then I get to have a nice little break. I am going to make sure the house is cute and maybe even get the car cleaned out. Hooray!

Picking Up the Pieces

Have I ever mentioned our house is TINY? I was thrilled to downsize a little over two years ago. Going down two flights to change the laundry was an enery drainer and now it is in the kitchen, which my husband despises and I love. It seems very European and functional. I found that 2400 square feet on three floors was a lot of space for toys and junk to be spread around. Now I find that toys and junk spread across 1100 square feet is difficult at times, and I honestly do not know how many toys got out in the main living area but it is just crazymaking. I am so not made for 3 loud little boys sometimes. They are cute and fascinating and just like me and all, but, gawd, get them out of my environment sometimes! I am inundated at all times with noise, mess, and pilfering of office supplies. They are all so industrious and busy and really love the art and will use anything to make it. Time to go throw a bunch of stuff on the table for them to go to town with so that I can knit, cook, surf the Internet and watch Project Runway reruns all at once. All the while netting $4000.00 a month at my home based part time job. At least I seem to be doing a good job at that right now, I should be poised to make a good 3K for December(4K a month was my goal a year and a half ago, I figured it would take about 2 years, I am on track). The only thing I changed was to watch my bank account carefully so I don't get my expenses screwed up (but I will eventually, probably...keep being careful! Don't buy yarn!), and also doing all of my follow up. Pretty much tackling the list every day. I also needed to include cleaning up on that list. I got Nicky some new shoes today, one is a pair of pirate slip ons you can see them in the corner of the second pic. He had his holiday portrait today!

I could do a little more photo styling for you, but I think that evoking sympathy rather than envy is more what I am going for in my blog. The envy I gan get later for 'when I finally get it all together'. I so want to be a tidy and perfect gay man. I decided I was indeed a fan of Victoria Beckham when she was quoted as saying, "I am so camp. I am such a gay man trying to get out." I didn't know any woman thought that way. Does anyone else envy tidy, fit, fashionable, talented gay men? I sure do, sometimes their lives seem simple and fun. We all know it is not good to envy, but isn't it great to admire?

Family Balance is Fun!

Hi there,

I am really happy to say that I have been acheiving what I have been bitching and whining that I have never been able to create. Some order and peace on a sustainable level. Just hanging out at home does make a difference.

Our Thanksgiving was very nicely quiet and simple. We had a lot of food, mostly done by Rob, and I had a day of knitting, playing with the kids and TV specials! Today is another TV specials day, it's OK because it is all of the Christmas kids' specials early this year. I am a little tired of cartoons, though.

My vest is never going to get worn because the sizing seems to be all wrong, and there is no way I want to undo it...the yarn was never purchased for a specific project anyway. I am actually in a sprint to finish this Charlotte pullover sweater from A Season's Tale in the maroon Kid Classic that Rob brought me from a yarn shop in Southport, England last year. I really petered out on it last year when I kept forgetting to change needle sizes from ribbing to stockinette and pretty soon everything was weird on it. I ended up frogging each and every piece save for the back and started over the other day. I have the front done,one sleeve nearly done and I left the other sleeve down by the ribbing. I wanted to have one sleeve done last night but that was really over-ambitious.

Rob has been at work on the house decorations all day today, he loves being the first! It makes me feel very competent being married to a man who is on top of his seasons. He is starting to hatch strange ideas about where to hang wreaths- from the accent mock-pulley in the front beam of the house? Smack in the middle of our upstairs top center window? That blank wall in our covered porch? I think wreaths are for doors but since this one lights up and the cord would have to go to where there is no power, he is trying to think of something else. The house looks awesome!! Thomas got to get on the roof today, too, which was a big adventure for him. Nicky wanted to go to the hardware store with Daddy and cry-cryed until he fell asleep, and Jack was just Mr. Awesome as usual. I am really, really content right now and it has to do with pulling my own environment together as well as I can and getting some help from my family, too!

The Depths of Crapville

I have now officially arrived at the bottom of the barrel housekeeping-wise. I now know myself well enough that there is no way this is all going to get done and that I am going to be cramming until the last second for the house to be presentable. Because the cupboards have to be in order, the upstairs floor has to be mopped and the backyard has to be spotless! The things that nobody sees but me. The house HAS to look beautiful for Tuesday, yard, smells, children, food, EVERYTHING! I also have to be skinny and well groomed. With an agenda so expertly planned, you would think that I had spent the last five days on it, not the house. I just figure that I run out of housekeeping energy at about 3:00 most days and then after everyone's asleep then I can just catch up on the office work and the meeting stuff. Crazy, I am so tired then! Last night I was actually asleep at 10:00. Hopefully, I got repaired by the sleep. I am one cranky mommy, and I don't like being that way. How can I manifest beauty and inspiration when I haven't had a shower in 3 days and I have 3/4 inch roots and there isn't a single clean glass or towel? Not to mention the KITCHEN FLOOR (dum-dum-dum).