Thinking Out Loud...

I think I'll start doing this (rambling about several topics on one post), and maybe quite often. Writing things out makes them easier to see coming to pass. This will mostly be domestic rambling, so those of you with big, hot, jet-set lifestyles will find it boring and mundane...sorry about that.

Isn't There a Reality Show for Clutter?

If so, then I need to be on it. I have GOT to get my house in order. I'll let you in on a little secret if you promise not to hold it against me. If you come to visit, you'd most likely think my house looks pretty OK, and reasonably organized. And in thinking that, you would be falling for the mirage I've created. I have mastered keeping the living room, bathroom and most of the main areas of the main floor mostly in order, most of the time, or at least within range of being fixable in an hour's time...but at the horrible expense of the rest of the house. I know, I know - "everyone does that". Well, I am not everyone, and I don't like it. God forbid someone wants to see my office...oy...

My laundry room should be marked off as a disaster area. My storage space in the basement is out of control. The closets are such a disorganized mess that it's a wonder we can find anything. My office...I have boxes of stuff that I "need to keep", and every time I go through the boxes, I affirm that, yes, it IS stuff I need to keep, but it never gets filed or sorted or put into any sort of usable order. And it's perpetual. The more I let it sit, the more "necessary stuff" there is...the boxes keep piling up and now it's a seemingly insurmountable task. PATHETIC. Who does this crap? Who lets it get this bad? Me, that's who. Nauseating! And our bedroom...always close to, if not, actually, ridiculously disorganized.

Laundry - 24,395: Cathy - 0...(AKA: I Can't Keep Up...)

Alright, can I just say that when I thought I "couldn't keep up on laundry" before we had kids, I was an idiot? Besides just the bare mechanics of actually DOING all the laundry that CONSTANTLY piles up, there's more to it than that. Grown-up clothes only have to be cycled in and out of rotation by season, change in waist line, and style if desired. Kids' clothes is a whole different arena, with the constant, nagging "Does this still fit?" question looming constantly and repeatedly with every load. Drives me nuts, and I am NOT good at keeping up on it. I think my laziness comes into play here, though, too...gee, ya THINK?

So, SKC's "McDonald's" Comment Has Me Thinking...
If I plan out my meals for the week, and know what I'm making for supper every night, there is about a 95% chance that I'll make it and we'll eat at home and save our money. But if not? Hmmm, could go either way, esp. if the kids are particularly challenging that day, or if we are gone in the afternoon for play dates, or if I'm feeling like a big lazy ass and don't know what to make. So Greg went through my list of recipes and picked out two weeks' worth of dinners and I planned it all out...and now I feel GOOD about supper for the next two weeks. If I can just get him to sit down and tell me what he wants, then I feel better about meal plans. I can tweak them and change them as I have a specific desire for something, but I really want his input, too. I wouldn't like never knowing, or having a say in, what I was eating for supper. So I was very grateful to Greg for sitting down and giving me a list to start from.


I'm Gonna Whine, Brace Yourself...

So, if anyone knows of anyone who has a really nice dishwasher they are just DYING to give away, please let me know, wouldja? I AM SICK TO DEATH OF WASHING DISHES. I really don't mind it some of the time, but weekends, when we are all here for three days, they pile up faster than I can wash them, and then I get SICK of washing them, and then...well, let's don't talk about that. Let's just say I have some work to do before I can start on dinner in three hours. Crappity smack.

Anyway, in case you're asking...could we go buy a new dishwasher, and then renovate our ancient, as-of-yet-un-updated-kitchen to accommodate a built-in dishwasher? Sure, if we want to get out the credit cards! But we are not doing that anymore, so I'm stuck wishing and washing. Sucky, sucky deal. I'm watching craigslist and freecycle and hoping someone is just DYING to give up a pretty, nice new dishwasher for next-to-nothing. Ha ha. Gosh, this whole topic just makes me sound like a redneck, poor white trash housewife. ("Shucks, we ain't got nunna 'em fancy aww-toe-mat'd dish warshin' machines...") Sheesh - where's an embarrassed smiley face when you need one? Let's move on.


The Toys That Took Over The World

Seriously, it's just ri-god damned-diculous. I do not mean to sound ungrateful that my children are so loved, I really don't. But there can be NO MORE in-flux of toys into this house, or we'll have to move out to make room for the toys. For sure, that I know of, there are FIVE storage boxes of toys in the storage room. Toys that there just isn't room for. We rotate toys in and out of circulation to keep the kids interested. But "circulation includes: Samantha's ENTIRE toy box AND all of her shelves, all full. AND her Dora couch. AND her Alligator piano. And her trunk of dress-up clothes (which we all still love, Jenny, it's one of my faves!). AND the three-tiered purple and pink storage rack of books/puzzles/flashcards. AND the Weeble towns. All three of them. AND the playhouse. And the tent/clubhouse/tunnel from Uncle Brian which is now in storage b/c there is just not a 10x12 space anywhere to put it. And don't even get me started on the stuffed animals.

And then there's Jackson's room with HIS full toy box. And his hop-n-pop, and his walker, and his fishy entertainment thingee, and his farm play mat, and his giant rocking elephant, and his shelves with books and other toys.

Oh, but we haven't talked about my office yet. ANOTHER HUGE toy box. Full. The recent addition of a cabinet handed down from an aunt on Greg's side for Samantha, which is getting fuller by the minute, somehow is NOT diminishing the toy-load anywhere else, don't ask me. Balls, balls, and more balls, even though there is not one person who plays ANY sport living in this house. Samantha's vacuum cleaner. And her Doodle. And her giant Legos. And her Barbies, Polly Pockets, Cabbage Patch Kids, etc., etc., the list goes on, ad infinitum...

I need to just start pitching. Garbage man comes every week, doesn't he? Yes, he does. I need to have presents for him beyond just plain ole' trash, don't I? Sadly, it won't be the first time I've done it. But it's the only time-effective way to manage the huge quantities of crap that comes into this house. I keep and store toys that the kids feel particularly attached to when they outgrow them, but the bulk of this crap is just that, crap. And it's time to start flushing.


In Summary...

WHOO! LOTS to do and it feels good to at least TALK about doing it. And since you're now rolling your eyes and saying "Gawd, Cathy, you whiny bitch - you could have done three loads of laundry in the time it took you to write this!" (and you're right, of course!), I guess I'd better get busy. It's sloppy joes tonight (Greg wrote them down twice, so I'd guess he REALLY wants them), and that laundry is not, as usual, doing itself. Samantha's movie is over, so she's ready for lunch, and Jackson will be waking up soon, and I have dishes to do, too. As usual. ;-)