Category Archives: home

general-post, home

Domestically, Me

1 Comment

Something amazing happened in the last few days.

We went to the grocery store, and I got all the laundry done.

This should NOT be shocking, but it is. I’ve been running so much lately that I’ve both just not had time to get the stuff done, and I’ve just not had the interest.

Groceries… well. I usually enjoy grocery shopping, but fighting people at the store just left me going, “I don’t wanna!” So we ended up eating out a lot. And I started to get creative with breakfast when we were out of bread, milk and eggs. (Did you know you can make a pretty yummy apple crunch thing with Cheerios, butter, cinnamon and chopped apple? Yup. You can. I know. I made it for breakfast one day out of desperation. Take THAT Chopped.)

My husband wanted to go to the store. I didn’t. But finally we had a day we could go, and I had run out of excuses to avoid it. So we went. And I am now glad to say that I can make numerous meals right here at home! And that… that makes the grocery store run worth it.

As for laundry… ugh. I don’t hate doing laundry, but my washer and dryer are in the basement. Its good in that it makes me climb those stairs and get some exercise. Its bad because I just don’t do so good with it. I forget there’s a load running when I DO do the laundry. Otherwise, its like… I just… no.

So as a result of my lack of interest and lack of time, I’d get a load washed here or there. Usually when there was some item my husband or I am looking to wear. However, this weekend… the pile of laundry was ridiculously overflowing the hamper, and I was out of clean jeans and had worn the same bra three days in a row. (Yes, I admit it. I did.) We were at a dire level.

Last night, seven loads — SEVEN LOADS — went through the washer and dryer. Clothes were folded or hung up. And they were all actually put away in their proper places. This too is huge, as we have a bad habit of leaving clothes in a basket and picking through it through the week. But not this time. Nooo… this time we conquered the laundry and we won.

We even did all the dishes and put those away, too.

I used to be on top of these tasks, and maybe this is the first step to getting back on top of them all. And maybe… maybe I need to enjoy this brief moment of order in my home life before chaos of Christmas completely takes over.

about-me, home

Chaos and clutter

2 Comments

My husband likes to say we, “Never fight.” Which, depending on your definition of “fight” is true! But we DO disagree at times.

One of our biggest disagreements is “the office.”  The office is supposed to be my area to do my writing, photo editing, page design, etc. However, his laptop has pretty much become a desktop due to the hinge breaking that holds up the screen. So, I lost my computer space. Plus, we just like to be in the same room, and I find myself working while sitting on the couch in the living room with him.

Nonetheless, I still consider it more “my” office, and, as such, its subject to my personal version of organized chaos. Or as my husband puts it, clutter.

Whatever. Poh-tay-toe, Poh-tah-toe.

Either way, its pretty much a room with stacks of stuff everywhere. That’s been my definition of organization as far back as I can remember. My bedroom would look like a tornado hit it as a kid, but I’ll be darn if 9 times out of 10 I couldn’t put my hand on exactly the item you would ask me to find.

(Ironically, in school and at work in an office, I tend to be super organized. I still remember like it was yesterday, one of my school teachers commenting that my bedroom must be immaculate the way I would organize things for her. If she only knew the disaster area it truly was…)

However, I was forced into cleaning mode today. For one thing, my husband is on the road, and I love having a surprise for him any time he gets home. I set my mind to shock him with a much more organized office. (Its a tiny room, so perfection could only happen if I threw everything out and went spartan.) For another thing, I wanted to figure out somewhere to put my laptop so I could work in the office again myself. I have a couple big projects on the back-burner that I need to focus on… and I focus best at a desk versus on the couch. Finally, I was missing a sheet of Forever stamps… and my remote shutter for my camera is MIA.

We’ll find out if my husband deems my first reason as success (with him liking what I’ve done.) I’m sitting at the desk right now, so that was a success. And I found my stamps. The remote shutter is still missing. At least it only cost me about $8, so if I have to get a new one I can. I’d just rather not have to do that.

I’m going to try REALLY hard not to let this room go to heck again. I am. I can’t make any promises, as my natural disposition is to go into the organized chaos thing. But I’ll try. Because I gotta admit, a neat, clean room just feels so good… so light and fresh and open.