I Should Be Folding Laundry

Will iron for Starbucks

Greetings from L.A. 

I'm in our hotel room, in my pajamas, surrounded by Starbucks coffee and Starbucks coffee cake.  Yum & yum.

Yesterday, upon unpacking our suitcases, Brian and I were mortified by how wrinkled our clothes were.  I had painstakingly folding each of my shirts with precision and love, Brian rolled his shirts and threw them into his suitcase.  We pulled our shirts out and they all looked the same.  Totally wrinkled, which means I had to iron, which I hate.

However, as Brian was leaving to grab me some coffee before he headed to work, I offered to iron the wrinkled shirt he had one while he went to grab some much needed caffeine.  So, he changed shirts and I ironed.  A lot. I have fulfilled my ironing quota for many years to come.  thankyouverymuch.

Everything went smooth with our travels yesterday.  I woke up yesterday morning and cleaned our house TOP TO BOTTOM as we will have at least three showings while we are gone.  Which means one glorious thing - my house will be spotless when we return.  What a treat!

I miss the kids terribly, luckily they are having the time of their lives with their Grandma.  We called last night and Grandma and Grandpa said "Mommy and Daddy are on the phone, do you want to talk to them?"  And they were like "who?"  They finally said okay and picked up the phone and just made sure we would not come home early because they went to TWO playgrounds yesterday.  TWO.  Not one.  Not none.  BUT TWO.  I am so glad they are having fun, I can't think of anything worse then calling home and having my children cry because they miss us.  But now, I can eat, drink and be merry.  While missing my kids.

I have the whole day to myself today.  In a hotel room.  In California.  With my computer.  And a TV.  And two coffees.  I'm not sure what I'll do today, but I do know I will be heading to the gym across the street to exercise (the challenge, remember?).  Because we are staying at this hotel, we can just present our hotel key and we can gain free access to the Gold's Gym across the street.  One of the benefits of staying at this hotel.  There aren't many benefits to this hotel, the internet connection is slllllooooooooowwww (but free) and the lighting is flourescent.  I hate flourescent lighting.

I'm also close to shopping.  I will be going shopping.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and heading to In and Out Burger and probably Hollywood, but we STILL have not decided on our agenda.  We were going to do that last night, but instead we went to a bar and watched drunk people sing karaoke.

I love watching drunk people sing karaoke.

So much to do, so little time.

Do the laundry.
Pack my clothes and a thousand pairs of shoes for the trip. (would you believe I tried on MORE jeans last night and bought another pair.  I have issues.)
Fold Brian's clothes - since he tends to roll his clothes, rather than fold his clothes.
Pack the kids for the four night stay at Grandma's.  (They could not be more excited.)
Clean my house for showings while we are gone.   (Which may or may not happen.)
Try to go shopping to find the perfect jacket or sweater.  (Why is it so hard to find this article of clothing?)
Finish watching Idol from last night.  (who do you think is going home?)
Exercise.  (I must win the challenge.)
Drink tons and tons of coffee.  (thanks, McDonald's.)
Spend time with my kids.  (The most important thing on my to-do list.)

Time for me to close my computer for a few hours and get to work and love on my kids.  I have blogged here today.

Thank you to everyone for your help with things to do in L.A., we have extended our rental car from one day to two and a half days, so we'll have more flexibility with our agenda.  I am very excited to see California.  We have not sat down and planned every detail, but I do know that having a burger at In n' Out is on the itinerary.  (You don't have to tell me twice to eat a burger.) 

I will be blogging while I am away, since I'll have time alone and I will be taking seventy million pictures.  And you must sit with me and look at every picture - it's what good friends do.

For those that I promised postcards to, I have your addresses handy in my laptop. (if you would like me to send you a postcard, e-mail me your address.)

Wish me luck or come and help me, whichever you prefer.

undomesticated

I'm feeling a little, uhhhhh, lazy lately.

The laundry needs to be tackled.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The kids' rooms are disasters.  but to clean them would require bending over.

My bedroom is a mess.  as usual.

There's dust just about everywhere, but I don't seem to care that much.

The kitchen floors could be mopped, but I'd rather not.  quite frankly.

I should vacuum, sweep and swiffer, but there are so many blogs to read!

The bathrooms could use a good wipe down, but how boring, plus it's kind of interesting to see how quickly soap scum and toothpaste can cover every square inch of the counter top.

I'm a little surprised that I'm showered, the kids are bathed and the kitchen counters have been wiped down in the past 24 hours.  But, I'm all about high standards.  obviously.

Yes, yes, I'm pregnant and tired and every moment I seem to grow another centimeter, but still, I sure would love to be able to race around and clean my house without grunting when I bend over.

I try to get my husband to really pitch in and help, but apparently that request confuses him.  To help him understand, last week I said "how about, whenever you see ANYTHING laying on the floor, you pick it up and put it away and then I won't have to bend over."

He said "okay, no problem." Which, I guess, could also have been taken as "shutthehellup, fatty."

What we have here, is a failure to communicate, apparently.  I guess to better demonstrate my lack of desire to bend over, I'll stuff a beach ball filled with sand underneath his skin in the belly region and ask him to clean the house.  with a smile on his face.

I'll be sure to take pictures.

*edited to add - my husband really is very helpful, I mean, he empties the dishwasher EVERY SINGLE MORNING, he almost always cleans up after dinner and he takes out the trash and bathes the kids, so it's not like he's a jerk or anything, it's just that he won't bend over and pick up all of the crap off the floor.

that's all.

Crumbs

I have to be honest with you.  I am not feeling well.  I haven't felt very well since Sunday.  Call it Post Traumatic Turkey Disorder or an Over-Indulgence in Seeing Too Many Christmas Lights already, or maybe it was All of The Drinking, either way, I'm not feeling well, my stomach and I are having a bit of a misunderstanding, and it's not fun.

At all.

I've been eating a lot of crackers.

Which creates quite the mess.

Which leaves me vacuuming up the crumbs.  All. Day. Long.

Today, I feel a little better, I've had some toast and some cereal and an apple.  So far, so good. 

In the meantime, I'll leave the chores for the children to complete.

And try not to stare at the wildly disturbing "Clown Santa" Racecar brought home from school today.

And then before I do all of that not cleaning and not staring at the scary "Clown Santa", I thought I would leave you with a picture of Racecar's bedhead.  Because his bedhead alone makes me want to get him out of bed each morning.

Bag Lady

I typically do not make it a secret that I can sometimes be a little, shall we say, domestically challenged.  I mean, when it comes to doing the dishes and wiping the countertops, I typically git r' done.  But there are some things, like well, folding laundry and cleaning toilets and cleaning the grout in my ceramic floors that are usually ignored.

And then there are other things that come into play that are beyond the typical Domestic To Do List.  For instance, putting away Halloween decorations, (which I did on 11/1) or say, packing away the clothes that no longer fit your children, or putting the summer toys away for the winter, which has not yet been completed. 

or there are things that throw you for a total loop and prove without a shadow of a doubt that I am, in fact, lazy.  (sometimes)  I'm not ashamed, just look at my blog title, I embrace it, (sometimes).

Case in point is the Miscellaneous Bag. 

This bag was sent home to me from my sister 15 days ago when we visited them in Louisville.  This bag contained items such as migraine medicine samples, unused sippy cups, nachos and queso (which I did promptly put away.  It's called priorities, people.), socks and other sundry items.

It sat at the above location in the living room for approximately 36 hours.

At which point I promptly put it on top of my bed.  You know, to take care of it.

But then the day just flew by thanks to all of the blogging and when it came down to bedtime, we then took care of it.

By putting it on the floor next to the bed.  Where it sat for a few more days before I decided "Today is the Day!  I will empty this carn sarned bag once and for all."  So,

I put it back on the bed.

You see where this is going?

And here is where it has been sitting ever since my last attempt when I placed it on the bed.
Somewhere on my bedroom floor.

Sadly, it is now to the point where I don't even realize it's there.  But I think today is the day where I empty it out, I'll do it as soon as I clean the grout with a toothbrush. 

How in the world?

I have NO idea how I'm going to continue posting throughout this holiday weekend.  The pressure is on, thanks to NaBloPoMo.  Why couldn't they pick a month that doesn't end in 'ember? 

And I can't help but think no one will be reading blogs.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that as much as I'll want to sit and read blogs, I'll be busy cleaning pee off the floor in "Noah's bathroom."  (what can't boys aim?)  or doing some last minute Christmas shopping.  or continue to do the laundry that is apparently reproducing during the night while we sleep.

I will not be getting a manicure.  That's for sure.

So with that, I leave you with two things, the first, my other blog has been updated, with a real post and everything and it's about Thanksgiving, so, if you are bored, go here.   Or go there even if you aren't bored.  Whatever.  (I update that blog every Wednesday, by the way.)

Secondly, I know many of you read The Pioneer Woman.  Because you should.  Because she's the Greatest Blogger Ever in the history of Blogging.  If you are reading her, you more than likely feel the exact same way about her.  If you don't read her blog, Oh my God, you are missing out - go now. 

My question for you is this...how many of you either ordered her calendar or seriously considered it?  I almost did, I just don't have space for a wall calendar, but I want to because I love the pictures.  So, tell me.  Did you see the calendars?  Will you be owning one soon?

Tell me.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. 

Good day?

I see this picture and I can't seem to decide if it means I had a good day or a really crappy day folding laundry.  Seems to me, folding laundry is terribly boring and should only be done on cloudy, rainy or snowy days.  But today, it was warm!  and sunny!  And I stayed inside and folded laundry.

But on the other hand, laundry must be done and so should it feel good to have the laundry done.  After all, I have done close to eight loads of laundry in the past two days and now I'm done for at least, you know, two days.  So, that's a good thing, right?

AND, I used my new favorite detergent and new favorite fabric softener.

However, last night I did a load of laundry and I never put anything in the washer.  I even added fabric softener to, well, just a big basin of swishing water.  I even asked Brian to put the clothes from the washer to the dryer.  And there wasn't anything in the washer to move.  Which made him happy because that meant no switching loads for him.  And that just confirmed to both of us that I am losing my mind. 

Which is not good news for anybody.

And Brian did put the clothes away.  Well, most of them, he did leave the kids' socks.  Which, you know, go right next to the underwear, which were put away.  But whatever, that's okay.  It's free help.

So, the laundry is all done.  The sun was out today.  I took a nap.  And now I'm eating nachos.  I guess I'll consider it a good day.

A plan is a plan is a plan is a plan

I don't even know what that title means.

If things were supposed to go as planned today, I would be at Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago getting my radioactive thyroid scans done, right now.

I would have gone to bed earlier, not eaten or had a sip of coffee or water since midnight and I would be getting the answers I need, right now. 

I would leave the scan, go to work on Michigan Avenue, then go back for an additional scan at three o' clock today and then I would have to return again tomorrow morning, for yet, another scan.  All those scans equal a whole lot of answers.

But alas, plans change, don't they?  Sometimes you plan to only have two pieces of pizza and you end up eating seven three.  Sometimes, you intend to run into Target only to purchases a headband and end up having drained your checking account.  And sometimes, you wake up planning to tackle the laundry, but instead you end up wearing dirty socks the following day.

So, I'm not getting my scans done right now.  Instead, I'm sitting here, on my couch, blogging and drinking coffee, while Brian, who took off of work so I could get these scans done, is taking Ariel to school and Racecar has tagged along.  It's kinda peaceful, yet, kinda not.

Because I am not at Northwestern right now getting these scans done.  The hospital called on Friday to get additional medical information from me, they asked about my current prescriptions, when they realized that I am still taking thyroid.  Well, of course I am, because I may die without.  (which is totally dramatic, but having a low thyroid is awful. Enough said.)  However, in order to get a proper scan done, you must be off of all thyroid medications for FOUR WEEKS.  Yes, yes. four weeks.  So, no scan for me.

I am okay with this, I mean, I am sitting in my quiet house drinking coffee right now, and I am feeling better, but still, answers would be good.

But in the meantime, I eagerly await the sausage egg and cheese mcmuffin and heaven in a cup that Brian will be bringing me in just a few short minutes.

Then maybe I'll tackle that laundry I didn't do yesterday, after all, it's not like I can go shopping today, I went to Target last night and spent all of my money.

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

This has been a very interesting weekend.   I have been so sick and so tired but I still managed to have a great weekend.  Which just frustrates me because I tried really hard to ruin it with my shoes being stolen and with this snot lodged deep into my skull.  Heck, I even sold my double stroller and my dressing table.

We attended European Markets and ate cookies and purchased homegrown plums.  We took 2 hours naps and never cooked.  Today, we laid on the couch with our blankets and pillows, hiding from the new, crisp, fall air.  We made scrambled eggs and sprinkled them with cheese.  (at least I think I made scrambled eggs, it was pre-coffee, I could have put kleenex in the frying pan and fed it to the kids, I really can't remember.  Either way, they ate it up.  That's all that matters.)  We played a family game of bowling on Wii and cheered each other excitedly, even if not a single pin was knocked down.  We attended a festival in the area and walked a long trail, deep into nature, the sun kissing our faces, we enjoyed that last bit of summer warmth.  We listened to music in the shade and ate apples out of the bag.  We ate dinner out and shared an appetizer, went to Target and finished the day with a trip to Coldstone Creamery.

With adventures like these, it's hard to fight the darkness of a bad cold and no sleep,  but somehow with a little love and an outrageous amount of espresso, all things are possible.

But I'm no dummy.  Paradise ends tomorrow at 6:45 when I have to deal with this:

This is what happens when you do laundry and you want to take a nap RIGHT NOW.  You just toss your clean laundry off of your bed into an empty bin conveniently located in your room.

This rude pile of laundry, which is actually two clean loads, sits right next to me as I type.  I'll move it soon, either to the floor or to a basket nearby.  Which ever is easiest.

Leave me alone.  I'm sick.

and totally lazy.

This is in my dryer right now.  Safe and sound, ready to be fluffed.

Three times.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to catch up on the Emmy's and I need to put some Vaseline on my nose before it falls off.  It's all crusty and red.

I'm so hot.

Why women?

Don't we have enough on our plates?

Cleaning the house.  Bathing the kids.  Work.  Deadlines.  Bills.  Buying the groceries.  The nutritional content of everything that goes into your children's mouths.  And yours.  And maybe your husbands.  Doctor's appointments.  Dentist appointments.  Cooking dinner (or at least having it delivered at a decent hour.)  Sex.  School clothes.  Homework.  Haircuts.  Holidays.

Laundry.

and so much more.

All of this and we are supposed to teach our children to be polite, loving and respectful individuals.

All of this on our plate.

And I can accept that.  Happily.  I love the role of being a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter.

But I hate my period.  Do you hate yours?  It just so happens that Aunt Flo and her associates are visiting me RIGHT NOW and I can't help but feel anger about the fact that we woman do so much as it is, do we really have to have cramps that feel like they are going to rip your uterus apart?  Or the aching lower back pain that makes it even more uncomfortable to sit and fold laundry?

The increased fatigued?  The water weight?

The moodiness.

I mean, seriously, can't we work something out that our husbands can take on our periods for say, 3 months of the year?

Can you imagine the drama?  The heating pads? The complaining if men were to have a period?

I think I now know why women.

and it sucks.