oh, the things we do

Several months ago I received 3 bins of baby clothes from a friend. I knew we were really having a baby girl when I did a full load of laundry today that was just pinks and reds. And that was just for sizes 0-6 months.

Genghis was extremely helpful in today's project of sorting baby clothes. He has been very interested in putting things into boxes and then taking them out again. I think he spends, over the course of a day, about 45-60 minutes taking all of his small plastic animals out of their bag and placing them all in various locations around the room - on the bookshelf, in the storage compartment of his train, on the chair. A grosser version of this ritual is when he takes all of his food out of his bowl at dinner time and stuffs it into his cup holder, then tries to balance the cup on top.

So while I was sorting clothes today, I was able to give Genghis a pile of clothes of a certain size and gender and he dutifully put them all in the tub for me. It was quite efficient, partly because he helped put the clothes away and partly because I didn't bother to do any folding because, well, it was a 17-month old who was handling the clothes.

Really, though, I've always felt a little silly folding onesies that have less fabric to them than a dishcloth.

But not as silly as I felt tonight when Abe and I were teaching Genghis how to do the actions to "Once There Was a Snowman" (hands over our heads in a snowball shape, growing taller and taller and then shrinking smaller and smaller when we melt) and I realized that we were fully facing our front room windows. From the outside, you could get a great view of us, but Genghis was totally out of sight.

wasn't i supposed to take a class on this in college?

We just got back from a family reunion in Utah, during which we had brief training on how to clean a house. As I listened to tips and tricks with toothbrushes, magic erasers, scrubbing bubbles and vinegar, I realized that I know next to nothing about cleaning. Well, thanks to my 2010 Survey of Household Chores, I know I should wash my sheets more than once a year. But really, that's about next to nothing, huh?

Then I was looking through my closet for something to wear (also a recent topic of this blog). Why is my closet full of clothes I don't wear because they don't fit right, aren't comfortable, don't match anything, or aren't right for the occasion?

And this morning I had a conversation with a friend about paying more for better quality goods. Real wood. Shoes that last. Produce that is delicious.

All of this led to me spending Genghis's afternoon nap trying to write a personal, comprehensive self-help guide to my life. A plan to live well, in budget, and with enough leisure time to enjoy it all.

I'll let you know when it's done.

In the meantime, perhaps I'll advise my children to take Home Economics because no bets they'll learn it from me.

And now follow my stream of consciousness to a funny conversation I heard at a Wendy's in nowhere Indiana where I was stopped for dinner on a long drive home. The conversation was between 4 fresh-out-of-highschoolers, although this snippet is just 2 of them. The girl was talking about starting school at the local college the next day.

Girl: I'm so nervous for tomorrow! It's like, do I bring a backpack? I had to buy tons of books for my classes. What do I do with them?

Guy: You can bring a backpack. Everyone does.

Girl: (whew!) Oh really!? My brother totally said that no one has backpacks. I didn't know what to do. And then I have this hour break in my schedule from 11 to 12. What do I do then?

Guy: Whatever you want. Study.

Girl: But where do I go? I'll be, like, all alone.

Guy: Just go wherever you want. The library?

Girl: Oh, I'm so nervous. What's your schedule like?

Guy: I have some classes in the morning?

Girl: So will you be around at 11?

Guy: Yeah.

Girl: Okay, you totally have to come find me. I'll be like the dorky one that doesn't know where to go. Please, please, please!

It made me wonder if I was like that when I started college. Most likely, yes.

cleaniness is next to godliness; or, why i wash my sheets each Christmas

I am the last of 5 children, so I had a fairly relaxed upbringing. Especially since #4 was a smelly, rambunctious boy who did a good job of wearing Mom out. By the time I was about 11 years old I was responsible for taking care of my own things: making my bed, vacuuming my room, doing my laundry. The only time I remember being directed about laundry was on Christmas Eve when my mom asked us to wash our sheets*. Imagine my surprise when, about 12 years later I noticed my friend's chore chart for her home, which included washing bed sheets every other week.

That's when I realized once a year was probably not an adequate target.

I'm now much more sensitive to the status of our sheets. If they feel just a bit matted and clammy then they are ripe for cleaning. If I can feel a little grit around my feet I know we've gone way too long.

It has made me wonder if there are other common household cleaning items that I am woefully ignorant about. What do most people consider the necessary chores for a house to feel livably clean? How often do people vacuum the main floor...under the the couch...in the closet? To explore this issue further, I've created a little survey below (if the survey looks funky through whatever format you're reading this - for example, on my blog the margins are way off, just follow this link instead).

In a follow-up post, I will run analyses and post results.






*I may mistakenly remember this as happening every year, but it may have only been once but stood out so much that I have expanded the memory.

No Mess Zone

From 7 to 11pm last night, we attempted steps 3-6 of home baby preparation. The result? We now have an office (close to) up and running in our bedroom, and the beautifully-painted baby room is now a temporary storage unit for everything we don't know what to do with.

This process feels a lot like moving into to a new house. We like to use the "No Mess Zone" strategy for projects like this. Pick a small area in the house. Take anything that doesn't belong in that area get it out of the way - not put away, just out of the way. Arrange any big furniture pieces in that area and start filling in with the essentials. Think in terms of high priority items and needs for accessibility.

Once that's done, the area becomes a "No Mess Zone". You aren't allowed to put boxes, junk, or stuff you don't know what to do with in that area. If you have something you know you want to put there, then you have to give it a place.

Piece by piece, the whole house becomes a No Mess Zone. In the meantime, when I feel stressed out by moving, I can retreat with a piece of chocolate into a No Mess Zone to regroup. I've found that, depending on how well the organizing goes, No Mess Zones actually have a shelf-life of about 6-18 months. After that, it's usually time to do a little de-junking. And sometimes life circumstances (e.g. new human being in the household) can require major No Mess Zone renovations.

Now, from the safety of my office No Mess Zone, I can finally post the remaining photos of our trip to Italy back in April/May. These photos are all from Venice. By the time we got to Venice, we'd been traveling with the whole family for 2 weeks. Everyone was tired. The pace was slow. And we didn't talk much or really do much other than walk around the streets and canals.

So a few thoughts on Venice, and then I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Venice is now a beautiful and sinking tourist town. Abe's mom described it as "Consumerism built on Decadence built on Decay." Abe described it as, "If you went to an extravagant, Venice-themed amusement park, it would feel a lot like Venice." The buildings were beautiful, but falling apart. We heard more English spoken here than anywhere else. The shop keepers were often Chinese, selling Venetian masks and glass made in China.

Still, there was a surreal and ghostly quality to the city that made it an unforgettable experience.

Summer-ography continued

We've been disc golfing 3 times since purchasing our set of discs. This is at a local course (24 holes!) about a week and a half ago.


We started off eating delicious grilled vegetable and mozzarella paninis (highly recommend).


This is part of the course. Michigan is beautiful!


This is where my discs often ended up.


Yes, that is the launching pad in the immediate background. Sometimes my throws have quite a slice to the left.


Note the mosquito-infested bog behind me. The bright orange disc is obscured by the mud.

motion for a 30-hour work week

All in favor?

I thought so.

Still, somewhere in the 8 hrs I have left after sleeping and working Mondays-Fridays, I have managed to squeeze in a well-balanced life. Despite my lack of posts in the last 2 weeks.

Monday: While everyone watched in despair and maybe horror as the snow accumulated throughout the day, I was anxiously awaiting 5:15, when I would bus home, grab the neighbors' sleds and Abe, and make our way to a local park. Between sickness and negative temperatures, I never went sledding this season.

There is a small but very steep hill close to our house that we scoped out in the fall. It did not disappoint. With the sun setting on our snowman bunny (we were coming up on Easter, after all), Abe and I stood at the top of the hill, daring each other to be the first to attempt descent. After I watched Abe careen to the bottom, I made my way to a side hill. We both ended up taking about 3 runs from the summit. We quit while we were ahead and went home to chili and hot chocolate.

Tuesday: Racquetball and weight lifting at the gym. Good stress reliever. Followed by freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and an episode from Season 2 of the original Star Trek series.

Wednesday: Dinner for a sick friend and entertaining her wonderfully fun children for an hour.

Thursday: Drawing a blank. Perhaps more Star Trek?

Friday: Burnt chicken, coloring Easter Eggs, special feature: Inner Space. Looking for a 1980s Martin Short movie co-starring Meg Ryan and directed by Steven Spielberg? I thought so.

things are looking up

And I didn't even have to start wearing make up!

This week I tried to get to bed early and wake up early enough to do my favorite morning routine of yoga, scripture study, and breakfast. I felt energized and healthy each day.

Also helping is the warmer weather. Which, of course, brings with it a chance to resume Ultimate! We had a captain's meeting on Thursday night for the spring league we play on. And on Saturday I went to my first casual pick-up game. It was glorious. I couldn't run very far without panting, but it helps that everyone else is similarly softened by winter hibernation.

Three cheers for smelly cleats, grass stains, and full layout bids!

perky polly picked a peck of potent peppers

but puddly paula poked a pack of porous potatoes



This is discouraging. I may have to start wearing make up on a regular basis. I didn't think my world would ever come to this. But several times in the last few weeks, when I went in to work, my coworkers look at me with concern and ask how I'm doing. One of them went so far as to call me "peaked" (merriam-webster's definition - being pale and wan or emaciated: sickly). This, for the girl who was recognized by her 11th grade cross-country coach for being "most enthusiastic" runner. Because what else do you call a girl who finishes the 5k in 45 minutes and smiling. Still, me and "peaked" didn't even use to share a room.

Alternative remedies to make-up to counteract my pale and sickly demeanor:
- Wear a high pony tail tied with ribbons. Think high school cheer captain.
- Dress in pastels.
- Dark sunglasses, or those creepy glasses with the open eyes painted on the lenses.
- Do vigorous push-ups in my office whenever people walk by.
- Sit with my cheeks resting on my hands, so they're bright red whenever I look up.
- Spread Vaseline on my teeth for a more dazzling smile.
- Sit on an exercise ball instead of my office chair.
- Wear sneakers.
- Close my office door.
- Walk in singing a show tune. "Oooooklahoma!"

Maybe I'll just go to bed earlier.