Organization is the Key

I am not an organized person-there, I said it, and isn’t that the first step in overcoming a personal shortcoming? I wish it were that easy. I read somewhere that neatness is not a hereditary trait, but I strongly disagree-I am the product of two slightly disorganized parents, sister to three disorderly siblings, and I have attracted an equally unsystematic spouse, although he will never admit it. He often quotes the phrase, “Organization is the key,” whenever I am in a panic over some misplaced item, but he never finishes this saying-he stops there and I want to know the key to what? Is it happiness, success, individual fulfillment-maybe knowing the answer to this could help spark a change?

I am not an organized person and I wish I could change all that, truly I do. Somehow I do manage to keep it together at work, often resorting the “pile” approach for student papers and paperwork-this pile needs graded, this pile can be handed back, and this pile is, well, um… it’s “miscellaneous.”

However, I am not an organized person at home, and I often refer to my husband and myself as Mr. and Mrs.“Piles” because there are more areas than just our computer desk that have a pile of papers. It’s almost as if these piles are reproducing, you know, this pile got together with this other pile and they created these piles? And these papers do not belong to either one of us-these papers come from the little people in our lives and are various graded assignments, fliers about soccer and cheerleading, information about upcoming events at the school, and artwork of various shapes and sizes. If you are the proud parents of a primary grade student you know exactly what I am referring to. Every day I empty at least 10 papers out of my son’s daily folder, so multiply that by 5 days, then 4 weeks, that’s 200 papers a month and one heck of a lot of trees biting the dust!

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not an organized person so I can’t blame my children’s school for my lack of organizational skills. Once a week I sort and purge things down to one pile by my computer, and sometimes this is an insurmountable task, but I get through it and get things ready for the new piles the next Monday. I have to be a little sneaky when it comes to the school papers though-my son is very proud of all his work and doesn’t want to part with any of it, even the drill exercises. If I let him have his way, we might be living inside one of those piles of papers, so I put these papers inside other paper piles when I am actively tossing, and as long as he doesn’t see them sitting in the trash, I am home free. (I didn’t do this once and he came running into my room waving his papers and demanding to know why I threw them out-no amount of explaining eased his hurt feelings so I still have these-somewhere in a pile…) I have also learned to be more selective when it comes to what art pieces I keep because even though I love that macaroni collage with its missing macaroni pieces, I reserve space for the bigger projects. I can do this after child number two but couldn’t with child number one…

So what started me ranting and raving about how I am not an organized person (did I say that already?)? Well I had everything else organized on Thursday-I got home early, got dinner together and we ate early, helped the kids with their homework, and I was planning on taking a long, leisurely bath (my time out for Theta mom) when my husband jumps up saying he forgot about the soccer registration (the last day to register was last night). So I helped get the shoes and coats while my husband looked in the files for our son’s birth certificate, but then the looking turned to searching, and the searching turned to panicking because the elusive birth certificate could not be found anywhere. We had my daughter’s birth certificate, we had both baptismal certificates, marriage certificate, you name any other certificate and we had it. My husband went to register anyway and the coach gave us a two-week reprieve, but it’s a $10 replacement cost if we don’t find it-which I guess is not that bad, but we know that thing's in this house somewhere. And what about my leisurely bath? My husband does not have the best searching skills (just ask his mother), so I was sure I would find that blasted piece of paper while he was gone, but I couldn’t find it either, and it took so long to put everything back in order that I had to settle for a measly shower instead. (Disorganization =1, Susan = 0, but maybe I shouldn’t keep score...)

Sigmund Freud once said,

"Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

Maybe all of this is a sign that I need to develop a better system for organizing our stuff, or maybe it isn’t. Maybe I’ll think about it tomorrow-now where did I put that store list?

Tunes for Tuesday

It's such an unexpected surprise when I go to some of your blogs and there's music playing (like at Christine's blog, Christine's Corner), or when your post centers around a forgotten song by a favorite artist (like September Mom at My Voice, My View -jump on over to her site to hear an oldy but goody by Annie Lenox ). I sit back, relax, and just breathe-remember,

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." (William Congreve)

This may be what you need to help calm your nerves in an otherwise hectic day, so because of this and the sites of these two ladies, I have decided to make this a weekly addition to my blog. Every Tuesday I will try to provide you with a little musical relaxation, and I will start things off tonight with a heartwarming number by Rascal Flatts. Close your eyes and listen to the words of My Wish, and have a good evening.

Daddy needs a vacation

I have always known what a great father my husband is, but I never realized just how much my husband does with our kids until this weekend-I never really “got it” before today. Sundays around our house center on Sunday school, grocery shopping, yard work, my husband's to do list, and finishing laundry for the week-not very exciting for my son and daughter-so after the two get tired of playing with each other, they scout out their dad. My husband is like a pied piper when it comes to kids, any kids, especially our own, and whether he is hiding out in our family room or working in the yard, our kids are usually right there with him. Now I have to admit that occasionally I may have encouraged this daddy bonding, like last weekend after my husband cut down a few dead trees in our yard. My son and daughter were starting to argue so I sent them outside to help their father carry the logs to our woodpile. I was laughing hysterically as I watched from the kitchen window-the two helpers were laughing as they bumbled along, and my husband glanced back in my direction mouthing the words, “Thanks a lot.”

This week and weekend were busier than usual with trick-or-treating and costume parties for the kids, so I decided I could escape and do a little Christmas shopping before I got groceries today. I was guaranteed time to myself because my son and daughter never want to go get groceries and sometimes those couple hours are just what I need to recharge before tackling the chores at home. Unfortunately, freedom for me means captivity for my husband, and after a couple calls to check his mental state, I could tell that he was in need of a break too, so I hurried home so that he could go to the “man’s store,” otherwise known as the hardware store. My husband helped put away the groceries and was standing, keys in hand, when my son walked into the room. You see a trip with daddy is always an exciting thing, especially to a young boy, so the trip for one quickly became a trip for two.

I could hear my son telling my husband all about a particular super hero’s powers as the two walked into the garage, and my son was still talking about super heroes when the two walked back into the house. My husband had a sort of dazed look on his face, so I intervened and had my son go find his sister. My husband was then able to flee the scene and work outside. When he came back in he headed to the family room to watch the car race, but his time alone was fleeting. I was sorting laundry in my bedroom when my son and daughter walked in looking for their father. I don’t lie because I can’t lie-I swear my right eye starts to twitch, so I focused my attention on the clothesbasket as I answered, “Well, I think he might be outside.” The two scurried off on their quest but I felt sure I bought my husband at least five more minutes of peace. A little later the noise level in the family room was noticeably louder, so I peaked in the room and saw the pied piper trying to explain who drives a certain car to my daughter while my son zoom zoomed his cars on the floor nearby-the peace ended.

With the race over my husband soon got away to help me get dinner together, but five minutes later, my husband’s entourage followed, heading into the living room to play a rousing game of war. And following dinner, my husband mentioned his intention to get in the hot tub, and soon two smaller bodies were dashing around the house in search of their bathing suits. I relaxed a bit then I took the dog out to check on this latest excursion, and I saw my husband trying to relax as the kids bounced up and down-so much for relaxation.

After we each gave a kid a bath, they were busy putting their clothes away and getting all their things ready for school. I sat down in the kitchen to finish reading the paper and my husband came in and turned on the game, but the kids like to get a snack before bed, so soon they were joining us too. But as my husband was trying to watch the historic game where Brett Favre is back in Green Bay playing for a rival team, my kids’ commenting and questioning began, and I began to write-I started laughing because I now knew I had my post for tonight.
“Who’s playing daddy?”
My husband: “Green Bay and the Vikings.”
“Who’s winning?”
My husband: “The Vikings.”
“I don’t like that green team. Purple is my favorite color.”
“Man, I think that guy might have broke his leg.”
“Hey daddy, I just watch the person with the ball.”
“Ooh, that guy is really old. He has grey hair.” My husband: “That’s Brett Favre-he’s been a football player for a long time.”
“Brett Barb?” My husband: “No, Brett Favre.”
“Why did that guy go to the side of the field?”
“Why do a lot of these guys have long hair? That blonde haired guy looks like a girl.” My husband: “I wouldn’t tell him that. He’s pretty big.”
“Did you hear that song they just played?” My husband: “The NFL song?” “Yea, that one. My friend is using that for her routine.”
“Daddy can you look up that song on Youtube and play it?” My husband: “No.”
“Why is that Brett guy hugging the other players?”
“I like that song” “Me too. It goes do do do do, da da da…” “That’s not how it goes…” My husband: "Can't you guys just watch?"

My husband and I usually retreat to our separate corners for a short time in the evening, but before I could jump on the computer, he was there looking at some hotel pictures in Waikiki. I walked up behind him and asked why he was looking at hotel pictures, and his response was that he was just dreaming. (Ahh, yes, I understand...) So my post is dedicated to my husband this evening. I know that he reads my posts because he is a born snoop and lately if we are in the middle of a “discussion” he says things like, “I better stop now or this will end up on your blog.” I truly hope he reads tonight's entry. I love you sweetheart.
(Goodnight everybody!)

Danger: Foul mood ahead. Save Yourselves!

I'm in a foul mood this evening and I wasn’t going to post because of it, but I'm hoping that getting it out this way might make me feel better. First my computer is not being very nice to me. I spent much too long trying to type up an assignment that I need for Friday, and every time I tried to save a new portion-yes, I practice “safe saving”-Word came back with a !#@*# message box indicating that an error had occurred and the program would be shutting down. And you guessed it-the recovered document didn’t include the latest additions. GROWL!

The weather

I have about had it with this frigid, rainy weather we've been having-I can’t find an umbrella and we have half a dozen or so somewhere in this house, and I am cold to the core. Plus the rain will prevent my husband from bringing a donated couch and loveseat up to school tomorrow (it's for our broadcast studio and it's been taking up residence in my garage, instead of my car, for a month until the donation was approved), and I don’t like getting into a cold car...

My health

Wait a second, hack, gag, cough, gross…I can’t seem to shake this croupy cough that has controlled me for more than a week now, and it’s really zapping my energy level. In fact, it's wore me down so much that I haven’t worked out for a week because I’m afraid the exertion will make it worse, and since I haven’t worked out I feel awful-it’s an endless cycle.

 

SLEEP!

Then there is the one problem that I know that every mother can relate to, and that's the lack of eight hours of uninterrupted, REM staging, glorious sleep. Last week my son was the reason I wasn’t enjoying a peaceful slumber-he was waking up two times a night, usually around midnight, and then happily again between the hours of 2:30 and 3:30 am. The reason? Some of it was due to nightmares, but even he can’t explain the rest. This week he's sleeping fine but I am the one waking up around 3:30 am, and the thing is that I don’t feel tired when I first wake up, but I can barely pull myself out of bed at my regular 5:30 wake up time-why did I have to pick a profession that started so darn awful early? I would be so much happier if my day started at 10 am… And the really sad part about this early waking (this will make you weep, I promise) is that since I went on my “be a healthier me” kick, I cut out all caffeinated beverages, so that wonderful jolt that a good ole cup of Joe gives is not happening from sipping water all day! Sorry Areeba-I know I promised, but I have to say this: "Man am I tired!"

And here I sit without my lunch made, my clothes out, or my pajamas on-I vowed I would go to bed earlier, but… I congratulate all the brave souls who made it to the end of my cranky post, and I wish you all a good evening.

Reflections

Reflections?

It's Sunday evening, and after viewing many of your posts, I find myself back at my site staring at a blank white screen because I am unsure of what I want to tell all of you. I don’t have any sage advice for you to follow tonight, but what I am going to offer is something you all have given me this evening-a chance to reflect on your lives. Your posts make me laugh, make me think, and best of all make me remember past events that are very dear to me, so I thought I would try to do this for you.

But I am not going to fill this post with words because I think it would lesson the impact. Instead, I am going to do what "September Mom" from My Voice My View often does-I am going to turn to a singer/songwriter to help, so listen to the words from one of my favorite soul-searching songs: Landslide by Stevie Nicks, think about your life, float back in time, and enjoy your reflection.

Wealthy Wednesday

No, I didn't come into money or anything-my meaning today is more in the lines of "wealth of information," but it certainly got your attention didn't I?

Award Winners

I am behind on bestowing the Kreative Blogger Award to the newest recipients, so I will get right to it. Now the rules for this award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who awarded you.
2. Copy and paste the logo into your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. List 7 things about yourself that readers might not know.
Now drum roll please...The blogs that are the most creative because of content, site appearance (or both), and because I turn to these blogs the most for my reading enjoyement, are:(I apologize to anyone who may have received this award already):

• September Mom from My Voice My View
  
• Flory from A Woman's Life in Stages
  
• Molly from I'm A Sleeper Baker
  
• Janie B. from Life Not Wasted or Lost
  
• The girl with the flour in her hair from Peeling an Orange With A Screwdriver
  
• Chef Eureka from Two Peas in a Pie
  
• Nancy from If Evolution Really Works
  

I also just got this loyal blogger award from Christine from Chrisitnes Home Place (Thank you Christine!) so I would like to pass this on to my faithful followers. Here's my list:
(Some of you are not seeing double, you are just being doubly honored!)

• September Mom from My Voice My View
  
• Flory from A Woman's Life in Stages
  
• Molly from I'm A Sleeper Baker
  
• Janie B. from Life Not Wasted or Lost
  
• The girl with the flour in her hair from Peeling an Orange With A Screwdriver
  
• Chef Eureka from Two Peas in a Pie
  
• Nancy from If Evolution Really Works
  
• Widge from My guide to Surviving and Enjoying life's mundane
  
• Two Toddlers and Me
  
• Theta Mom
  
• Areba from My Life as a Stay at Home Mom
  

I really appreciate all the kindness and support I have received from each and everyone of you. Take a bow ladies because you deserve it!

Movie Reviews

Now if you would like to add to your kids DVD collection for Christmas but are unsure of which of the new DVD releases you should purchase, I can point you in the right direction.

One to pass on

My kids and I missed the Monsters Vs. Aliens movie when it was in the theatres, but after renting it last weekend on DVD, I am glad we did. (If you haven’t rented from the Red Box Kiosks you should try this -rentals are only $1 through your debit or credit card, and you have until the next evening to return them. It’s a $1 a day late fee for every day late, but since most kiosks are in pretty useful locations-we have some at the grocery store and outside of Walgreen’s-we have always returned the movies on time.)

The major story line revolves around a young woman who gets hit by a large meteor on her wedding day and grows both in size and strength until she towers over just about everything. She is captured by the government and thrown in prison with other captured monsters-yes I said that right-monsters, and there are no plans for her release ever. Ok, so if you have small children who are scared of the so called “boogey man”, the monster premise will not win them over. Then add in the violence that occurs when the aliens attack to get their power rock back (and believe me, there is plenty of that including several scenes where beings are being pulverized), and you have a pretty undesirable kids movie, at least in my eyes. I watched it with my kids and there weren’t many areas where they laughed, in fact, the movie watching experience was mostly done in complete silence, except for a few groans coming from me.

One to get

Now one movie that I saw with my kids this summer is on DVD as well, and this one is worth a purchase. We did make the mistake of seeing the 3D version and I almost passed out when I found out how much the tickets were- my hands were shaking as I handed the money over to the woman at the ticket counter! The fact is the 3D effects really didn’t add that much to the movie, and the only thing we got out of watching it was some additional 3D glasses. (The theatre wanted us to recycle the glasses on our way out, but we paid for those things with the extra cost of the tickets, so I was planning on taking with me-we have a couple 3D movies at home. However, I almost had to drop the glasses in the recycling box after hearing- “Mom, MOM don’t walk away. The sign says we should recycle our glasses. Mom?” I was almost trotting down the ramp like a common thief, but I whispered to her when she got up that we were recycling them at home…)

Anyway, the story starts off by giving a little background information about the old man and his relationship with his wife. Without giving the major points of the plot away I will just say that the man then sets sail for a rather remote country in South America with an unexpected stow away, and the way he makes the trip and what happens when he gets there are far from normal, but the story is both delightful and heartwarming all the same. The kids really enjoyed this movie, as did I, so it will definitely be on our Christmas video lists this year. (Photos © Disney/Pixar)

A movie for mom

I don’t purchase many movies with the exception of anything from a Jane Austen novel-this would include the Bridget Jones movies since they were based off of Pride and Prejudice. But, I might start making some exceptions, and one movie I might add would be Management. I rented this last weekend too mainly because I enjoy movies with Jennifer Aniston, but the performer I enjoyed the most was her co-star, Steve Zahn. I have seen him in bit parts such as the sci-fi geek in Daddy Daycare, but he stole the movie from Aniston because I liked his character more. The tale is about Zhan’s characters lack of a life really-he is the night manager of his parents’ hotel, and that’s how he meets Aniston’s character. The story continues with his “at no cost” pursuit of her halfway across the country and many funny things happen as a result, and yes, there are tears, so if you like rooting for the underdog you will enjoy this avant-garde love story.

I hope you enjoyed your wealth of entertainment information this evening, and I hope you are richly rewarded tomorrow with beautiful weather and a treasure chest full of happy memories! Ok, I will stop with the money comparisons and just wish you all a Goodnight.

Life is funny...

These past few days remind me of a famous quote by John Lennon, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” and here’s why. I was so excited that I had Friday off but the kids still had school and hubby had to work-ok, that doesn’t sound too good, so how about “I was looking forward to some well deserved down time on Friday since I didn’t have to work”-there, that sounds better.

Friday

I had the whole day planned-I was going to enjoy a big breakfast after putting the kids on the bus-something of a real luxury around here for me. I am usually walking around the house, cereal bowl in hand, as I try to rouse my daughter from her dreamlike state, and let’s just say that it takes more than one trip to her room before I can confidently declare to my husband that she is “up!” On this day, we were all able to sleep in later, so there wasn’t the usual morning rush or arguments about how  my daughter had decided, overnight, that what she had planned on wearing now just wouldn’t do, at least it was this way until my husband left…
I leave the house by 6:45 every morning so it is my husband who ushers the kids out the door- I was clueless about any last minute drama that happens before the bus arrives until Friday. The one good thing that happens in the morning is that the bus stops at the bottom of our driveway, but this can be a very bad thing as well. Hubby told me to start outside around 8, and I hesitated about this at first because the bus comes at 8:15-but hubby knows more about this than me, so I herded the kids into the damp garage (it was raining) to wait.

Friday Problem #1

It was about this time that my daughter announces that she didn’t get her reading time in the night before. so back in the house we went and I grabbed the first book I saw-one that my son read to his first grade class, so more than a little elementary for her I know, but I was nervous about the bus. My son then got mad because he already read the book and wanted her to read something else, but I pulled rank on him with this one, and he started pacing the garage in disgust. My daughter was also complaining about reading a “baby book,” but since I outranked her too, she reluctantly started reading.

Friday Problem #2

Now as I said earlier, it was raining, and if you have a son you should know by now that water, especially the kind from murky brown mud puddles, is an instant attraction. Since I was listening intently to the story, I did not see my son venture out until my daughter, who was not enjoying the story as intently as I, tattled on her brother, oblivious to us and splish-splashing away. The puddles weren’t that deep (thankfully!), because it was almost 8:20 and I was certain we didn’t have time for a change of both shoes and socks. “Get out of the rain,” I shouted with more than a little agitation in my voice. “I’m watching for the bus,” he snapped-quick response I had to admit. “You don’t have to be in the rain to see the bus, besides,” I retorted, “I’m pretty sure we will be able to hear it coming. Get in here NOW !”

Wait a second, it was 8: 20, so where was that darn bus? I knew we hadn’t missed it because we were out way to early for that, and besides, I could see the neighbor boy waiting down the road.

And just as the thought entered my mind, I heard the familiar lumbering sound of that beautiful yellow machine, but before I could get my hug and kiss from my son, he was already halfway down the driveway, and my once sluggish daughter was leading the way! I called and waved, but she never looked back, even when she got in her seat! So like a dumb ____ (I will let you fill in the blank) I started jumping up and down waving, convinced that neither saw me-yea right. At least I got a stare and half a wave from my son, but nothing from my daughter. Wait till you get off the bus, I thought slyly. I am going to be overly affectionate in my welcome home greeting-insert evil laugh here!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Problems, oh my!

Those few moments seemed to set the mood for the entire rest of my wonderfully planned weekend. My Friday morning breakfast-I burnt my toast and overflowed my Cream of Wheat in the microwave. My Friday morning workout-I decided to jump on the computer really quick (uh huh!) and then because I hadn’t slept too well despite sleeping in, I decided a mid-morning nap (right...) would be ok, but I slept for two glorious hours, and by then it was lunch time, so I had to eat, and you know I can’t work out on a full stomach...I dilly-dallied around the house for another hour before going, but it was going to be a quick work out because I had to be back when the kids got off the bus…(Insert sigh here.  Why do I make things so hard?)

By Friday night I was coughing, but I didn’t have a cold so my guess is that I caught something from the gym that day. (In my haste I didn’t wipe down the leg curl bench-I just threw my sweatshirt on it but then put that same sweatshirt back over my head when I left-EWW!! With all the H1N1 stuff I had been adamant with the kids about germs, so I still can’t believe I actually “swabbed the bench” with my sweatshirt then wore the germ filled thing home!

Saturday I was still coghing but I had my plan-I was supposed to take my son to get a new winter jacket and new pajamas while my daughter was at practice, and then I was going to get my hair done, something my son was not at all happy about, but the thought of new Superman pajamas dispelled some of his pain. I was so close to getting in that chair for my hair appointment when my cell phone rang-my daughter was feeling sick to her stomach. By the time I got her home, she was feeling much better and I was feeling much worse.

For the next nine hours, I went from casually lying on the couch to feeling like I was dying in my bed, and the only human contact I got was around 4:30p.m when my husband casually asked if I was going to eat any dinner. (Translation: Do you feel well enough to cook? Answer: No freak'n way!)

Aren't you finished yet?

Not quite. I felt better by Saturday night, but Sunday morning I awoke to severe stomach cramps again-now what? I shouldn’t have asked-mother nature was kind enough to bestow a gift on me this morning-so I was once again on the couch feeling like crap. I felt better by Sunday afternoon, but I still wanted a haircut, so I convinced my reluctant husband to take me for a rescheduled hair appointment (I never had this young lady before).

Let’s just say that when I emerged, fully coiffed, my son was laughing, my daughter was trying hard not to, and my saintly husband said, “That’s different.” I found out as I was sitting in the chair, that this young lady had just graduated from beauty school the week before-something I am now coming to grips with because I looked a lot like her when I left.



I am sitting here having just tamed my wild hair and once again I am reminded that no matter how much you plan, life might have something else in store for you, and these are the times that my family and I will laugh about (maybe not the illness thing) in the years to come.  Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying, “Were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults in the first,” but I am not sure I would rewrite a single thing in mine… Goodnight everyone.