Housework Update (oh, and Happy Anniversary!)

I got the dishes caught up. Mostly.

Ditto laundry.

I’m working to get our over-sized, wobbly-legged, crap-collecting dining room table and chairs out the door and to the curb for scavengers to claim. My efforts this evening were thwarted by a tired and overwrought Yakko, who collapsed into tears when he realized I was getting rid of the set. Hoo boy. Pokermon suggested that I finish that project after bedtime. Sounds good. Then 10 minutes later he informed me that he didn’t intend to help me move the table out tonight.

Do you people see what I have to work with here?! >:-(

Ah well. At least he’s taking care of Yakko’s bedtime. And it’s our anniversary, so I’ll cut him some slack. 12 years — the Dirty Dozen. Go, Us! We celebrated by going to see Order of the Phoenix today. It was surprisingly enjoyable. The screenplay writer did a good job of compressing the bloated behemoth of a book, and the casting was delightful. Meanwhile, we’re both pumped about the upcoming Bourne Ultimatum.

July 29, 1995

2 Years Old

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Wakko
Happy Birthday to you!

The boy is such a nut. Last night he got down and slurped up a mouthful of water from the pets’ dish (not for the first time — he has an amazing immune system), then came proudly into the family room to show Daddy. Pokermon started cracking up at his chipmunk cheeks and smug expression, which made Wakko likewise start laughing, and…. well. What’s wrong with a little cleanup in pursuit of hilarity?

But I’m blackmailing him with this when he starts dating:

*Sulk*

Lauren and Neil have signed a contract with the Devil. It’s the only explanation.

Now for the Important Things in Life

We interrupt the Mess Chronicles for this impassioned essay:

Dear Jaimie and Hok, wherever you are,

The “jidges” last night have no soul. Maybe their own dance experience blinded them to power of that routine. As a bumbling klutz who wishes she could move with the grace and freedom of a dancer, I found the theme and its execution so poignant, so graceful, so beautifully heartbreaking and laden with sehensucht that I was a trembling puddle by the end. I dreamed that routine all night, and I’m tearing up again as I type this.

Nigel Lythgoe, do you really think Hok can’t achieve the altitude to correctly perform “Gene Kelly kicks” or whatever-they-were? Your little “we’ll never know if that was lack of technique or deliberate to the character” line was patronizing, disingenuous bullshit. Shame on you.

I do so hope they make the top 10. Neil and Lauren can go home this week, and I’ll cheerfully wave them off. Oh, the suspense!

I’m off to watch “Mr. Bojangles” again on YouTube.

Okay, Here’s the Mess

Note: Flickr is frustrating me as a blog tool, so I’m experimenting with Picasa. And in climbing the learning curve, I just inadvertently made all these photos thumbnail sized. Oh well, nobody’s reading these archives anyway!

And not all of the mess. Oh no. Just what pertains to the 3 teensy little goals I set forth earlier. Actually, we’ll start with the first goal: Laundry and Dishes. Here’s the state of my kitchen…

And here’s a niiiice, tasty close-up of what’s in the sink. Yum!

Here’s the dirty laundry basket. Doesn’t look too bad, does it?

But wait, there’s more!

Aaaaaannd, yet more still! Behold the bedroom floor:

But there’s redemption on the bed itself! This is where I fold:

The brilliant thing about folding laundry on you bed is that you have to put it away in order to sleep. Unless it’s been One of Those Days when you hurl it all back into the clean basket to start over tomorrow. Luckily, those days are seldom, or we’d all be naked by now.

Tune in tomorrow, and I’ll show you the Toy Alcove!

By Zeus, I Will Get This House Under Control!

Okay, that’s it. I’m a disorganized, undisciplined, lazy gluttonous slug. There, I said it. I’ve gained 40 pounds, my house is a never-ending disaster, and I’ve actually given Yakko permission to tell me, “Mommy, you’re spending too much time on the computer!” — but then I snap at him half the time he does it. :-p

If I try to tackle all these issues at once, I will burn out in half a day. So I’m starting with the house. We have 1800 sq feet of stuff in a 1300 sq ft house with no garage and very little closet space. I leave you to imagine.

No! Wait! You don’t have to imagine, because I’m going to take “Before” and “After” pictures as I get this effing house under control for the first time since we moved in 5 years ago.

Immediate goals:

• Get laundry and dishes caught up
• Organize/purge kids’ toys
• Organize/purge everyone’s clothes

Let’s see if I can do it in a week. Anyone want to join me? “Before” pictures are coming soon…

Pathetic

Ever gone so long without a blog entry that you can’t figure out what to say? That’s pretty much been me for the last 6 months. I’m really struggling to find a middle ground between All and Nothing. :-p

Well, I suppose I could tell you what’s on the needles these days. You get no pictures, because I have 2 feverish boys asleep on the couch, and I don’t want to wake them with Ambient Camera Noise.

My current favorite project is the Prosperous Plum Tank. My friend Cathy saw some lovely purple cotton/silk Noro on sale in our lone LYS the other month, and she bought me 5-6 hanks of it. Is she awesome, or what? I’ll pr0n it for you soon. I’m only 2-3″ into it, but the pattern is the perfect blend of mindless stockinette in the round and interesting lace and cable panels. The yarn is cool and lovely, and it’s manufactured in some sort of fine braid or weave, rather than twisted, so there’s no splitting. The last time I worked with a cotton/silk blend, the tendency of the yarn to untwist and split was maddening. This is a very pleasant knit indeed. It was my first major provisional cast-on, the first PC-O I ever did where the waste yarn actually unzipped properly, and my first picot hem. It was kind of magical folding it over and seeing all the little points appear.

Aaaaaaaannd, a sad burning Wakko just woke up, so I’ll blog more later. Maybe.