Housework Help!

Now I need your help. We have almost 1,000 sq. ft of dark hardwood flooring. I have a great vacuum that has carpet and hard floor settings that I am happy with. I've been using Pledge squirt and mop stuff that is fantastic. (Before that I was using a spray and mop solution from the Gold Canyon Candle company that I also loved.) The mop that I use is adequate.

My problem? I need a 'floor duster.' You know, the kind that is kinda fluffy and can go under the furniture, and has a washable, extra soft mop end? The one that I had broke today. Actually, it was the second one to break. TWO have broken. Does anyone have a suggestion of one that maybe won't break? I would actually prefer one that does not have multiple pieces because they always break.

This is silly, I know, but if I can't ask my tribe then who can I ask?

Just the Mom

There are times in a mother's life that are wonderful. Your kids are obedient and helpful, your husband is appreciative and attentive. This has not been one of those stretches.

My boys are busy. Football and Marching Band have pretty brutal schedules. We have been going strong since the end of July. They are both honors students and have difficult classes. I have given a lot of grace on chores and responsibilities around the house. I'm just not sure that anyone around here is appreciating the load that I have taken on. I'm not sure that grace has been the right path. Maybe a harder line would have been better? HD isn't any better right now. He's busy with work and hasn't been able to help reinforce our rules or take care of many of his normal chores around the house.

I have my own regular work load of laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning, taxi driver, calendar keeper, CFO. It may sound trivial. but taking on the few things that I have this fall is about to break me. I know I sound dramatic but I'm tired. Add in fluctuating hormones (them and me!,) and the upcoming holidays and you have a pretty volatile cocktail.

I'm trying to do my best. Getting things done. Staying busy. Keeping my mouth shut. I know that this is just a season. Both of the boys are adjusting to new schools and new schedules. My husband's job goes in cycles of busyness and will be back to a regular work load again soon. I know these things are temporary.

Sometimes I just get tired of being the mom.

OK, OK, Maybe I Don't Hate August

I just really, really dislike how busy I am every August. Coming off the relaxing months of June and July, can you really blame me for over reacting? Here are just a few things that I'm busy with this month:

• Kids have school.
• School means homework.
• Football practice 5 days a week.
• Football scrimmages on the weekends.
• Music lessons 2 days a week.
• Keeping up with insurance paperwork.
• Dejunking the downstairs of the house. (Organizing not included.)
• Wedding details.
• The regular stuff: laundry, cooking. Why do my family members insist on clean clothes and eating every.single.day?
• Gardening: including planting flowers and watering them daily. Oh. And the grass too. 
• Writing checks to the school for PE clothes, yearbooks, and school pictures.

Did I mention that HD has been working crazy hours and has, quite literally, only been home to sleep? So I'm doing all of this largely alone right now.

I know I'm being a drama queen about all of this. I know that all (most!) of you are going through the same stuff. I just need a little sympathy so I know that I'm not the only one feeling this way!

Why I Hate August

• Football practice is every day of the week.
• School starts.
• Everything requires a check.
• It's hot.
• Putting the calendar together.
• I don't get to see my friends because of the busy.
• Helping the kid lose weight for football.
• Cranky teenagers because of lack of sleep.
• Getting back to a bed time.
• Hardly seeing HD because of kids going in opposite directions.
• Having to remind a certain child that, Yes, a shower is necessary.
• I can't take a nap every day. 
• I have to make myself observe a bed time.
• Saturdays spent hanging around the house are a memory.
• Catching up on paperwork that I let slide over the summer.
• There are still 4-6 weeks of potential 100+ degree weather.

Roses, Vegas, and Life

 My roses are in full bloom. These are my favorite so far this year. The colors are so vibrant and the 2 that I cut are making my kitchen smell divine.

 Last weekend Headless Dad and I were here. At the top of the Rio having dinner with friends at the VooDoo Steakhouse. The food was great, (I had the best sea bass I've ever tasted,) the company better, and this view? Out of this world. The Voodoo is also the rooftop nightclub with amazing views of the strip as well as the mountains. See the railing? Yeah, there was no way I was getting any closer. The wind was howling that night- knocking over empty glassware that was left behind!

 Sunday afternoon we decided to relax by the pool with boat drinks. Frozen Pina Colada for me!

 If you ever need a place to eat in Vegas you must try Bacio's in the Tropicana. It was beyond spectacular.  Above is my dinner: veal scallopini with artichokes and proscuitto. Headless Dad loved his dinner too. And our apps and salads and the bread and the dessert...... I would go back to Vegas just to go back to this restaurant. No lie.

Aaaaahhhhh yes. Back to reality. This is only part of the ironing that I did today. I also did 5 loads of laundry and cleaned my kitchen.

Where is my cocktail waitress? Where is the valet?

A Body in Motion

No, this is not about exercise. Although it probably should be.

Recently, in a closed group on Facebook we were having a discussion about things we were trying to do differently this year, largely focusing on productivity.

A body in motion stays in motion.

 It's true. In science and in day to day life. And it proves itself over and over again.

Over break we were able to go to Colorado for Christmas. (It's the first time my boys have seen it snow, but that is a story for another day.) While there I helped my mom with lots of holiday prep, as you can imagine. I didn't have the option of sitting: things had to get done. This may seem like a "duh" statement to you, but it was somewhat of a revelation to me. 

When I got up, got dressed, ate, and started my day I got a lot of sh stuff done.

 There was even time to check Facebook, text with friends, take some pictures, and visit with family. Who knew?

Actually, I know this. Have known for years but knowing somehow doesn't make doing it on a consistent basis any easier.  I've always lived on the premise that "tomorrow is another day" and "If it didn't get done today, there's always tomorrow." Which is fine on the surface but it gives us permission to procrastinate. To watch that tv show or follow the breadcrumbs around the internet. Ahem.

My solution: Get up each day and start it like I always have: coffee and get the kids to school. (Change is hard y'all.) HOWEVER. Then, rather than grab the laptop and sink in, I am (trying to) get dressed, eat, and do SOMETHING. Start that load of laundry. Wipe down the bathrooms. Clean off my perpetually cluttered counter. Grocery shop. Something usually leads to something else and before I know it I've spent at least 50% of the time that the kids are out of the house getting something productive done.

A body in motion stays in motion.

It's easy and so hard at the same time, but it's working.

Chores

I'm always curious to hear what chores people assign to their kids and at what ages. I sometimes feel like my kids have it easy, with way too much free time. Which, of course translates into screen time, AHEM. My boys are good boys. They are both Honor Roll students, but I often wonder what else that they should be doing/learning so that they won't have to take me to college with them.

So far, this is what my 10 and 12 year old sons are either fully or partially responsible for:

• taking out trash and recyclables daily, and weekly out to the street
• putting away own clean clothes, matching socks, folding and putting away towels and other linens
• picking up their own messes around the house
• emptying the dishwasher
• setting/clearing the table at dinner time
• occasionally helping with dinner dishes
• picking up own room (I enforce this less often than I should)
• wiping bathroom counters and sinks
• helping in the garden when needed
• occasionally: laundry, cooking, other tasks.

What else do you have your kids do? Do you think my kids have it easy?  Is there something that I'm missing that they really should be doing?
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Little Things

I'm totally stealing this idea from Diana. My muse for today!

1) I love when my kids, all 3 of them, are laughing, playing and generally getting along well. It usually goes well when the sister is around but it's nice to hear it anyway. Soon she'll be gone, presently just for the semester but the larger GONE looms large, and I'm trying to notice the good times rather than always hearing the bickering.

2) Winter finally arrived in Southern California today. It was mostly cloudy, quite cool, and even sprinkled at my house this evening. Granted, I'm totally jealous of all of you that got snow this week but I'll take what I can get.

3) My house is mostly clean and Christmas-free. Only the tree needs to go, but it's actually down and ready to go into it's bag and spot in the garage. Once it is, and I finish cleaning the living room I'll take a picture of the finished product. It's been a very, very long time since I had a normal living room that wasn't a storage area for lots of crap.

4) Speaking of my living room, I can't wait to read. I have great wing chairs in there that are perfect for curling up with a good book, or Kindle!, and I'm part of a book club. We're starting a new book this week so my reward for finishing the room is getting to read. Yay! Interesting enough, the selection this month isn't what I'd normally read but I'm still excited.

5) I've been having the strangest dreams lately. Many of them are starring bloggers. And they are lasting all night. I wake up scratching my head, but happy at the fact that I've spent all night with some of the best people on the internet.

6) Did I mention that my house is clean? I'm loving it!

7) The Broncos. (You didn't think I could just let it go, did you?) The loss on Saturday was painful, I'll admit. I do want to say, however, that no one in America thought that the Broncos have a .500 season, much less go to the playoffs or win their first playoff game. I think that we have a lot to look forward to next season, and am very proud to be a fan. And, yes, I'm a Believer.

Ok, Diana only did 5, so I guess at 7 I'm done. Have a good week everyone!
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Why #1

Why can I NOT keep my kitchen clean? Yes, I realize that it gets used at least 3 times a day. Holy cow, this room is a disaster area. Crumbs everywhere, a perpetual sink of clean dishes, not to mention the parade of dirty ones that fill the other side of the sink and trail off to the right.

To remedy this I have: started making the boys empty the dishwasher more regularly, begun to teach them where the handwashed stuff goes. Next: try to sweep daily, do better at throwing things away so I don't have as many piles on my counter. (I am a serial pile-maker.)

What do you to to keep the kitchen under control? I need a serious intervention!
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Slap Your Mama Mac and Cheese

Not kidding.

After I paid tuition today I was looking for a recipe that I could make out of what I had on hand. I quickly noticed that I had all of the makings for Macaroni and Cheese. We took a ham to a memorial service this weekend and have a ton of ham leftover so I could use that too. What's a girl to do? I went to Pinterest! (I don't have an account but you don't really have to to just search. You only need it to pin stuff to your own board.) Pinterest is my new Google for recipes. Honest to Pete, I was searching and came up with 3 different recipes! I used them all, kinda, to make the following:

AMAZING Mac and Cheese, With Ham and Broccoli

{This is where a really mediocre photo was supposed to go but somehow it disappeared off of my camera. Whoops!}

3 cups elbow macaroni

2 T. butter
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 C. diced white onion
1 large shallot, diced
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (1 clove)
3 T. flour
1/2 C. skim milk
1/2 C. half and half
1 1/4 C chicken broth
4-6 oz. Each, shredded: medium cheddar, Jarlsberg, Velveeta, Romano*
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. Coleman's Mustard, prepared

1 C (heaping) diced ham
3 C cooked broccoli, chopped into small bites

Cook macaroni according to package directions, less one minute. Return to pot and add ham and broccoli

While macaroni is cooking, heat butter and oil in a medium to large saucepan. Saute onions, shallots and garlic until they just start to get clear. Add flour and stir until thick. Add milk, half and half, and chicken broth. Stir constantly until roux blends with liquid. Add cheeses by the handful, stirring constantly, until all cheese is melted and smooth. Add paprika and mustard, mix well.

Add cheese mix to macaroni, ham, and broccoli, mix well and let sit for a few minutes to let sauce set. Pour into 9x13 (or larger) pyrex, top with a few more shreds of cheese and 3/4 C Italian Panko bread crumbs. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes, until heated through.

I would suggest getting all of the ingredients together beforehand, since this comes together really fast at the end!


*These are the cheeses that I happened to have on hand. They worked really, really well together, if you can believe it. I will use a little more cheddar next time but I may never leave out the Jarlsberg ever again, it was so tasty. It gave it a tangy kick that was really great with the ham! Similar to one of the inspiration recipes, I used the Velveeta for the creaminess and it was perfect for that, (no Velveeta taste for my husband who doesn't really like it.)

Thank you to Mindinka Moments, Homemade by Holman, and SkinnyTaste for the inspiration for this yummy recipe!

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Progress

This is what I woke up to this morning. The blue was much blue-er than it looks in this picture but still, really pretty. Just thought I'd share even though it doesn't have anything to do with my post. You're welcome!

This is what happens:
 

when I'm working on this:

Don't forget to compare my progress to this picture!

Hey Stimey! How's your progress?
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Motivation

I'm trying something new today. Maybe putting this out there in public will help me get motivated.

This is a photo, straight out of my camera, of my living room. You might remember it looking like it did in this post, almost a year ago after our flood. No, there is not much change, thankyouverymuch.

My goal over the next couple of weeks is to get this room back in shape. Christmas is in about 10 weeks, (omgomgomg) and I REFUSE to have my house look like this when I'm trying to decorate for Christmas. Plus, after the crappy holiday season we had last year when my kids said that it didn't feel like Christmas, I'm determined to make it feel like Christmas this year.

The only part of this room that has been deep cleaned since that damn flood is the piano. I kinda had to since my #1 started taking piano lessons in June. Yes, there have been things that have been emptied out, but the rest of the room has not been cleaned. So. Here is a partial list of what has to be done:

• transfer all of the files (in the middle of the floor) to the new filing cabinet
• take the old computer to the e-recycling center (along with the full box that is in the garage)
• find a home for the 2 boxes of board games, etc., that are in front of the pink chair on the left
• wash and find a home for the extra blankets in the chair next to the bookcase
• remove all books, etc., from bookcase and deep dust and clean all
• vacuum, including the furniture
• clean the inside of the windows and sills
• find a home for all of the framed stuff that is slid in between the other furniture
• get rid of all of the old National Geographic magazines
• put my grandmother's quilt back on display behind the piano on the railing
• rearrange furniture so we can put up the Christmas tree

See, I think it would be easy to do if I didn't have laundry, carpool, football, making meals, you know, a FAMILY TO TAKE CARE OF. 5 minutes here and there haven't made much progress so far but now you're all in on this. If you see me on fb, shoo me away. Email me to ask about progress. Text me and tell me to get my a@@ in gear. See? We're in this together.

I'll post pics every day or so to show you what I've gotten done. Hopefully I won't embarrass myself!

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Good Start, It's the Finish that Needed a Little Help

Today I planted flowers and cleaned the kitchen... all before 9:30 am.

Then I helped the boys to clean up a mess on the back patio before the gardeners got here. Showered. Went to Costco.

[Note to self: Do Not take the entire family to Costco ever again. I totally could have gotten out of there for HALF the cost.]

...and after that? I kinda putzed out. HD went to another store for the few things that we couldn't buy at Costco. I helped him fix dinner while sipping my wine.

I made the kids do the dishes.

There's always tomorrow.

Getting Busy

I'm keeping myself accountable, people.

Here's what I got done today:

• ALL of the ironing, except what was washed today.
• ALL of the clothes washed and folded, about 6 loads.
• swept and mopped: kitchen and dining rooms.
• cleaned the kitchen and ran/emptied the dishwasher.

I've been on my feet all day and I'm pooped, but I did it.

Check in all weekend because come hell or high water I'm going to work like this ALL weekend long. I'm not going to be paralyzed anymore.

Paralyzed

It happens several times a year. I've got a sh*t-ton of things to do and a perceived little time in which to get them done. Currently on the To-Do list:

• Clean the kid's bedrooms, rearrange furniture, hang pictures, etc.
• Deep clean the living room. And I mean deep, since it hasn't been done since the flood. (I know. I did say paralyzed, though, didn't I?) The dust is EPIC.
• Clean and prep my room for painting. The (second to) last frontier in Operation Eradicate The Pink.
• Finish planting: the pots for the front of the house, the pots on our back patio, the front flower bed, the side "experiment" flower bed, the flower bed in the center of our front yard. (This doesn't count the other areas that need to be completely dug up and re-landscaped.)
• Get Headless Girl packed for her 6 week mission trip to Africa. (I didn't mention that? I will. I deserves a whole post on it's own.)
• Get ready for my own trip to Las Vegas next weekend.

There's probably more but my head just exploded.

But did you notice? Up there? I said perceived.

I am a housewife. A stay-at-home-mom. Yes, I have lots of responsibilities, but I also have a ton of freedom. Don't want to do the laundry today? No problem! It will still be there tomorrow. Would rather spend an hour surfing blogs? Hey, the dishes just phoned and they said they'll wait for you. I, literally, have all day to choose how, what, and in what order I get things done. There in lies the problem: there is so much to do, so many things calling my name, (yes, including the husband and children!,) that I have a difficult time doing ANYTHING,  and I trick myself into a panic attack just thinking about all that I need to be doing. Paralyzing.

And utterly ridiculous. For the last 3 or 4 months I have been watching my husband bust his ass at work. There have been a few changes, several new projects, and more than a few new responsibilities, and here I sit thinking I'm 'paralyzed'. And that is just wrong. And selfish.

So today begins what (I hope,) will be the start of a new chapter for me. It's the last day of school for the kids, so today will be all about fun for them, but for me? I'll be starting. I'll prioritize and just START.

To hell with Paralyzed. I'm better than that and my family deserves more.

Go-To Meals: Chicken Divan

We all have them: the go-to meals that we love, that are easy, and that our kids will actually eat! This is one of my favorites from my childhood. My mom made it a lot, which was fine with me because the left-overs are terrific.

Chicken Divan

Broccoli (2 10 oz packages, frozen, or fresh), cooked. (I use my steamer and slightly under cook it.)
3-4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked

Sauce: Combine:

2 cans cream of chicken soup ( I use the low fat/low sodium variety.)
1 cup mayo (Again, I use lite mayo.)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder

Directions:
Cook the chicken. (I freeze the broth in ice cube trays to use in other recipes later.)

Cook the broccoli. (In the photo I used a large bag of frozen florets, but typically I get fresh and use most of the stems, too.)

While the chicken and broccoli are cooking, mix up the sauce.

Slice or chunk the chicken and add it to the sauce.

Alternately, you can just layer the ingredients in a large baking pan. Mine is a 9x13 pyrex. Broccoli, chicken, sauce. Spread the sauce around to cover the broccoli.

Top with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and bread crumb mixture. (1/2 cup soft bread crumbs mixed with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.)

Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with white rice.

Enjoy!!

Double-Super-Secret Mother's Day

I love the concept of Mother's Day. I really do, but does any of us really and truly get all of the things that we want on that Sunday?

OK, the macaroni necklaces are awesome (not kidding,) but most moms still end up cooking/cleaning/being the disciplinarian/changing a diaper or two. And what about all of you single moms out there? You deserve Double-Super-Secret Mother's Day even more.

During my first year of blogging I remember seeing this on someone's blog. A day that we moms really took care of ourselves...especially if you still have very young children or are single. Here are the rules:

• You can't do this on actual Mother's Day because usually your kids will want to do things for you. That's OK. Let it happen and enjoy it. OH! And don't get disappointed when you still have to change a diaper. That's what DSSMD is for.
• Choose a day either during the week when the kids are in school or on a weekend that you can ship the kids to a friend or family member. Just tell them that you have errands to run. (It's kinda true.) Take a vacation day if you work and leave the kids in daycare.
• Plan your day alone with your favorite book or magazine as your only pal. Or schedule it with a truly great friend. Whatever is going to make you relax!
• Treat yourself to a mani/pedi/facial/massage. Or go out to lunch. Or to a chick flick. Or laying on a blanket in the park reading that book. Or shopping (window, or the more expensive variety, whatever is in your budget.) The key here is to do one, or two, or a dozen things that you usually don't/can't/won't do with your kids in tow.
• Try to preplan all of the days details so you'll be totally free. Does that mean your kids might have McDonalds for dinner that night? Maybe, but easy and relaxed (For YOU) is the goal of the day. 
• THE KEY HERE IS THAT NO ONE BUT YOU KNOWS THAT IT IS DSSMD. 

I haven't scheduled my own day yet becuase it totally snuck up on me, but rest assured that I will carve out ONE day between now and the end of the month. I'm totally taking this day because the kids will be out of school in a couple of weeks and then I won't get the chance again until August. A mental health day for me, if you will.

So schedule it and follow through. You deserve it, Mom!


Image courtesy of ClassyMommy.com

Housewife Porn

(Can't wait for the Google hits on this one. Heh.)

Is there nothing more exciting than brand new appliances? Especially when I've spent the last 6 months wondering if my washer would let loose again, and the last 2 months taking the laundry to the laundromat to dry. I've earned these suckers.

But don't be jealous. Like Amy said on Fa*ebook, it just means more work for me.

At least I'll get to do it all in my own home!

The Best Laid Plans

You know how when you have a free Monday after a kinda busy weekend and so you plan a bunch of stuff to do? Your mental to do list is a mile long but you're prioritizing! And planning to get the worst of the  projects out of the way first so you can feel accomplished? So you start a load of laundry and get on the phone since that is your most dreaded task, checking off phone calls and starting to feel so great about your progress. Then the sh** hits the fan, almost literally, with one child telling you he got sick again. So you hang up the first load of laundry since your dryer died last week and say to yourself "It's OK! I can get all of these phone calls done and move on to other cleaning!" But then you realize that you have to cancel an afternoon appointment because of the sick kid and cancel the dinner that you've been planning to cook because it's too rich for the sick kid and you can't really get to the grocery store anyway with a cranky sick kid. Then you realize that you've had enough of the television and video games, (enough to last a lifetime, really,) and have a screen-time ban and send the kids to their rooms so you can get chicken soup started. There is so much going on while you're trying to cook that you don't realize until hours later that you've forgotten to put the carrots in the soup and the homemade biscuits you thought you had perfected were much more sticky than they should be, and damn if you weren't looking forward to those biscuits. When your husband walks in he helps you to realize that one boy is still staring at the ceiling of his room so you end his no-screen exile to realize that the other finally took a nap and slept for 2 1/2 hours. How is he going to sleep tonight?! Then your husband has an impromptu business meeting exactly when you are putting dinner on the table and getting the unruined biscuits out of the oven and by the time he gets to sit down and eat the soup is cold and the biscuits need to be reheated and he decides to take this minute to tell you that he doesn't like tomatoes in the soup anyway. And it's raining again and since I didn't leave the house all day I don't have shoes on and ask him to take out the trash and somehow it's 3 hours later and the trash is still in the middle of the kitchen.

So, yeah, that was my day. How was yours?

Is There a Recipe for That?

Lately we've been so busy that I've hardly had a chance to breathe. Running from one thing to another, to meeting with contractors, to the dentist, to to to. It's been a month this week and it's not really over yet. I realized that I had not gone to the grocery store since October 31.

Two full weeks of only hitting the store when we were out of bread or milk. (Or, realistically, coffee and cream. Priorities, people.) Yep. Mom of the year, with a side of Nutritionist of the year. Luckily, I had a back log in the freezer and some of those days we've been able to eat well anyway. The other days? Yeah, I totally have blown the "fast food once a month" rule that I had. What? There are not many other options when you're staying in a hotel and can't eat until after football practice is over at 8.

Anyway.

Today, I had e.x.a.c.t.l.y. one hour to run to the store. With my lists for several stores a mile long for each one, I had to decide which store to go to. I figured that the biggest bang for my buck would be Target since they have a decent food section. And I could get the blush that I ran out of 3 weeks ago. Ahem.

Headless Dad had stopped by the house for lunch and was on his way out when I was getting ready to leave for the store.

Me: Is there anything you want for dinner or just to have around?

HD: Food.

Me: Duh. Anything specific?

HD: Something good.

Me: ????

Me: OK, what would you like for dinner?

HD: I Don't Know

So I have a question for you. Do you have a recipe for I Don't Know? because every time I'm going to the store every one in this household asks for it and I can't seem to come up with a recipe for it and since it's in such high demand I thought I would ask you, my wonderful internet pals, if you can point me in the right direction.

Can you help a girl out?