The Sum of My Parts

I should be making dinner right now and I should be cleaning up the basement for Jackson's party and I should be supervising the craft time in the laundry room but you know what . . . I just don't feel like it. Instead I feel like writing, like expressing some coherent thoughts that will mean something. I wish that I had something profound to say because I feel like being profound. Unfortunately, profoundness doesn't come on command. Usually, bursts of inspiration come while I am doing something else. Which, incidentally, would require doing something.

Instead I just want to say that I am more than the sum of my parts. I am more than just a mom. I am more than a wife. I am more than a runner. I am more than a cleaner. I am more than a cook. I am more than a party planner. I am more than a chauffeur. I am more than a sounding board. I am more than a robot who can move from action to action accomplishing and completing. Actually, I am a complicated piece of matter that even I can't figure out completely: living, changing, growing, thinking. I am a jumble of thoughts, emotions, feelings, urges, desires, and un-desires. I am shy and confident at the same time. I am indecisive and decisive in the same moment. You don't believe me, do you. You should.

Also, I have a gut-full of sugar in the form of rice crispy treats. How's that for profound?

Pairs

I have a problem. It's a serious problem. It's a sock problem. Seriously. I have a problem with socks.

I hate folding the little buggers. Actually, I hate MATCHING and folding them. I just don't see the point of it. So much time for such little return. You know because I get so much more fulfillment out of the rest of the laundry. Who am I kidding.

But the socks . . . I just can't get around it. I can go months without folding a single sock. I'll just pile them up in a basket and expect family members to dig through them until they can find a pair. It probably isn't kind. It's kinda like how I expect my kids to get their own stinkin' water. But that is a different story.

One time, a pregnant friend of mine asked me how to make sure that the little newborn socks didn't get stuck in the washing machine. I replied, "buy all white." And I was serious. Finding errant pairs are just not a high priority for me.

After my last baby, my mother was helping me with the laundry. When she saw my sock pile, she gasped. Audibly gasped. I told her sometimes I just buy more instead of folding them. (I was only halfway kidding.)

But the really pathetic thing . . . the thing that really puts me above the rest . . . is that I brought my sock problem with me when I moved. I mean, even when cleaning out an entire house I couldn't bring myself to match socks and instead schlepped the entire 5 lbs of unfolded socks with me.

A couple of weeks after we moved in, I found my husband in the laundry room surrounded by an explosion of socks. He was going through them and folding the darn things. As if he didn't have enough to do.

So after he took care of the initial load of socks, I vowed to keep abreast of the socks and fold them right as they came out of the dryer. But the temptation is so great to just go ahead and throw them in the basket.

Anyway, now that I have revealed to you one of my darkest secrets, I feel so much better about myself. I mean, if unfolded socks is all I've got, then I can't be doing too bad.

Progress Report: Final

I know you are probably all sick of reading about my house. I know I am sick of writing about it. But it just doesn't feel right to go on writing about other things when I have left this hanging. We moved into our new house the second weekend in January and we are enjoying it immensely. Lots more space and just how we like it. There are a few things that have surprised me like how everyone says that it has that "new house" smell. I didn't realize there was a new house smell. I mean I've heard of "new car" smell . . . Also, I am surprised that I feel so comfortable here. It felt like our house from the first morning we moved in. I've also loved how welcoming and kind the neighborhood has been--which is a big deal for me.

Here's a little tour. I had to take the pictures at night because it was the night before we moved in. So, sorry, no natural lighting.


Front entry--we have added hooks to the shelf for hanging coats etc.


Looking up as you enter the front door.


Looking straight as you enter the front door. On the left is the office. On the right is the entry bench. Straight ahead is the kitchen/family room.

Pocket doors that connect the office/living room to the family room. (Announcer voice: "So easy a baby can do it." Doesn't it look like I staged that?)

Looking from office to family room fireplace.

Family room. Apparently it is good for dancing.

Looking from family room to kitchen.

View of kitchen.

Main floor powder bath.

Master bedroom.

View from master bedroom to bathroom and closets. One closet on each side of the hallway.

Master bathroom vanity. Strange girl taking pictures. Looks like I didn't take pictures of the other half of the bathroom but you can kinda see it in the mirror.

Alisa's bedroom and closet playhouse. I didn't post pictures of the other two bedrooms but they are similar.

Laundry chute door that feeds down into the laundry room. (By the way, this is the best system ever!)

Kids bathroom vanity. Oops. Forgot pictures of the toilet/shower part. It's just behind the next door.

Three kids bored out of their minds resorting to watching movies on the laptop.

The laundry room. I have added baskets above and below and this room has turned out super functional. We also put our old table in here for the kids to do their crafts.

Looking from the laundry sink to the other side of the room. We added hooks here too. The flat door leads to the garage so this a mud room for the kids. It's so nice to have a place for them to hang backpacks and kick off shoes.

Ta-da! Finally all painted.

Come over anytime and sit on my porch with me.