Perfecting Imperfection

Well - in about 2 hours I will be surrounded by 18 3-year-olds in Halloween costumes - 5 of their mothers and 2 aids to help with Halloween party 1 of 2. UGH! Then at 12:00 the second group will come in and they will start setting up for Halloween part 2 of 2. Which is once again 18 3-year-olds - 5 of their mothers and 2 aids. Please pray for my sanity. I heard Christmas is almost worst than this...I'm dreading it.

We are getting in the Halloween spirit around here, though. Here's some pics of pumpkin carving night.

The food was yummy. Penn State won! We drank this yummy warm apple cider stuff that my friend brought over all night. She had it in her crock pot to keep it warm. It was Savannah Cinnamon Mix, Apple Cider and Merlot wine. Mmmm... The kids were pretty well behaved. I thought everything was going great.

Then I got a phone call at 1:30ish. My friends got into a fight on the way home and one thing lead to another and my friend's hubby ended up walking out of the house. He'd had too much to drink (he and DH were drinking beer) and my friend wouldn't give him the key s to drive. Smart girl! :) So, he was wondering around the streets. My DH called and he didn't answer the phone so he got in the car to go look for him...long story short - DH was pissed off at him, his wife was pissed off at him, I was pissed off at him for pissing off my DH. I'll be honest with you, every time I've heard about or seen the two of them fight I thought it was mostly my friend's fault. She can be a bit much at times...but I've NEVER seen this side of her husband. It makes me realize that I shouldn't judge people when I don't know the whole story.

All that being said, I'm tired of being surrounded by dysfunctional relationships. I seriously feel like DH and I are the only ones not teetering on the brink of divorce. We are the only ones I know who have not threatened each other with it - EVER. I don't know how others can so quickly say, "Keep that up and I'm getting a divorce." Or as my friend said to her DH last year, "All I want for Christmas is a divorce." Did she really mean it? I don't think so. So why say it? Okay...that's my rant for today. My head hurts a little and I'm not feeling 100% today. Definately feeling the affects of not going to bed before 3 am the last two nights...and the little bit of wine I drank last night. Argh.

So - we are having some friends over tonight that we haven't seen in a while. I'm making dinner and need to go grocery shopping. I found a recipe on Flylady that requires me to only buy ketchup and an onion! How cool is that!?! Here it is:

Florentine Chicken This recipe is amazingly easy! Almost everyone has the ingredients on hand! Tastes like you slaved for hours and yet only takes a few minutes!! Enjoy!

8 pieces of Chicken
1 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup finely chopped onion
1/4 Cup Vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 Cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Cup water
4 Cloves Garlic minced

Brown the chicken pieces in a frying pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While chicken is browning mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place browned chicken in a backing dish and pour sauce over chicken. Bake for one hour.

I serve this with garlic mashed potatoes and stir fried broccoli. YUM!

This recipe is from Kelly!!

I'm also making Green Bean Casserole and maybe some kind of potatoes. Should work out well.

I'm also in the market for a new bathmat - the one we have is pretty gross. I can't seem to keep them from getting moldy. Just like my shower curtains...any ideas? I know that I should probably take it out of the tub every time someone takes a shower or bath. I just don't have anywhere for it to dry - and with the kids it's tough to do anything when I get them out of the tub. Guess I'll have to give it another shot. :)

Wish me luck tonight and GO PENN STATE! My hubby really needs them to win to help his mood. He's been having a really rough time at work these days. He needs to relax and kick back a little tonight. I'm gonna do my best not to stress him out.

I'm so tired right now I don't know why I'm still awake...other than the 5 hour energy shot I took 4 hours ago. I figured it might help me get through the paper that I had to write for my Master's class tonight - and it did...but now I'm exhausted beyond belief but not able to sleep. Stupid.

Anyway, I got my Flylady Control Journal in the mail the other day and have been plugging away at it. Funny thing, though - I really don't think I needed to buy it. A lot of the stuff is stuff that I had already made lists of when I originally started this like 3 years ago. I do think it's a nice refresher for me to go through it and do it again, though...so maybe it will be worth it.

Today's progress in FLYING -

• I didn't do my complete morning routine, but since making and drinking coffee in my morning routine I guess I did part of it.
• I did throw in a load of laundry - 3 actually, and ended up busting the belt on the dryer...last 2 loads still wet. *ugh*
• My sink is shiny
• My house is relatively uncluttered except for 1 major Hot Spot (dining room table) which I will hit tomorrow
• I scrubbed the tub and dusted my bedroom, both of which were part of my Weekly Home Blessing tasks for today
• I did NOT mop the bathroom floor, which was also on that WHB list
• I did run the vacuum, but not on the steps or upstairs like I wanted to
• My parents stopped by for a short visit today, and I wasn't embarrassed by my house!

All in all I'd call today a success. I'm taking baby steps, still. No bedtime routine tonight, either - although I think I will start the dishwasher and set the coffee pot. Now if I could just get my ass out of bed at a decent time tomorrow I'll be ready for company tomorrow night - for the first time ever I'm not overly concerned about having to clean up an entire house because we're having guests! :)

Well ~ I slipped up. My sink isn't shiny and I had 4 cigarettes since DH bought a pack last night. But - I'm gonna get back on track asap. To be honest with you I've had a little bit of a headache since I got home last night and it's not getting a whole lot better. It wasn't the cigarettes, either - because I had it before them. I did take 2 Advil about an hour ago and I think they may be working a little.

No excuses - I know...so I'm off to get things back on track. :) I know that with a shiny sink and my shoes on I'll feel better. Oh, and the left over smokes are going out to the alley in the trash!

I am patiently awaiting my Control Journal in the mail - and my timer. :) In the meantime, I found that FlyLady has a Holiday Control Journal! I printed it out yesterday - printed one out for my mom, too. I also made my Christmas Card List yesterday! In Excel...I only need like 4 addresses. Crazy, I know...but I want to order cards with the kids pictures on it and I need to know how many to order.

So, yesterday I did a Weekly Home Blessing - it took me most of the day because of the kids...but I think I did pretty well. I changed the sheets, vacuumed, dusted and did a 27 fling boogie. I also listened to some FlyLady stuff on Blogtalkradio - which really helped me to get more motivated.

Anyway - I have to work today...so I'm hoping that the house won't be too tore up when I get home. DH will be home with the kiddos all day! Yikes!

It's October - there is a chill in the air and my husband is off on a Saturday...what do I do? Drag my husband and children to a pumpkin patch so that I can have my Kodak moments, of course! :) Seriously, though - we did go to a pumpkin patch today. Triple B Farms pumpkin patch - to be exact. Funny thing, though, that it's NOWHERE near my house! hehehe.

So, we loaded up the kids and left the house around noon...my little sweetheart of a daughter got carsick about 12:45. I didn't pack a change of clothes...so, we made a pitstop at Target and she was good as new. We were a little nervous that she was going to get sick again, though...so we made 2 more pitstops on the way. This got us to the pumpkin patch around 3:00!!!

We had fun, though - here are some pics I'd like to share . . . then it's off to bed for me!

No - not Flylady...smoking. Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I've been quitting smoking since I started. I started smoking because I wanted to make my boyfriend at the time mad. He smoked and wouldn't let me smoke...of course I found out later his double standards didn't only apply to smoking...but that's a whole different story not worth getting into now or ever.

So, I started smoking to make an ex-boyfriend mad and kept smoking for the next 12 or 13 years. Yes, I am an idiot. I quit once for a pretty long period of time...a little over a year actually. Then I slipped. I remember that first cigarette after I hadn't had one in a year tasted like crap. In fact the first pack after I quit for a year tasted like crap...every single cigarette in the pack made me want to puke...but I still smoked them. And right now I'm missing them. Argh.

I'm determined, though. I can't say I feel any better than I did a week ago when I was a smoker smoking about 1/2 a pack a day. I can't say that I'm in any better a mood knowing that I'm doing something that will "hopefully" increase and improve the time I have with my children. In fact I'm in a worse mood now than I have been in a long time. I've been crabby and irritable for the past 4 days - I officially "quit" Monday. It actually feels like I quit a month ago - but I miss it.

I haven't been doing as well as I would have liked to do. That's not say I haven't been doing okay - after all I haven't had a cigarette...and I haven't bought a pack...and I haven't even bitched so much it's made my husband go buy me cigarettes just so I'll stop (yeah - he did that once after I had quit for a week...so I blamed him for me starting again. I'm rotten, I know.) By not doing as well as I would have liked to I me not feeling as well as I would have liked to at this point. I really was hoping that I would not be so moody...but I'm moody as all get out.

This too shall pass - right?

It helps to remember the thought that made me want to quit again. I had this thought...actually it was like a dream before you are really asleep but almost asleep...of my husband having to tell my children that I wasn't coming home because I had to stay at the hospital...I had lung cancer. Now - I don't have lung cancer as far as I know...I could...it's possible. It's even possible that I will get lung cancer if I never have another cigarette in my life. I'm just doing what I can now...but man it isn't easy. My husband put it to me this way - which I don't think is entirely true but felt like it at the time...he said, "You can either live a long, miserable life wanting to smoke but not smoking or a short, happy life until you die from smoking." He's wrong...it'll get better. Like I said, though, it sure as hell feels that way right now!

I'm still taking vitamins...I missed yesterday, but picked up again today. I'm not sure if it's the vitamins kicking in or if the whole "hot spot" thing just kind of caught on but I kept cleaning on and off all evening. I dusted the ceiling fans in the kitchen and living room, cleaned off the top of the computer desk, dusted the tv and tv stand, washed the stove top and wiped off the kitchen counters. Now I'm going to try to finish my paper tonight so that DH and the kids and I can go do something fun tomorrow - if he's feeling better. He's a little under the weather right now. Runny nose and itchy throat. Guess it's going around - both his sisters have it.

Wish me luck!

Well - my sink is still shiny. I will tell you that it really does make me feel a little more motivated. :) I ordered some stuff from the FlyLady website this week...the timer, and the control journal. I mainly wanted the control journal because I don't want to have to make all the print-outs myself. I know me - I'd spend hours on the computer trying to do it "right" and that would defeat the purpose. I'm anxious to get them in the mail! :)

I hit a "hot spot" today. One of the challenges was to do a "hot spot" firedrill. I took 10 minutes (you're suppose to take 5...but I did it twice because once didn't get the job done) and I cleared off my dining room table. Now I'm headed over there to work on my paper before the kids get up from their nap. I also have a load of laundry in and am dressed...although I don't have shoes on like I'm suppose to because I was laying down with Nate. I guess I'll have to go put them back on!

TTFN - I'll keep you posted! :)

So far so good. I can't say I'm overly happy with the way my house looks...but I can say that I'm happy that my sink is still shining. I've been pretty busy and am going to be pretty busy for the next few days. (okay - probably the next few YEARS!!!) I am going to just suck it up, though. I plan on moving to the next step tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

Well - I'm gonna try Flylady again. I'm starting over. Since I feel like I need a lot of guidance, I just thought this was the best way to go...I'm gonna give it another try - a real try this time. So - here's my shiny sink.










So, the rest of my house may look like this:

But I'm gonna work on it in baby steps.

BTW - took my vitamins last night and on my way to take them now! :)

Not me - not by a long shot. I need some help.

Don't get me wrong, I know what I have and it isn't that bad. However, I dream of a day when I can walk into my house and smile because it looks how it should look. I dream of a day when the thought of someone stopping by unannounced doesn't send me into a panic. I dream of a day where my husband says, "The house looks great, honey." I need some help.

I have a million excuses as to why my house is an unorganized mess. I've tried to develop a plan before - it didn't work. I have a Flylady folder all ready to go - but I feel behind, even though one of the cardinal rules in Flyladydom is not to feel behind. I need help.

So...I'm going to take baby steps. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, too.

My first order of business is start taking some vitamins. I need to have more energy for this trip. Second order of business - make a game plan with some goals. I need goals to make sure I'm on track and that little feeling of accomplishment I'll have when I complete something will make a world of difference. They have to be realistic goals, though...that's the key.

I must add that my plate is overflowing with things right now. I have 2 kids at home with me at all times. My son is going to be 3 in about a month and my daughter is 14 short months behind him (she'll be 2 in January). They keep me busy and don't really let me do anything for long periods of time. I am also teaching 2 days a week. 3-year-olds, they are quite a handful. I am also finishing up my Masters on-line. It's a paper a week - which I've been putting off until Friday nights and staying up until ungodly hours completing. Those are my challenges. Tomorrow I'll have some goals...first goal - have some goals. :) We'll see where that takes me.