Perfecting Imperfection

Twins bin on left, then Nate's, then Jerry and me, then Danika

Now - I rarely use the word hate.  I NEVER use it when I'm talking about a person because hate is a strong word...as strong as love and I only tell people I really love that I love them.

However, I HATE unmatched socks.

I HATE them for so many reasons.

First of all, I feel like they are a glaring sign that I am failing as a domestic diva.  If I can't do a simple task like matching socks, how am I suppose to manage a household?

Secondly, I have no control over them.  I can tell you exactly how they got to be as bad as they are.  I have NO time.  Seriously, when I am folding laundry I am doing it in between making breakfast and putting babies down for naps before cleaning up from breakfast and getting someone dressed before starting lunch so that I can have it ready when someone wakes up from a nap or gets home from school.  Yes - I am busy.

Finally, I hate them because they take up space...they take up space in my house and in my mind.  When I think about the things that I have to do, match all those freaking unmatched socks always gets put on the list and pushed down to the bottom because I HATE matching socks.

I need a system.  A system that is better than the one I currently have which involves throwing unmatched socks all in one place until I have time to match them and then calling my mother or mother-in-law and telling them the kids need socks.  Anytime someone asks me what we need I say socks.  What does Jerry need for his birthday? Socks.  What do you want for Christmas? Socks.  What can I get the kids for Easter? Socks - they fit nicely in those plastic eggs.

The worst part of that is that I get excited when someone gives my kids a 10 pack of socks because that is 10 full days they can wear socks that match!  I won't buy them new ones myself because I feel it is part of my punishment to have to sort through the 600 socks in the unmatched sock pile to find 2 that fit the person who needs socks . . . if they match it's a bonus.

If it were up to me we wouldn't wear socks - but we live in Western Pennsylvania where people wear socks from September to May...which is what prompted this sock matching session in the first place.  We need socks because it's getting chilly out...

So ~ share your tips (if you have any).  I'm contemplating just having a dirty sock barrel set up somewhere and washing them once a week.  If the match isn't there out it goes...I'd be open to other suggestions, though. No matter what - Something has to be done about this!!!  hehehe

As a side note...have you heard of the website Thankful For?  I'm really diggin' it.  I try to write something I'm thankful for each day.  I spend enough time on the computer that I like to take a few minutes away from Facebook or GoogleReader (which I use FeedSquares for) to remember something good that makes me smile.  It's kind of hard to find people on Thankful For - unless I'm missing something.  If you want to follow me you have to go to this site:  www.thankfulfor.com/users/jmkrajci  -  I'd love to follow you, too, and hear what you are thankful for!

It's only unofficial because it hasn't "officially" begun, yet.  The first day of Fall isn't until later this month - Wednesday, September 22nd - but it feels like Fall.  I'm longing to wear long sleeves, long pants and light jackets or "Hoodie" sweatshirts.  I want to get some pumpkin decorations and gold, red and orange things to warm up my house.  I want to light the yummy candle that I got from one of my student's mom the other day so that the smell of crisp apple can float through my house.  I want to make chili and cornbread and watch football this Sunday.  I want to buy more Pumpkin Soft Drop cookies from the grocery store and have them with a nice cup of coffee with Pumpkin Spice creamer in it.

I LOVE Fall for so many reasons.  Don't get me wrong - all seasons have happy memories for me.  All seasons hold special little places in my heart but Fall is my favorite.

I will always remember the big snow storm last year.  We spent a week at home.  There was so much snow that Danika would have gotten lost in it if she didn't stick to the shoveled path!  Jerry even stayed home on a day he was suppose to work because there was no way anyone was getting anywhere that day.  A lot of people would probably complain and say that it was horrible, but we enjoyed it.  We snuggled and the kids wore their feet pajamas all day.  The babies were still little enough that they were sleeping a lot and we cuddled them a lot.  We watched movies and ate popcorn and watched the snow just keep falling and falling.

Spring is probably my least favorite season because it's moody.  The weather is unpredictable and the kids start getting antsy about the end of the school year.  While the green is nice to see (because green is my favorite color), it just seems like a tease.

Summer is awesome for several reasons - no school which means I'm not "working".  We can go outside without having to bundle everyone up.  We can sleep in late and stay up late and grill.  Oh, I do love a good cheeseburger cooked on the grill.  I'm usually ready for summer to end when it does, though.

Which brings me back to Fall.

I have to tell you how this post all started.  I started thinking about my old blog.  Did I ever tell you that I use to have a blog a few years ago?  I stopped writing it because I got some spam comments that kinda freaked me out.  I decided that I would take a step back and reevaluate why I was blogging.  I missed it so much...so here we are - new blog.

Anyway ~ I started thinking about the old blog and a meme I use to do every Thursday called Thursday Thirteen.  I remembered writing a Thursday Thirteen about all the things I like about Fall.  I had to go back and find it:  Thoughts of the Mama - Thursday Thirteen #2

So there you have it.

Oh - here's something else that is unofficial...the unofficial picture of the kids' first day of school.  It's unofficial because I actually didn't take a picture of Nate on his first day!  *gasp*  But I did remember to take on on the first day they went together.  Oh, and be patient with me...I'm working on getting a new camera and a photo editing program that is easy to use and works well.  I don't have anything installed on my new laptop, yet.

Summer swinging on Grammie and Nunnu's front porch.

September.

There is something about September that tugs at my heartstrings.  I love the crispness it brings.  I love how, even though nature looks like it's falling asleep, it is full of newness.  I love how it screams, "Time to get to work!" - which it probably only does to me because my "work" always coincided with the start school.  Which brings me to another thing I love - school.  I know...I know...I must have some kind of disorder, but I LOVE school.  I love teaching and I love attending.  I actually miss going to school.  It seems I was happiest when I was taking notes and writing papers.  I love learning new things and then teaching others about it.  Which is why I am still holding on to my dream of SOMEDAY becoming a college professor...it would mean a lot more work, but I would be doing something I've always wanted to do.

Anyway - September also brought me a few other "beginnings" this time around.  In case you missed it...I now have 1 year old twin boys.


 
So they are beginning their 2nd year of life!  Of course, like all of my kids, they are beginning it with fevers and general icky-ness.  Not too bad but enough that they are cranky as all heck.  Oh - and David began his 2nd year with a new tooth!!!  First one!

Also - I am beginning a new relationship.  A new relationship with a new laptop.  I *think* I may be in love - but I'm taking it slow.  After all...the last one left me devastated when it decided to just quit on me for no good reason after only a year and a half together.  This time, though - I was much more careful.  I did my research a little more than before and I found a great deal.  So, I'm hoping this one will last a while.  *fingers crossed*

Finally, I may have mentioned that both Nate and Danika will beginning preschool this week.  Danika will be going 2 days a week and Nate will be going 5 days a week.  This beginning is bittersweet for me.  I'm so excited that they are starting school and I really hope they love it as much as I do.  I know that Nate will be really excited to learn new things and share what he learned with us.  I think that Danika will love finally being able to play with some girls instead of her brothers.  They will really have a wonderful time!  However, it means I have to give up lazy mornings in jammies until noon.  :)  Which probably explains why it's 11:26 and we are still in PJs and I'm half concentrating on this blog post and half listening to Jerry explain the different Warner Brothers cartoon characters to Nate and Danika.  I cant' believe that they actually don't know who Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are!!!  They are now getting a lesson on Foghorn Leghorn - apparently, he is Pap Pap's favorite.