Done with "Done"

I've been sitting here stewing for a while and thinking about all the things that make me crazy. They're really just little things like dishes, laundry, vacuuming, personal hygiene, my bedroom that hasn't looked clean since we moved in, and the like. These are all everyday things that shouldn't make me want to cry when I think about them, right? Well, I've broken it down and figured out the culprit behind my madness.

It's the deceiving concept known as "done."

No wonder it makes me crazy to think about the dishes. Every time I declare them to be "done" I turn around and the sink is full again.

Every time I fold and put away 3 loads of laundry and declare it "done" Claire poops through her outfit, I find a pile of dirty clothes in the closet and Danny needs me to wash his slacks for work.

Every time the stars align long enough for me to shower, as soon as I'm "done" I get pooped on or puked on and my "clean" feeling goes out the window (there's another culprit..."clean"...).

I only have a two options here:

I can either invest in disposable dishes, disposable clothes and LOTS of deodorant and body spray

OR

I can do away with "done."

I've always been a list maker. I live for checking something off a list. Making room for more. Wiping the slate. Moving it from my mental RAM to the recycle bin.

I can't make a list for chores. How can I ever be "done" with the daily casualties of life?

I'll never be "done" with dishes until we stop eating.
I'll never be "done" with laundry until we move to a nudist colony.
I'll never be "done" showering until Danny and I lose our olfactory senses.

I can't stop making lists. I've been doing it for too long. Instead I'm going to try changing my "To Do" list into a "Work in Progress" list or an "Projects Inbetween Snuggling Claire" list.

Check marks are dead to me. And so is "done."

Thank You, Max!

I received a delightful package today from a friend from work back in Illinois. I was able to deliver something for him last week and, to show his appreciation, he sent me this beautiful, delicious gift:



Claire really enjoyed the balloon:


Did I deserve such a treat for such a small service? Maybe not. But who am I to snub a vase full of strawberries, grapes, chocolate-dipped orange wedges, pineapple, chocolate-dipped orange wedges, melon, and chocolate-dipped orange wedges? Did I mention the chocolate-dipped orange wedges? Thank you so much, Max! I'll run errands for you anytime.

This Little Piggy Likes to Laugh

Danny was sick today so we stayed home from church. It's a good thing, too. I would have shown up an hour early since I had NO IDEA about the time change. My apologies to the few people in the ward that I called way too early seeking a sub for my class. Anyway, I was playing with Claire and got her laughing so we made Dad hold the camera.

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (spooky! scary!)

It was another Halloween where I let my creative side shine only to fall on blind eyes. We attended our ward Trunk-or-Treat and chili cook-off. My chili blanco arrived late and I attribute our failure to win to our tardiness. I also made some chocolate cupcakes with meringue ghosts on top but didn't get a chance to picture them since, as I mentioned before, we were running late. Claire was dazzling in her White Tiger costume and she got plenty of compliments but nobody asked what Danny and I were supposed to be.

Can you guess? Five Monopoly dollars and all the appreciation in the world to anyone who truly knows who we were!



How about now?


I was Sigfried.
Danny was Roy.
Claire was Montecore, the tiger who attacked Roy on stage.

I thought it was a cute family theme but nobody could guess what we were and Danny was a grump-a-lump about dressing up in the first place. Aren't I the meanest wife ever? he had to gel his hair, wear a shirt he already owned and don a bow-tie I made in 60 seconds flat. I kept catching him with the bow tie in his pocket while I was walking around in a man's wig. Who got the short end of the stick there?

Here's Claire and I haunting the back hatch of our car waiting for trunk-or-treaters



My sister Aimee made our Halloween treat jar. Thanks, Aim!

It was definitely a different party then last year. Our ward in Carbondale was much smaller but the parties were more fun because we knew everyone. I still had fun, even if I had to talk Danny into participating and everyone in our new ward thinks we're crazy.

If you're wondering where the title of this post came from, you need to watch 30Rock. It's a hoot. Hope ya'll had a Happy Halloween!

Happy Fall!

Sunny Day Pics

I'm trying to figure out how to keep from double posting everything. I've been putting up pictures and videos on Facebook but for all of you who don't FB (and you know who you are) I'll see if this works. Here's a link to a little photo album of Claire. We took pictures last Saturday.

Click Here

Spooky Treats

I tried my hand at spooky treats today and here are the end results:



The icing was a bit of a headache. I'm used to using buttercream so the sticky runny stuff was a pain. If you want to see how I made them I posted the recipes here. They weren't my finest creations but it made me feel domestic.

In other news from today we have something for you to chew on: Claire can fit her entire fist in her mouth.

Now that's talent.

Still Got It

I had to write a quick post because this made my night. I ran to HEB to grab some Friday night snacks. While scoping out treats in the Ice Cream aisle I was stopped by a man who asked if he could ask me a question. At first I was offended because I figured he had mistaken me for a store employee.

While I was mentally running through my wardrobe choice and how it lead this man to think I worked at H.E.B. he surprised me by asking if I was single. When I told him I was married he said he didn't mean to bother me and that I should take it as a compliment. You'd better believe I did.

A frizzy ponytail with no make-up on a Friday night shopping for ice cream? Maybe he was desperate, but maybe I've still got it.