Stuology

I missed my first day of project366. It took me 1 hour and 50 minutes to drive home yesterday, and then I made dinner, and then I did yard work that I couldn’t get done during the weekend because of deck work, and then I got out my camera, but I got no good photos. I looked through what I already had, and there wasn’t anything that really thrilled me to post. Then I just said, “whatever” and laid on the sofa for a movie with Mac. Oh, and I did all this with another headache. They are getting more frequent as of late.

I made it 119 days in a row. I guess I’m going to have to do two photos tonight.

Day 90: Hello Bubblebath!

Another Hello Kitty item to add to Ada’s collection.

I’ve been in a “No Chores This Weekend” sort of mood, but they don’t get done when I sit on my duff all day. I managed all the laundry, which I love to have all done on the weekend. I’m going to scrub down the kitchen and bathrooms at the very least. Mac was very kind and picked up and vacuumed our room.

James sounds like he needs a nap, and while I’m doing chores is the perfect time for him to have one. It is hard to do them while he is clinging to my legs or opening the kitchen towel drawer^* and dragging out all the towels. I should get on it because I have a game to watch at 4:00.

*It is the only kid-reachable cabinet to which we didn’t attach a lock. It is one of the most frequently used drawer, and having to get the magnet to constantly unlock it would be irritating. And they are only hand towels and wash clothes. They can’t do any harm with those. But James has discovered he can open it. And drag out the towels. If he would pick one towel and play with it, fine. He just enjoys the act of taking out the towels, so he bores quickly with the one he has and goes for another. Sometimes I’m lucky and he finds thrills in just opening and shutting the drawer.

Ada has been all about the drama today. Even James has been grumpy, although his grumpy is magnitudes more pleasant than Ada’s. I put him down for a nap at 12:30, and he is still asleep. I’m considering getting him up so he isn’t awake until midnight tonight. Ada went to the store with me while he napped, and she ended up going godzilla when we got home, so she was sent to bed. She is still asleep as well. Both of them napping at the same time is rare, but nice. I was able to unload the dishwasher, clean out the fridge, reload the dishwasher, turn the blackberries into muffins, put away two loads of laundry, mend a pair of James’ pjs and Ada’s pillow, all while paying attention to the game.

I hear James though, so it is time to get them up and start prepping dinner. I also need to take a photo today. Maybe I’ll try to shoot a muffin.

Day 55: Today’s project

Since I was out with my mother yesterday, chore day didn’t happen. I came home to a messy house. I canceled family day today because I had to tackle some of it or go crazy. I did the typical putting away things that were on the kitchen counters instead of in the cabinets where they belong. I scrubbed down all the counter tops. I thought that we must be collecting a lot of bread since there were quite a bit scattered near the breadbox, but upon opening the breadbox, I found it empty, so *whew*. It was just that people couldn’t take the extra couple of seconds to put the bread in the bread box. Why when it is so much easier to just throw the bread in the general vicinity of the bread box? In between tackling the kitchen, I did 6 loads of laundry including the sheets.

My pet project was the refrigerator. I took out every shelf and scrubbed them down. I tossed all but the recent leftover. I looked at every condiment bottle at expirations dates. What I ended up with is a clean and organized fridge. It was my picture of the day because I want to be able to look back and remember. It won’t stay this way for long.

I finished and put this picture up just in time to make dinner. Beef pinwheels with a creamy vege soup that I’m making out of the veges in the fridge that need to be used or tossed.

Chores day was successful. I didn’t get everything done that I wanted, but I did get these done:

• Wipe down washer & dryer
• Organize and wipe down utility cart
• Mop laundry closet floor
• Empty dryer lint trash bag
• Scrub out kids’ tub
• Mop kids’ bathroom floor
• Mop our bathroom floor
• Clean & organize kitchen countertops
• 2 loads of dishes
• 5 loads of laundry (including a load to wash all the rags that I used to clean)
• Clean & shine front of appliances
• Scrub kitchen sink
• Make dinner with extra chicken for dinner tomorrow
• Pick up all toys
• Check/replace air freshners
• Vacuum (okay, I feel guilty putting this since the Roomba does the vacuuming while I do other things)

Mac pitched in and cleaned out and organized his half of the closet. He ended up finding a container that had some old yoga pants! I now have two more pairs of pants for exercising/lounging. He also started organizing our DVDs. We have many and many and many.

James had a melt down this evening. He really is a calm and easy kids. He cries, and it is either diaper, food or sleep. I get one of three, and he’s fine again. Tonight, he just wouldn’t stop crying And if I put him down, he cried so hard his face turned bright red. He wouldn’t eat. His diaper was fine. I gave him a lotion rubdown and some of his cream for his skin. He just kept whining if I was holding him, or screaming if I put him down. Finally I was able to rock him back to his calm self. I was getting a little worried because it is very much out of James’ character. If it was Ada, I would just think “eh, another day with Ada.” Not my boy though. I tried looking at his gums, but I didn’t see any signs of teeth trying to push through.

Mac went out with friends and I’m going to read until he gets home. Yes, read! It has been so long since I’ve read fiction. I started a book that I should have read already because I know the author’s talents, but it is in a genre that I don’t typically like. Now, I am reading it, and I’m enjoying it and wondering why I waited.

Day 19: Chore Day

Today is the day that I do chores. Let me make a small correction: Today is the day that I attempt to do chores. With family day being on Sunday, and me not being organized enough to keep up with everything during the week^*, I generally have to book it on Saturday to keep up.

This is the basket that used to belong to laundry, but now is designated as the pick up all the loose toys around the house basket. Ada can empty it as fast if not faster than I can fill it. She also likes to sit in it as well as the tall baskets that are still used for laundry.

I missed a wonderful photo opportunity today because I had the card out about to download the current images. Ada walked up to me without pants wearing one boot, and it was on backwards. No, not on the wrong foot. She was trying to walk around with the toe pointing towards her heel. By the time I had jammed my card back in the camera and swiped off the lens cap, she had taken the boot off. Drats.

Okay, time for chores.

*For example, say I stay up a few minutes later on Thursday to mop the kitchen floor. Then, on Friday, someone** leaves the bowl of peaches on the table a little too close to James, he grabs it, and throws it on the just mopped floor.

**That would be me.