My Time

I have no idea where it goes. Hmmph. I had my book club yesterday, which was awesome, but I was so disheartened when I got home. Let me expand a little on that.

I am not a great housekeeper. It's not naturally on my list of priorities. I do not like to clean, and I do not like to do laundry, and I hate to mop. Hate it, especially with these floors that look dirty a whopping 10 minutes after I've mopped them. But I digress. Anywhooo ... Being a neater person is something that I'm constantly working on. Probably something that I will always work on. I just have other things that I would rather do. Like sit on my butt on the couch and watch Oprah and eat bonbons.* Or paint with the kids. Or read to the kids. Or tell the kids to go play outside, then curl up with a book. Or sit for an hour over a cup of coffee with my husband and ask him why, exactly, he doesn't like the Spice Girls. Things like that.

It is a constant struggle to keep above water with the house. I've been doing much better lately, and I had a very good day Tuesday. The house stayed neat, we did school, I got a lot accomplished, and I just felt good. When the kids went to bed Tuesday night, I was able to take 5 minutes, straighten the kitchen and wipe down the counters, and curl up in front of the fire with a good, dorky book. I was so happy! When John called to tell me he was on the way home from his meeting, I said, 'ok, hon, I'll see you in a few minutes.' And then I went back to my book!! No frantic straightening, or shoving clothes into drawers, or sweeping like a madwoman. (Ok, this might sound stupid to some of you, but it's usually how I operate, and I'm working to change that, so this was a big deal for me!!) It was great.

Wednesday was pretty good, too. Got a lot of laundry done, had fun doing school with the kids, made bread and cookies, and the kitchen still looked nice. If someone had called me and said, 'Hey, Brea, we're coming to visit you and we're about five minutes away,' I would have been ok with that. Seriously! My house was decent!!

Kristie watched the kids while I was at book club, since John was working, and I had to run a few errands in Austin, so I needed to drop the kids off at her house by 5. I was looking forward to coming home that night (I got everyone home and in bed after 10:30, so it was pretty late), putting some comfy jammies on, and curling up with my book. Yes, I read a lot. Stop judging me. So we're getting ready to go to Kristie's house, and as we're walking out the door, I looked around and freaked out!!! WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?!?!?!?

It had looked so nice at 3:30, when the kids were all still asleep, and now it looked like I hadn't cleaned in like 4 days. How does this happen? It never ceases to amaze me how fast things can deteriorate with three kids under 6. I had several loads of clean clothes, to be folded, on a chair in the living room. The kids scattered it all everywhere in the living room while I was getting their stuff together upstairs. The kitchen was a mess. The dining room was a mess. My bedroom was a mess. (What? I wasn't even in my bedroom that afternoon!) I didn't have time to do anything more than have the kids pick up all the clothes, and I was just bummed when I got home. I straightened for about 10 minutes, then collapsed in bed. With my book (what, you were expecting something different?).

I have taken a careful accounting of my time today, paying attention the to what I've been doing, and I have realized something. I am very inefficient. Very, very inefficient. If I worked for me, I probably would have fired me by now. So, over then next week or so, I'm going to keep a very detailed record of my time. I'll post some of the more humorous stuff on here, because you know it's in there. I'm really going to start looking at where my time goes. Now, I will probably never be as neat as Pace or Rebecca. It's not in my nature, and frankly, I wouldn't want to be. It ain't me. But, there is no reason under the sun why I can't get done the things I need to do in a day. Not the things I want to do, but the minimum things that need to get done. I mean, I keep saying I want to have more kids, and we want to look into foster care and possible adoption in the next few years, so I really should at least start to get my act together while I have the time, lol!!

Ok, I'm sorry about this rather long-winded post. I just wanted to get all that stuff out there. I'll put up a fun new recipe tomorrow to make up for it, I promise. :) Maybe something festive and appropriate for the holiday season. Hmm ... what to eat, what to eat ...

*I don't like bonbons, and I actually don't like Oprah. It's an expression. (Don't tell my grandmother, who loves Oprah.)