The Best of Intentions

I don't think our fridge has been wiped down since I was pregnant with Max. I took care of it when I was nesting and the next thing I knew there was a baby, and then a toddler, and then preschool for the toddler's brother and then an unknown substance of a color not found in nature spilling down the interior wall on the second shelf. In an effort to ease the shock of this experience I started planning ahead and purging outdated things ahead of time. Next, I went on a grocery buying ban. And for the last week, we have searched a bare bones fridge full of grossness for something to eat while putting off restocking until it was cleaned.

Last night I finally mustered the courage to tackle the job. I cooked extra sloppy joes so the boys would eat their fill while I labroed away and leave plenty of leftovers for lunch today. I started grabbing things from shelves to rest on the counter and found a few more mysterious pieces to add to the garbage can. In an effort to prevent freezing of the kitchen, I turned off the fridge's cooling so I could clean to my heart's content. And boy is it clean.

I delicately placed the jelly and other condiments on the shelves and in the door so we could read the labels, reorganzied the produce drawer and packed up the leftover sloppy joes to ready them for transport to the office in the morning.

At this point in the evening, its fair to mention that I gave Max a bath, Gage a shower, took something for my headache, hauled too big/too small clothes upstairs to restock the boys' drawers, put the kids to bed and sorted said clothes. Then I went to bed.

This morning, Jack kindly reminded me that next time I turned off the fridge, to turn it back on when I am finished.

Note to self: pick up perishables on the way home. Your fridge is empty.

Looks like frozen pizza for lunch.

Random Thoughts

Six weeks into the new year and based on some self-challenges for the year, a few things have become clear.

Note to self:

·         You need to drink more water. You really needed to six weeks ago, and you have to consciously remind yourself to continue drinking water. Just because someone said, “go ahead and count the other fluids you drink as water too” doesn’t mean its ok to only drink mtn. dew.

·         Books/reading needs to be a larger part of your life. I think it has to be chapter books and not magazines/blogs, etc. – something with a full story that captivates you for more than a few moments. I also think you enjoy hard copies more than digital copies. You do still dream of having a personal library with a room packed full of books, you know.

·         Sitting at your desk all day isn’t good for you. It makes you cranky, it makes your back hurt and it gives you a headache. Convincing yourself to get up and move shouldn’t be a big deal.

·         Your brain functions better with music playing – most of the time – at least right now. Cooking, cleaning, working, music. Here’s a thought: maybe you need to dust off the piano music, bite the bullet to fix the keys and play your heart out a few times a week.

·         Don’t yell at your kids. They don’t like it, you don’t like it and it accomplishes nothing. You haven’t yelled like this the last (almost!) five years, there is no reason to start now.

·         Celebrate what you accomplish every day. Even if the only thing you accomplish is not yelling at your children. That’s huge.

Its really baffling to me how a few seemingly subtle changes, can make a really big difference in a person’s attitude. I’m working to reclaim a few things that were a big part of my life through those formative teenage years. You know, the years when you’re certain you have everything figured out. At a time when second guessing a decision is the routine (hello parents of toddlers!) I’m often left searching for a sense of normalcy for MYSELF.

Thanks for tuning in. We’ll try to lighten it up again next time. J