I'm baa-aack

Insert creepy music here. After a long 2+ week break from the blogosphere..I. am. back. And I am going to try to quit being a slacker.

Anddd if you know me, you also know that I come with excuses. So here they come. We have been traveling. A little. And it takes me at least 10 days to recover emotionally, physically, and domestically.

I also had some, not serious, but highly annoying issues with my insides. I will spare you the tmi details. But a tiny camera was involved, Magic School Bus style, and it took a tour of my innards. (Too bad my doctor wasn't Ms. Frizzle. She knows everything about science, from what I remember from the show.)

Gianna and Davy also got virus' and ear infections. Complete with pink medicines, all night coughing fests, and whining. And Davy asking me for "rain drops" for her throat.  (Cough drops for the small-brained.)

Andddd the icing on the excuse cake. Technical difficulties of various kinds. Including, but not limited to, 4 broken computer laptop cords in the last 6 months, sucky McSuck suck internet at our house- 3 days of no internet or home phone (you suck time warner), and I lost my cellphone 2 weeks ago.

But now I have new computer cords, functioning internet and no more excuses.

"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded." As Bl. JPII would say. I think the lie is....that I'm not lazy.

 And for some happy things...I saw TWO double rainbows on my birthday! It was amazing. God gives the best birthday presents. Mr. Christopher you came in at a close second with the Anthropologie goods.  And I had a nice morning run, friend/sister coffee date, family brunch at JK Chili's the best hole in the wall in Madiera, a fun time at the zoo with my girls and daddio. Then we saw some amazing double rainbowing once over our house and once as I was ingesting healthy amounts of the best sushi on the planet earth at Kyoto.

Pretend I don't look so super sized and awkward. And that you can see the other part of the double rainbow.

And we successfully went on two family trips without losing either child. Parents of the year.

Davy and Gianna or "my favorite girls" as Davy would say are adorable and so much fun to hang with day and night.  Minus the night. I will include some recent pictures with future posts.  My Mr. Mister is my bff and a fab daddy.  My friends are the bomb diggity. Living the good life.

Anywho. I know maybe it's not nice to be happy when someone is dead...but since Osama Bin Laden hated Americans so much and wanted to kill us infidels...I do feel some relief. Thank you Navy Seals and all the rest of our Military.
Annnnd that's all folks.

Laundry Slave and Double Rainbows

In my own little home I used to be completely and eternally tied down.

I always had this looming dark cloud hanging over me. I was not free. I even attempted to leave the house often to escape the feelings of shame and unlaunderedness. It was all in vain. And it always came back to tie me down again.

laundry monster

I was after all still a slave. Little did I know I was free to escape at anytime. I could slay this evil monstrous master of all things dirty and cloth. I just didn't know how to combat it and keep it from hatching as a small egg in my home again and again even though I had already killed it. Then it would grow so quickly and with so much power that just the sight of it sent my washing machine into shock.

In all seriousness though, my washing machine did go into shock. Its little light went out. Died. I had to get a new one. One that saves the earth with its teensy water cycle and can wash comforters with ease. It came delievered by 2 strong men in a white truck. I think they were from heaven. 
I thought this new machine could possibly help me slay this hideous beast. But was it enough? No. No way.

So many times I vaporized this monster into thin air...and then miraculously or omenously it reappeared, sometimes with renewed vigor and size!

Then it hit me. This was my cycle from college days which turned into 4th floor apartment living when I was married:

1. Grow a giant laundry monster.
 2. Feed it daily
 3. Kill it (Wash clothes every 1-2 weeks or when you run out of clothes.)
 *Then as our family grew I washed even every few days but it was equivalent to my 1-2 weeks previous pattern.
 4. Repeat. For life.

Then one day I read in multiple places that it can be helpful to do a load of laundry a day. So naturally I thought of several viable reasons why that is a horrible idea.

Here they are:

1. you are hurting mother nature (water waster and baby fish killer)
2. there is no way we have that much laundry to do a load or two a day!
3. wow what waaaaaaaste of time-it is much more time efficient to do a lot at once.
4. most importantly-I hate laundry and I will never do it everyday because that would be nuts

Ironically if you would have asked me how often I did laundry while the monster was alive and well. My answer=every day. This was because I would do one of the processes of laundry once a day.

 Gather. Sort. Carry. Pre-treat. Wash. Dry. Fold. Put Away.


Basically now I am mostly freeee of this sick laundry cycle. It has taken a lot of discipline and actually completing all of the processes of laundry every day.
And since I hate putting clothes away, when you have tiny loads...you only have to put away a tiny pile of clothes. Eureka.


If you are trying to kill the laundry monster at your home and you have a washer and dryer in your place of residence just do it. Gather. Sort. Carry. Pre-treat. Wash. Dry. Fold. Put Away. And do it everyday.
Do it for 27 days- According to Marla Cilley @ FlyLady

She is teaching me to be a housekeeping rockstar. And I like it a lot.


Disclaimer: I am not a professional and still slip up now and again. The difference is that I have tasted the sweet nectar of all clean clothes (most) of the time and I will not give it up. The good news is that now I don't have a sick looming dirty laundry feeling in my stomach as I leave the house to do something mommy related and fun with my girls. wooohooo.

And I feel double rainbow good now. And after you click on that link, click on this song to get you motivated to start hiking Mt. Washmore.