I Have OCD

I think I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This has been a gradual thing I've noticed over the last few years. Growing up, I definitely did not have this problem. My room was always a mess, ask my mother. In early adulthood, my house wasn't very clean and neat, at all. And frankly, it didn't really bother me. Then something happened. I'm just not sure what. Maybe it's my mother-in laws fault. She's a psycho cleaner, as I like to call her. She scrubbed the inside of my dishwasher with Clorox while she was here. Maybe it's my mother's fault. Her house is very neat and tidy. Maybe it's the germ film I watched in a Home Economics class while I was a teachers aid.

Moving has not been conducive to my ailment. It's driving me nuts that my house isn't in order. I know it's a gradual process, but that doesn't help me sleep at night. It's like I can't turn off my brain. I'm very into arranging things into order. Like finding every stash of Q-tips in the house and putting them in the special "Q-tip place". And finding ever rag from bathrooms, kitchen, garage, washing them and putting them in the "rag" box. Now you would think my house is orderly and clean...........Wrong! My carpet needs vacuumed, my kitchen floor needs scrubbed, and my bathrooms are a disaster.

I read a little plaque once that said "A spotless house is a sign of a wasted life". With all due respect, I disagree. Oh, how I wish my house was spotless. I bet Laura Ingalls Wilders house was very clean and tidy. I wish I could call her and get some tips.

Well, enough about my mental disorder. Last night we went to the YMCA and I did a class called Bootcamp. I thought I was going to die. There were six stations that had jump roping, shuffles, jumping jacks, push ups, etc. that you had to do for two minutes each. Then in between each station, you went to the middle of the gym for a one minute "burnout" where you had to do some excruciating exercises. After all that was through, we did a ten minute ab workout. I thought I'd died and gone to Hell. Today I went and did the treadmill for 30 minutes and did an upper body circuit.

Addison has been hitting me lately. Sometimes I think she's trying to play, but sometimes there's some anger behind it. She's been getting into trouble for it, but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down any. We've been playing Ring Around the Rosy and she thinks it's hilarious. Friday I'm going to take her to Toddler Time at the library. It's a story and play group. I'm sure she'll like that. Hopefully, she won't hit any of the other children. We had some snow this morning and it's been very windy and cold, 5 degrees today.

Sunday Shout Out

Today was a good day. We got up this morning and went church shopping. We tried Trinity Lutheran. We've been there once before. Jason knew two Hormel guys there, so that was neat. We've decided to visit quite a few Lutheran churches in town (there are several) before making a decision. This is a new experience for both of us. I can't say I'm really looking forward to it. Church for me is about comfort and I am definitely out of my comfort zone. I guess I expect for everyone to automatically know that we are church shopping and when I walk in the door they should introduce themselves and show us around. But that didn't happen. I'm not really digging being the new kid.


After lunch and a nap for us all, we got to work on the guest room/office. We got everything organized and on the walls. There are alot of flags in here. You don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, but everyone must remove their hats and place it over your heart, please.





Here's a look at the family room. It's very Nebraska sporty.

And here's Jason's house warming gift to himself, a television. I must admit, though, that High Definition is pretty cool.

I took a night off cooking tonight and we ordered a Pizza. Addison ate an entire piece by herself! I find this amazing for a person that weighs 26lbs. Her little stomach can't be bigger than a walnut. About an hour later Jason and her came downstairs and he said she might be sick or something because she threw up. Come to find out, they had been up there eating more pizza. Hmmmm, I wonder why she got sick??? Tomorrow our goal is to hit the Y in the morning. Tomorrow night, Jason's back to work. He told me today he'll be working both Saturday and Sunday next weekend. Is the Superbowl next Sunday? If so, he'll be out of luck. Go Patriots!

Where Have I Been?

I know I said I would try to update this every couple of days, once I got to Nebraska. You're probably thinking I've gone back on my word, but actually I haven't. Addison and I decided to go back to Kansas this last week, since Jason was going to be gone. He left last Sunday for Minnesota for work training, so we took off as well. We had a nice visit with Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins. It was strange to go "home" and be "homeless" all at the same time. But, it did have it's perks. When you stay at other people's houses, you don't have to cook or clean! It really was like a vacation. We came back to Nebraska on Thursday and Jason came in on Friday evening. Addison had a milestone on our way back. We didn't stop once. It took us exactly 3 hours and 45 minutes. She slept, watched Shrek, and ate 4lbs. of Cheez It's, but we made it.

We've spent today unpacking and arranging the family room and garage. We were making great progress until we got half-way through the family room and got to the walls that are painted cinder block. Jason has a mason bit, masonry nails, and screws to hang pictures. We can only get the masonry bit to go in about 1/4" deep. Does anyone have any advice? We're stuck.

We got word yesterday of Tyson laying off over half of their employees in Emporia. This is devastating news for the city. What is going on with this economy? I'm channeling Laura Ingalls Wilder to be prepared for a depression. Oh how I wish I had paid more attention when my mom tried to teach me to sew in the 7th grade. Tomorrow we're going to do some church window shopping. Then we'll tackle the house some more. Hope this finds you all well.

We're Back, Or I Mean, We're Here!

We made it, alive and in one piece. We weren't able to have the carpet installed before the movers got here, so they had to put everything in the garage. It was stacked to the ceiling. They laid carpet on Friday and David, Karen, and Michele came up to help. Michele and I worked on unpacking and David and Jason did the heavy lifting and handyman jobs, while Karen watched Addison. It was a hectic weekend, but we were so grateful for their help. Hopefully, there next visit will be much more entertaining and relaxing. We've had snow off and on and it's bitterly cold with the wind.

This is what our garage looks like now. I'm channeling Laura Ingalls Wilder. Let me explain. The summer I was pregnant with Addison, I reread the Little House on the Prairie set. I love Laura Ingalls Wilder. I dream I'm Laura and get up every morning and bake bread and feed my chickens. Then I wake up and look at my garage. I hang my head. What would Laura think of me. All of this stuff. All this clutter. Then I go to my kitchen...............

I get my Sarah Lee bread out of my cabinet for toast and pour a cup of coffee that was programed to brew at 7am and think.............."Ah, screw Laura".

I'm just kidding, of course, I really do love her and wish I was her.

Last Friday morning, while the carpet was being installed, Addison and I drove over to Omaha and picked out a new fridge and living room furniture. Surprisingly, she was a total angel the entire time. She even pooped her pants halfway through and still was good. It's very neutral, but after having a plaid couch for the past 7 years, I learned my lesson. I'm not going to show pictures of any other rooms yet because they are in total disarray.

We've been to the YMCA. I did my very first Zumba class last night. It was fun, but I can barely walk up and down the stairs today. Addison liked the playroom there. I think she's going through some sort of growth spurt or something. She has been a bottomless pit lately. Two nights ago she had 3/4 a can of corn! Tonight she ate supper once with me then again when Jason came home for break. I'll leave you all with a few pictures I took this evening.

See Ya Next Week

I haven't blogged for a while because we've been in Nebraska closing on our house. It's a done deal. We went and spent a small fortune on carpet for the whole house. Why you ask do we need all new carpet? Is it because I'm a picky materialistic Diva? No, it's because the entire house smelled like dog piss and a truckload of Rug Doctors could not cure it. Now let's all take a moments pause to pray to high heaven that it gets put in before we move in. The movers/packers come tomorrow and we'll be going back up to Fremont on Thursday if all goes as planned. I am supposed to have Internet hooked up a week from tomorrow, so hopefully sometime next week I'll give you all a peak at what's going on.

Before I go, I wanted to share a picture of my brother, Curt's new bar. He's been finishing his basement and it's almost done. The bar was completed today so all they have to do now is carpet. Apparently, for Christmas, they bought a 60-something inch flat screen TV that virtually covers one wall. It's the kind of electronic device that causes males to make that Tim Allen, Home Improvement, "AHHRR, OOHHH, AAHHHOOORR" sound. Anyway, after it's all complete I'm sure Curt will be hosting a terrific get together where all alcoholic beverages will be provided, and you're all invited! Thanks, Curt!

Comments

Hey, feel free to leave comments to any of my posts. I'd like to hear every one's feedback. Negative or positive, it makes no difference to me. For those of you who are computer illiterate, just click on "comments" at the end of each post. I look forward to hearing from You All.

Dirty Curt

I have a little brother named Curt. His nickname was always Dirty Curt (shared by some baseball player Bavaqua (sp)???) Everyone in our family played baseball or softball growing up. Mom and Dad played slow-pitch womens, mens, and coed. My older brother played little league and I played softball. When Curt was a baby, we took him along, plopped him in the dugout and he was happy as a clam for 2 hours by himself. By the end of the night he was covered with dust. He was so good natured and such a pretty baby. But when he got to the age where he could talk, I began beating the crap out of him. Why, you ask? Because I'm five years older and that's what big sisters do.

This is a picture around 1984. Wasn't he cute? My dad was a pipeline inspector and this picture was taken on a jobsite somewhere in my dad's work truck. The majority of our vacations as kids were taken wherever dad was working at the time. We'd stay in his hotel and swim during the day. Then when dad got off work, he'd come and get us and go show us really big trenches in the ground where huge natural gas pipes would be laid. As you can see by the look on Curt's face, we LOVED it!

Curt always had the looks in the family. Which is unfortunate, considering I'm the only girl, but I came to accept it. Besides, I always had more track metals. Notice the Golden Harvest fridge in the background. You can't see it, but right around the corner in the kitchen was our rotary phone with a 150 foot cord.

Speaking of looks................so everyone goes through one of those stages. Curt never had glasses or acne, but he did go through the dreaded "I haven't grown into my giant front teeth" stage.

And here's Curt now, all grown up, with his beautiful bride, Bobby. They are perfect for each other. He's become quite a man that I am so proud to call, my brother. I love ya, dude!

Hey, remember my biggest brother, Chad? Yeah, we'll get to him later.

I Have Relatives With Purple Hair And A Very Shiny Sink

Happy New Year!

Today Addison and I went to David and Karen's for lunch. We had some very yummy lasagna. I can't think of a better way to bring in the new year than with good Italian food. Since Jon and Wendy were in Colorado for Christmas, we exchanged our gifts today with them. It is so much fun to buy gifts for other people's kids and I do try to be practical, but with my niece it is very hard. Girls are just so fun to shop for. And what five year old girl doesn't need a headband with hot pink braids and sparkly purple extensions?

Here's Jaley modeling her new hairdo. Apparently it is impossible to wear this headband without breaking into a John Travolta impersonation.




Then she talked Aunt Michele and her mom into joining in on the fun.

Addison and I came home and played for a while. After she went to bed I started straightening the house. Then I remembered something I read lately on Flylady about shining your sink. The philosophy goes something like this: If your sink is full of dirty dishes all the time you're less likely to cook at home, thus you go out to eat and waste money. If you were to wake up every morning to a glorious sparkling sink, you couldn't help but smile. So then I thought.......I want to smile tomorrow morning. I'm a good person. I deserve it. Why can't I smile in the morning like everyone else? I'm going to shine my sink. So I did.

Now I know what your all thinking. How did she ever get that darn sink to sparkle so. Well, here is what I did. First, I filled both sides of the sinks with super hot water and added about 1/2 cup of bleach. I let that sit for about 15 minutes. Then I used my thongs and pulled out the plugs. I then used Ajax and scrubbed out both sides and rinsed. Finally, I took out my trusty Windex and polished them up. I know, it sounds like such a fiasco, but believe me, it was well worth it. I smiled tonight. I'm smiling now. I'm going to smile in the morning.

P.S. Yes, I'm bogging about cleaning products. Mock if you will, but everyone needs something to live for.