The Problem With Lazy Butts Like Me

I sincerely wish I had pretty pictures to show you today. It's just been so dark the last few days there's been little chance for good photography, and what I'm blogging about today isn't that pretty.

Lately, I've really been trying to work at maintaining this place. I am forever dealing with the curse of laziness and procrastination. I want my house to be neat, cleaned regularly, and guest ready all the time, but most of the time I want to read books and blogs more.

My entire life I've been the messy sort. Not so messy that I should be on hoarders, but not nearly as tidy and organized as I long to be. My room as a child was always a mess. On Saturdays, we had to clean our rooms before we could watch tv and though I loved Garfield and Friends with fervent passion, I often missed it because it took me forever to get things picked up. I faced two problems: an overwhelming mess and the lack of moral fortitude to attack it with gusto in a timely fashion.

My adult life hasn't always been much better. I wish I could blame messes on my kids, but the truth is, when we were newlyweds our apartment was frequently a disaster. My worst places are kitchens and bedrooms, maybe because dishes and laundry are constant jobs that procrastinators quickly get buried under.

However, children have a way of introducing widespread chaos on the neatness of a household. Toys, clothes, food, games, crayons, accessories, and let's not even mention poor bathroom aim. Couple that with a tiny house and procrastination, and you've got a problem on your hands.

I find that my success as a domestic goddess comes in waves. Sometimes, I'm totally winning at keeping things cleaned up, but sooner or later, something will come up that throws a hitch into my desire to clean all the things and before I know it I'm buried under clutter again. I'm not consistent. Sometimes it's big things like morning sickness or a new baby, and other times it's little things like getting sucked into a good book or not getting enough sleep.

I've had a bit of success lately though. Maybe it's because I'm in my thirties now and I have to be a grown up. It's not cute anymore to not be able to walk through my room because of all the clothes on the floor. I know the key is regular maintenance--picking things up each day and not letting the mess get ahead of me. When I suck it up and do the dishes before bed, I feel so much better the next morning. It's mental for me--I have to decide to overcome the almost palpable aversion to doing certain things. Once I get started, I'm usually okay.

In the last few months, I've worked to keep my car clean, the dishes done and the laundry going. So far, I've been most successful in keeping the van clean. In the last two weeks, I've been a superstar, keeping on top of everything. I've loved it, but I've also known it probably won't last.

Today, I'm feeling the challenge. I don't wanna. We'll see if I overcome.

Here are a few little things I've noticed help my productivity: Making my bed every day. Rinsing off dishes immediately after use. Having pretty containers to store things like toys and shoes. Reminding the boys to take in their stuff from the van. Having a large laundry basket handy to collect all the clothes every day.

Here's where I still need major improvement: Paper filing, dusting (such a simple job, but so easy to neglect!), keeping the homeschool room picked up, having the boys pick up their room (out of sight, out of mind usually).

So tell me, am I the only one who struggles with being a Messy Bessy? Sometimes it seems like everybody else is better at this than I am. What are the things you struggle with or what are the basic jobs you make yourself do everyday? I'm all ears.

I did something!

As I write this, it is the night of my son's eighth birthday, and we just finished up a party with six little boys and now we are settling in for a sleepover, so my brain is about to shut down.

I'm tired.

The kids were fabulous. Not too loud, not whiny, not gross. They just played and ate and laughed and made a few boy noises now and then. Kids getting older is a good thing. It's an awesome thing.

But my feet are also getting older, and they're aching.

Anyway, I decided...or rather Pinterest told me...to make some easy artwork to hang in our living room. I am NOT the artistic sort, unfortunately. I wish I could draw and sketch and paint and craft, but my skills in those areas are extremely limited.

But Pinterest makes things look easy, and I end up doing things I wouldn't normally try. I saw this and thought to myself, I might could maybe possibly be able to do that.

I had all the supplies for it already--a couple of canvasses, paint brushes, and some acrylic paint, so I decided I had nothing to lose.

I used colors I already had in my accessories, but emphasized the blues.

And when they were (mostly) dry, I slapped 'em up on the wall over the piano...the wall that desperately needed covered because of all the nail holes. They aren't as beauteous as the original pin's were, but I'm happy with them.

I also got a couple new lamps recently since the big one in here bit the dust. Love them. You can see Thing Two goofing off in the reflection. Also moved over my coral and hung some photos.

So, for reference, here's what it used to look like over here before we moved the piano back in:

It actually hasn't looked like this in ages since we moved the dresser to the tv area. This wall has sorta been in limbo for awhile.

And now:

There ya have it. I still need to add Homegirl's handprint to the picture with the other two, but other than that, I'm very happy with the way this turned out. 

Conflicted

Sometimes I love my house.

Sometimes I hate it.

Sometimes, I like it well enough, but I can't stop imagining a different house.

That's me right now. It's not that I hate living here. I like the things we've done and worked on and changed. It's homey and it keeps the rain off our heads.

But we're starting to inch near to the place where we're thinking of selling. I'm very torn. On the one hand, I'm excited to think of how close we are to being out of debt and how we'd easily be able to afford a house that's a little bigger as far as a monthly mortgage goes. On the other hand, selling this place seems absolutely impossible and a mountain I just can't imagine climbing. When I think of how much it costs to sell...realtor's fees, closing costs, not to mention a down payment for another place, I just don't get how people do it. That's so much money! It just seems unrealistic.


I'm also pretty sure we'd lose money on this place. I'd be surprised if we could get an offer that's equal to what we owe on it. And our credit, though improving, isn't great. Could we even get a loan for another house?

And yet, people do it all the time. People who have less than we do. How??

It doesn't help that there are several houses in the area we want that I love that are a bargain right now. I found one last night that I had to look at twice. It was so lovely. Not perfect, I'd have to give up a couple things, but it looked worth it. If it wasn't for this house we're saddled with, I'd be making an offer.

I bet that's how nearly every homeowner on realtor.com feels. I wish I didn't have a house to sell first.

I guess it comes with the territory of a buyer's market.

It was a lot easier to buy the first time. Well, not easy. It still seemed expensive and confusing, but compared to selling, it was much simpler.

I wish I could stop thinking about having those extra square feet and closets and a bigger yard. But, lately it feels as though the walls are caving in here. No matter how much I purge, there's still clutter. I'm running out of storage places. The children are getting bigger and taking up more space.

I think it's because we're so close to being in a better place financially and the irresistible buyer's market that has me obsessing. It's so close, yet still so far.

I think I'll feel better when we wrap up a few dangling projects around here, like the attic and the bathroom. We just haven't had the time lately to tackle them, but once done, I'm sure I'll feel a boost of love for this place. Plus, with the holidays coming, there will be trees to decorate and lights to string and that's always fun.

I'm just going to keep reminding myself to be thankful. Thankful that we aren't facing losing our house like we once were. Thankful that each of us has a warm bed and more clothing and toys than we need. Thankful for friendly neighbors that don't mind if our boys climb the fence to play in their yard with their kids. Thankful that my bathroom no longer completely disturbs me (only parts do). Thankful that even though it's not much, it's ours.