You don't CLEAN, you CLEAN UP.

First, let me preface this by saying I am 100% appreciative of everything my husband does. He is usually the one to cook dinner and go grocery shopping and I am very grateful to have dinner ready (or almost ready) when I get home from work. If I’m working through dinner, which I usually am, he will bring my dishes out to the kitchen and load them in the dish washer when we are done.

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So here comes the gripe, he always tells people that he is the one that cleans, and that he is always picking up after me.
But darling, you don’t CLEAN, you CLEAN UP. Yes, you often take my dishes out to the kitchen or put my water glass in the dishwasher, and as much as I love the help, it’s not ‘cleaning’. Cleaning is when you wash the floors, scrub the bathrooms, wipe down the cabinets, clean the inside of the fridge, etc. It involves rubber gloves and chemicals and various scrubbing/washing accouterments, none of which you have ever wielded.

I love you but you don’t clean. You CLEAN-UP.

Anyone else’s husband think he ‘cleans’?

On Childhood Toys....

Just a few things before the weekend....

A) I loved all your responses to this post.  I had Kirsten, who apparently they don't sell anymore.  She had a custom made 4-post bed with curtains to protect her from the winter chill in Maine and flannel sheep sheets.  One day I took her braids out and then immediately regretted it as she never looked the same.  She still resides in Maine with my other childhood BFFs, Edith Amelia (my cabbage patch doll) and oodles of barbies.  They are all living it up in my parents attic, just like what was supposed to happen in Toy Story 3.  As a little side story, my barbies completely had it made.  They had a HUGE barbie mansion with three levels, complete with jacuzzi tub and tennis courts.  For transporation they had their choice of a delightful vintage pink Rolls Royce convertable or berry pink 2-door hardtop Jeep, I mean we did live in Maine and the Rolls wasn't that great for off-roading with Ken.  Speaking of Ken, I only had one and he had to date ALL the girls, so I guess Ken was really the one that had it made.

B) My girl Maddie started her own blog.  You should probably check it out if you haven't already :)

What were your favorite childhood toys?  Do you or your parents still have them?

My Irrational Fears....

Sometimes I have a rather wild imagination.


Last night I couldn’t fall asleep because I decided I would have no idea what I would do if the following situation were to occur.
I am babysitting an obese toddler and I HAVE to go grocery shopping, I put him in the cart and his weight causes the cart to topple over immediately snapping his femurs in half. (FYI, I don’t babysit, I don’t know any obese toddlers, and I rarely go to the grocery store). Right now I’m terrified to put any type of baby in a cart. If/when we have kids I will likely have to have my groceries delivered via PeaPod, or fill up the cart with heavy items before I put said baby in to balance out the weight. I’m pretty sure if this were possible it would have happened to someone already, and I would’ve heard about it, and since I haven’t it seems quite impossible, but still logical enough to keep me awake at night.

Other fears perpetually running through my mind are :

- Falling and knocking out all my teeth.  

- Laying on my stomach on the floor with my toes curled under me (like I was going to do a push-up) and having someone step on the back of my foot inverting all my toes and having them all break at once.

- Being in a terrible accident where my right hand had to be amputated. Would I use a left-handed mouse? Would I keep the standard mouse so that I wasn’t inept at using other people’s computers, and just move it to the left side? Most importantly, how would I shave my right armpit? What if I wasn’t married? Would I have to hire someone as my armpit shaver? How much would you pay that person? Do I just have one hairy arm-pit all the time?

So many questions, so little time.

it is not me....

I have google alerts set up to monitor my name/business/etc. The spelling of my first name is not a common way of spelling it, so I don’t get too many un-related hits. There is, however, a plus size model – whose name is exactly the same as mine. Typically she’s a good girl and her photos are pretty. But apparently she’s down on her luck because I got a hit today which included my, her, our? name and a number of graphic keywords from mstrbate dot com (no I didn’t click on the link).


Just in case you were concerned, it is not me.

Do you share your name with anyone?

Spray Painting Things White....

I think I’m over this spray-painting everything white trend. I swear I get at least one post/day in my google reader where someone is spraying an inanimate object white.

I’m not over spray painting things (far from it) – but there are so many pretty colors out there; why does everything have to be white?
Even if it looked pretty my husband would call it ‘clutter’, so maybe I’m just jealous?
Are you ON IT or OVER IT?

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The Big D-Word....

One of our friends recently announced that he and his wife are getting a divorce. They are our age 26-28ish but have been married for 6-8 years (don’t remember exactly when) and have 3 kids. We hung out with the two of them fairly recently and they seemed absolutely fine (and I know you can put on a show and pretend everything is fine, but she was sitting on his lap/arms around his neck, etc. – it really didn’t look like a show). We weren’t the only ones who were blindsided, apparently he (the husband) was as well.
Anyways, it got me thinking a few things


1. How can you be blindsided by divorce? I understand if the person is cheating, or leading some secret double life, but that is not the case in this situation. Did they not talk? And if not, wouldn’t you want to try and make an effort – at least for the sake of your three young kids to talk things out before leaving? Do you wake up and decided you do not love the person anymore or realize you do not like the life you created for yourself and decide you want out?  Don’t you think that the other person deserves to hear your concerns and try and fix things if they want (which he does) before you just decide it’s over? I honestly just don’t get it.

2. The second thing is that it’s making me feel really old. Are we really at that point where our friends are getting divorced?

I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by happily married couples growing up. My parents, grandparents and almost all my friends parents are still happily married. I do understand that some situations warrant separation, but also think that when you get married and have children you give up some* of your rights to your personal happiness, for the sake of your family.

What are your thoughts on divorce? 

*I really mean some, like not being able to go on vacation whenever you like, or choosing to get your child braces instead of those designer shoes you’ve been eyeing.

I don't know how to be NOT busy....

I don’t know how to be not busy.

If I’m ‘busy’ I don’t have time to do other mundane/less exciting things, like cleaning....or working out.
So I’ve surrounded myself with my work, and my business, and our house; and created thousands (probably) unnecessary projects with which to occupy my time so I can stay busy and avoid those unmentionable tasks without feeling guilty about it.

I can’t sit on the couch and do nothing (unless we are watching a movie, and even then no promises). I am almost always doing more than one thing at a time, not doing so feels unproductive.  If I'm watching one of 'my' shows I'm also likely working on designs for clients, stalking other people's blogs, or shopping for anywhere from 1-6 items online.  On average I have 8-10 tabs open with different windows....and sometimes two browsers.  It's a problem.

I’ve been starting to feel a bit burnt out lately. I want to do more things than I have time. Like read more, plant a garden, fix up our house, learn to cook, blog more regularly and be more physically active. But I know that I’ll just substitute one thing for another and still be busy – as I said before, I don’t know how not to be.

I've tried limiting the amount of clients I take on at a particular time, but then someone will email me, and their project sounds fun and interesting and I squeeze them in.  And again, and again.

I think I need that time-travel thing Hermione has.

Do you have a good life-balance? What do you do to make sure you have time for everything you want (and have) to do?

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Good things to come....

I'm officially the big 2 - 6. 
I predict good things to happen this year.

Calories definately don't count on your birthday.  And if you ask me, they don't count for anyone who chooses to celebrate with you either :)

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We issued a DNR* on my car this week. I think it’s just her time, although I must admit I’m not ready to see her go.


Story of my life, that when we actually move out of the city and need 2 cars (it has been less than a month) that my car breaks….bad.

Anyways – this means I need to go car shopping/test driving this weekend and the boy is still out of town for business, which means I have to go ALONE :(

Last time I went shopping alone it was for paint, (2 weeks ago), I was in the midst of painting and therefore did not have my wedding rings on.

Result = FREE PAINT

(Now before you get all judgey-pants, I wasn’t trying to get free paint; in fact I didn’t even realize I was missing my rings until I got back in the car).

So, when I go shopping for cars (where 99% of the dealers are men) should I *forget* to wear my rings and hope for a deal?
Or definitely keep them on so they don’t try to take advantage of a single lady?

Do you get more respect with or without the bling?

*Do not Resuscitate

No House Projects This Weekend....

No playing with the house this weekend – we are headed up to Maine for our first wedding of the season. It’s a BIG one, we are talking 230+ and should be a pretty fun time (minus the driving to get there). We called dibbs on being driven home by the pregnant girl after the reception, so bring on the libations.

The boy was offered BOX seats to Saturday night's Red Sox game and had to turn them down because of the wedding.  I feel terrible since he doesn't really know the couple, I told him he didn't have to come with me and that he could go to the game and take his brother, but he said he would go to the wedding with me.  I melted - he's such a good hubby.

I have a feeling this will be the largest wedding I’ll probably ever attend –
Which do you prefer? Large weddings or intimate gatherings?
or would you be at the Sox game? :)

No Wonder My Back Hurts....

I'm flying to Philly tomorrow morning for a few days for work.  This means I had to unpack my 'go to' bag, to make sure I wouldn't set off the metal detectors and embarass myself in any way in front of my bosses.  I carry this bag EVERYWHERE, and it's fairly large, therefore it collects a pretty decent amount of 'stuff'. 

Check it out - no wonder my back hurts!

Do I really need access to red bakers twine and watch batteries at the drop of a hat?  I don't think so - Or the manual for my new ski-boots?  Def. not.

It feels good to have everything cleaned out, although I'm putting the flashlight and fingernail clippers right back in my bag when I get home!

Is your bag a catch-all for your life?

on signage...

Today I saw signage on a door of a business that read:
"By appointment, or by chance."  I appreciate that you are truthful enough to write that in plastic decal letters on your door.  And most importantly it made me smile.

Have you seen anything smile-worthy lately?

UPS Conspiracy...

I think the UPS and the garbage guys are involved in a conspiracy against me.  On the rare occasion that I receive a package 9 times out of 10 it will come on a Wednesday evening.  Our garbage gets picked up on Wednesday morning.  Generally I have to open the package the second I get through the door due to uncontainable excitement and after I have retrieved my prize I am likely to leave said packaging as is...ie right in front of the door, where I must kick it to exit our apartment for the next 6 days.

Note: I am not complaining about getting large packages.  I will deal, I just think this could be coordinated better.

Note to Self : Foot Lotion

Today I made the mistake of putting lotion on my feet at work. I often have my shoes kicked off under my desk and noticed that my feet felt rather dry….so I lotioned them up! Unfortunately, the lotion had not fully absorbed by the time lunch came which made for a rather awkward walk to get a sandwich where I was struggling to keep my shoes on and they kept slipping and sliding off anyways. I can only imagine what I looked like. I tried to keep them on by clutching my shoes with my toes, which half worked, but now I have the worst foot cramp in my left leg.

Note to Self: Do not lotion feet while wearing shoes with slippery insides. In fact, maybe you should just keep your shoes on at work.