running in circles....

I have always wished I could be more efficient. I know a mom with more than a few kids, who is extremely organized. She has individual towel hooks for the kids, hooks by the pool for their goggles, all their special schoolwork from through the years organized neatly in bins...

I always told myself that it was because she had ONLY seven kids, ha. But the truth is, I have a problem putting things where they belong on a regular basis. I set things places, thinking I'll put them away later. When later comes, there is a mess. I clean up mess, and vow to never put things in the cheat-y places again. It is a discipline for me to put the dog leash in the same spot every time so I don't have to search for it. But since it is not natural for me, I think I deserve a prize just for not losing the dog leash. Is there a name for this? It isn't sheer laziness, because I am not totally lazy. I do jobs, like washing a giant load of socks....match them up, and feel like a rich woman because WE HAVE SOCKS. ALL MATCHED. Then...time passes...no more matched socks...blah. I can't seem to keep up with everything, so if one thing shines, another is falling behind.

Anyway, here I am trying to clean the house and make things nice for the party before I do all the shopping and food preparation....I am running in circles. Yesterday, I sorted through my clothes, discarding and packing away a few things that have gotten too big, washing a few loads and putting things away in my room...this is not what I need to be doing now! But....I get distracted.

Our foyer is hilarious. It needs another coat of paint, for one thing. The other thing is that Aaron and Margaret are "done". Aaron says he can't reach the very top few inches while standing on the kitchen chair...and the walls were too wet to use the ladder that leans against them....blah. I just want it DONE so we can put things back in there and get on with other things that need to be done. blah.

One other thing: my older kids: they complain about our house, but when I try to get them to help with these things, they complain about that....they are kind of kidding, but rrr.

Anyway, I putter around here, getting distracted, picking things up, not getting ahead at all because the PRINCESSES are MASTER mess-makers. They set up a little house in the clean hallway, because for my kids, a clean area is like a clean slate, a place to play in....so in the hallway, they put a rug, a little lamp I let them borrow from my room, and tons of blankets. Why they need so many blankets is beyond me, but they made an extremely cozy little house. They close all the doors in the hall, then open the two doors opposite from each other at the end, so it is all dark. They scatter purses and dolls around the living room, they get towels and blankets out to use for capes and to attach to their dolls hair to make it like it is really really long Rapunzel hair....they get out games and they color pictures....so basically, we balance each other out, the princesses and I. Oh, I get them to help pick their stuff up. Which is notably more trouble than it's worth, but....

Anyway, it seems like a big funny joke that we have invited a hundred or so people here for Sunday. I have to still write a list of what I need to buy, then I need to buy it, then I need to cook and prepare what we are having....but first of course, I need to clean the house. ha.

Today, I would like to stay home, go out into the eighty degree sunshine, lie around and get all tan, then go for a swim. ha.

Or, I would like to go strawberry picking at the place down the road and freeze tons of berries, after eating millions, that is.

And, in the midst of this, I am so frustrated with this whole diet/exercise thing. I do this thing where I struggle with the pounds...I see a low number, it goes back up a few, then down again, then up a few....then finally down. Well, now I am at "up a few", and it is unnerving. I have been good, but I guess I can always do better. I did have one of the chocolate chip cookies Mirielle and Evelyn were baking last night for Ev's class. One. And, it was figured into my calories for the day, which were under 1300. Plus I walked and exercised, and took a little swim in our still cold still not clear pool. blah.

But one of the things I have found as a common encouragement form people who have lost large amounts of weight is to hang in there while the scale fluctuates, do not give up.

Well, now the princesses are awake and need their breakfast.....