Second update on cleaning

So I haven't exactly gone in exact order and the office remains mostly untouched, but I have made progress, which is awesome.

Saturday: the living room & hallway: DONE!
Sun.: Jack's room: DONE!
Mon.: office: file paperwork away & make desk functional again, then vacuum -- NOT EVEN CLOSE
Tuesday: hall bathroom: DONE!
Wednesday: our bathroom: (mostly) DONE!
Thursday: our room: vacuum, dust, organize closet and dresser
Friday: guest room: vacuum, dust
Saturday: kitchen: DONE!
Sunday: vacuum living room & hallway again.

The beginning of TWO: Pregnant again!

I've been meaning to start documenting this experience beyond posting a Facebook status and a picture of my peed-on tests, but, honestly, I've been kind of incredulous the whole time. I mean, it was quite a surprise! This is not the best time for us to have a baby, but it is definitely not the worst--John just started a new job, which is both exciting and a little scary and we just moved into a beautiful house that we can somehow magically afford each month without much help.

I don't need to document everything--you people will want to eat happily and even have good dreams sometime, so I'll spare you any conception details. But I just knew. Did you ever, um, well just know, way before you could ever take a test? I knew. And John laughed at me, a tad nervously and suspiciously, telling me I was crazy. And secretly having a twinkle in his eye, since getting pregnant was still something we'd planned on doing again after Jack.

So we waited. And while I wasn't against being pregnant, I was hoping that I wasn't. Because, you know, we weren't trying or anything. And I can (and do) logically talk myself out of getting pregnant because I need to work and sometimes the overwhelming desire to puke my guts out vetoes that need when I'm pregnant.

So Monday night (the 15th) as I crawl into bed I try to nonchalantly ask John something that can ONLY be "chalantly" asked:

"Babe, have I been extra bitchy lately?"

Because if I had been, then that would probably mean that I've got PMS and therefore not pregnant. I hadn't had my monthly tearful breakdown about something irrelevant and petty, so I was fearful of his reply.

"Um...why?"

"Just asking."

"Well, no, actually you've been really nice to me. Really nice. Like, I didn't want to mention it in case it would break the spell."

[Stunning revelation here about how crappy I treat my husband once a month. Sorry John.]

We sit in silence, side-by-side. John has his Tom Clancy book open but he's no longer reading. I'm mindlessly flipping through a Bed Bath & Beyond circular, barely looking at the pictures.

"Do you think you're pregnant?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

And if you have ever met John or spoken to him or even emailed him, you know that he is a man of action and not not NOT a man of waiting patiently for nature to reveal it's obvious answer. He got dressed and went to the store to get me a 3-pack of EPT, commanding me to drink water in his absence. (Yes I know you don't take tests two days before you're s'posed to start with practically no pee. There was no reasoning with him.)

After two glasses and one inefficient test later, nothing I could tell. There was a super, super faint line there, but what does that mean? Was the super faint line there before I took the test? Dammit. I couldn't remember. So we went to bed but John instructed me to take test #2 in the morning with "good pee."

Morning comes, have a "good pee," forgot to look for faint line before taking test because I was near comatose from getting like 4 hours of sleep. Still a super super faint line. I whispered "The test said no" as I kissed John goodbye and resolved not to take the last test til Sunday morning.
(I also want to remember later that when John woke up he didn't believe my answer, so dug through the bathroom trash to find the test to see for himself.)

Wednesday is s'posed to be D-Day. Nothing. Is my belly fat s'posed to be more...I don't know...fatty? It feels weird.
Thursday, nothing.
Friday, nothing.
Saturday morning I wake with lots of "good pee" and think, what the heck, I don't want to waste it, might as well test. So I do and the super super faint line is...much more distinct today. And all I can do is smile. My mind races, trying to think of the great idea I once concocted as to how to tell John about the second baby...it's gone forever. So, I just take the test, walk out to the garage and shove it in front of him while he works on target stands to shoot at.

*blink*
*blink*

"Really?!?!?!"

"I think so...go get me another test from a different company."

With lightning speed he hops in the car and shouts, "Call Jaimieeeeeeeee!" as he speeds away.
I tank up on more water.
With lightning speed he returns with one of those newfangled digital ones, which will clearly say "Pregnant" or "Not pregnant." Thank God--no more lines to interpret. Why haven't we been using these the whole time?

I try to feign extreme interest in the instruction pamphlet while I wait FOR-EV-ER for the stupid thing to spit out one word. I read for an extra minute just to give it some space.

"Pregnant."

And there was much rejoicing.

Update on the will to clean

Okay, so I said I'd try to report every day on my house-cleaning status. That was Saturday and it is Tuesday now. So let's do this thing.

Saturday (living room): honestly, got a little distracted cause I found out I'm pregnant so I vacuumed, but forgot everything else. Will be done today!
Sunday (Jack's room): ALL DONE! The closet is organized, the bed is in place, everything's clean! Yay me!
Monday (office): ha haha hahahahahahahahahahahaha...no
Tuesday (hall bathroom): to be done today!!! plus I'll catch up on Saturday and Monday. I honestly should have given the office two days.

The will to clean...

So, I have to say that I have a big BIG problem with motivation when it comes to cleaning.

Let me just say, I love having a clean house. I feel satisfied then and comfortable with staying home and just enjoying my squeaky-clean house. But on any given day really, I find decimated Goldfish crackers ground into the carpet, piles of "we should keep it but what should I do with it?" statements and receipts in the office, the dreaded laundry, my ever-shedding hair on the bathroom floor and approximately 8,353,982 toys littering the house (despite me packing up two boxes of toys away).

And somehow it is a miracle to not have a single dirty dish. One day, one ant will wander in and hit the jackpot, then bring his three billion friends and won't I be sorry? So I find myself needing to sweep and scrub everyday and, while there's satisfaction in it, it's so hard to be disciplined!

I think that I've even posted on this just recently, but I want to make a public resolution so you can all kick my butt if I don't follow through.

I have a week off for spring break, so my resolution is to get the entire house clean. If I clean one room a day, I should be all done before go back to work. Here's my schedule (because lists are cool):

Today: the living room & hallway: vacuum, dust, baseboards, windows, clean toys
Sun. : Jack's room: put toddler bed in, disassemble crib for the 700th time, vacuum, dust, organize, tackle Jack's closet.
Mon.: office: file paperwork away & make desk functional again, stack books for when we find another bookcase, then vacuum
Tuesday: hall bathroom: mop, clean counter/mirror/tub, put off cleaning toilet...okay, fine, toilet
Wednesday: our bathroom: ditto above, plus fix sink, that is stuck in "plugged" position
Thursday: our room: vacuum, dust, organize closet and dresser
Friday: guest room: vacuum, dust, organize closet
Saturday: kitchen: mop, scrub, wash, sanitize
Sunday: vacuum living room & hallway again.

Yes, I realize I'm vacuuming nearly everyday this way. Well, it just works for me. Or it won't and I'll just vacuum the whole house on Sunday. Tempting...

So, I'll try to report on my progress each day, so keep me accountable! Today's work starts right after a dirty diaper change! (Ew.)

Just happy...

Do you ever feel...just happy? Not everything has to be going well. Bills are still due. Spilt spaghetti sauce stubbornly burrows in unsealed kitchen grout. Ants begin "aimlessly" wandering in to escape the "heat." Cars still leak oil. But you're just happy. That's what I am today.

Of course, there are reasons for my glee today. It's John's last day at the "old" job. This is a little bittersweet for him because he's good at what he does and his boss will really miss him, but as a family this is great because he works 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Let me spell that out for you: NO MORE 2 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT SHIFTS! WEEKENDS OFF! HUBBY HOME FOR DINNER! The old job really blessed us with a regular paycheck after a few other less-than-profitable positions that painfully tapered down with the faltering economy, but this sounds even better. The new job starts Monday. Praise God!

Reason two is that John gets his "last check" today, which is not like a million dollars, but it is coming on the exact day that we absolutely must have more money or bills will be late and interest rates will go up. So I pretty much want to do cartwheels about this reason, although I've never been able to do one.

The third reason is, well, today is the last day of work (which also feels like school, since I'm a high school substitute teacher) before a week off for Easter break! No one CALLS it Easter break anymore, and they even distanced it two weeks away from Easter so the dumbest people in the world cannot make the connection. But now I'm veering towards Negative Town, so I'll come on back to "happy." :-)

My photography business is starting up again nicely and little "happy thoughts" are to be listed here too:

• I have a couple super-exciting projects coming up that I need volunteers for!
• I have a new camera coming on Monday (took long enough...) and Nikon's fixing my broken one that I'll use as a backup.
• I've got a wedding on the 27th!
• Maternity/newborn shoots for a dear ex-student of mine.
• and even more that I can't mention just yet!

My "middle" sis actually has spring break off next week too and is coming home from UCSD! So we can actually spend time together!

I know there are still things I can be sad or mad or stressed about, but for today...well, I'm just happy!

Reality check?

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. . .

Life is like an old-time rail journey--delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

~Jenkin Lloyd Jones, journalist

What do you guys think about this quote?

I feel like it's pretty accurate. I know it sounds a little depressing, but Jesus was never about hiding the nitty gritty of reality from those who would listen, and I think this isn't totally off the mark.
Most of my day is spent dealing with verbal abuse from teenagers who obviously were NOT held to any discipline standard during their upbringing, then coming home to a poopy diaper, dirty kitchen and piles of laundry. Then I see my son, sitting at his new little table and chairs, playing with a toy car...and that is my beautiful vista for the day. I know ALL about delays and sidetracks, dust (literally) and jolts. Misunderstandings often lead to the smoke and cinders. But the sweet moments in between make it all worth grunting through, and possibly enduring with a smile.

And all I can say is, praise God!

'Cause Debt-Free is the Way to Be

I am proud to announce that, with the refund from Uncle Sam (and the $800 handout of funny money from Obama), we have paid off one credit card and one outstanding medical bill, with another medical bill to follow tomorrow!!!! We have never been able to make more than the minimum payments, which of course sentences us to 8,000,000 years of debt, as the now-required-by-law handy dandy chart tells me on each statment. But if I only increase my payment to $644 per month...well then, I'll be done in 3 years instead. Or something like that.



So now, with $165 of monthly bills out of the way, I'm channeling that exact amount on top of the minimum of our next smallest bill, which should cut 3 years down to about 8 months! Then, shuffle $190 on to the next bill and so on. If we can only stay at the same stable level of poverty for, say 5 years (unless we make MORE money, obviously), then I think most of our debt will be gone! Hooray! I canNOT even fathom what life would feel like with only a mortgage, car and utility payments. Unbelievable. I want that even more than show lemons.



Last week I planned every dinner and some lunches. I didn't make most of them ahead of time (that to come soon, I hope!) but it was wonderful to go shopping and know I didn't have to go to the store again until the week after. Plus, it's great to have that plan posted on the fridge. I feel like I have control over that area of my life. I've actually grown to internally leap for joy when it's "junk mail day" because with that comes all the store ads! Yay! I have not turned into a full-blown coupon junkie, but I have my little accordion file and will often keep John from buying something if I know I have a coupon for it at home.



I know it's easier to praise God when times are good and I have to constantly remind myself to praise God when times really suck and we're eating spaghetti with that cursed Prego sauce for the 90th time in a row! We're definitely not out of the woods--we've only begun to see a little light at the end of the forest--but it is so encouraging to finally start getting a break!



So, how are you guys doing with the battle to avoid/eliminate debt?



And, speaking of debt...look at this beautiful, custom bed!!!

They don't tell me how much it costs...so that means it costs too much! *tear* Shoulda gotten the hint from the "custom" concept, huh?