Living Up to My Privileges as a Parent
I *finally* shampooed my carpets this morning. It’s such a disgusting task. Not the actual scrubbing part. I’ve got a carpet shampooer. It’s fine. It’s the dumping part–when I pour the sucked-up cleaning water down the drain. Gross. It’s just almost sludge. While I like the illusion of cleaner carpets, I wonder how many, many […]
Prioritizing as a Writer (and as a Person)
I guess it finally hit that point because I woke up yesterday morning and thought, “We can’t live like this anymore.” The house was just…beyond. I guess it’s because I’ve been so focused on my WIP since my parents left (in March!) that I haven’t really looked around and seen the scary levels things had […]
A Mom’s Throwdown Over Throw Pillows
After all these years sitting in living rooms, it finally occurred to me this morning why they’re called “throw pillows.” It’s because every single time a child encounters one, he or she feels an uncontrollable urge to throw them on the floor. Why is this? Why is it that every time I go into my […]
Make that $481
Remember the Rice Cooker? Wait. There’s more. My vacuum also broke. The “dream” vacuum my mom insisted on buying me three years ago when she was here last and saw the ridiculous effort I was making with my fourth vacuum in 8 months, and how futile the effort was. She couldn’t take it and in […]
Little Present to Me
It’s New Year’s Eve! I love New Year’s Eve–now that I’m married and don’t have to wonder when my prince will come and now that I have someone to kiss at midnight every year. It’s the best. Today I’m cracking the whip and getting the kids to clean up the Christmas bomb that exploded all […]
Hiding the Presents
With five kids running around a smallish house, there are blessed few places to stash a super-secret Christmas gift that I want to have as a surprise on Christmas morning. Forever I’ve just had to tell the kids, “If you want a surprise, then stay out of my bedroom closet from November 15th on.” Then […]
Likening Housework unto Editing…and the Bacon Sundae
A few months ago I had the opportunity to go help someone clean her house while she was in the hospital. It had a regular level of dirt, but it was a breeze! My sister in law was helping me, and we both commented on how easy it was to whip through someone else’s house. […]
The Sign of a Wasted Life
My friend has a plaque in her kitchen: “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life.” Is there a corollary that says a dirty house is a sign of an unwasted life? I’m not sure. All I know is that I’ve now proven to myself indisputably that a clean house and concentrated writing […]
Final (?) Edits
My publisher sent me the latest round of edits for Big in Japan–and there’s hope this will be the last. I’m poring over the lines, looking for typos and flubs, and I can start to feel the energy of this-book-is-really-going-to-be-in-print! The MS is 322 pages in Word, and I’m on page 133 of this read-through, […]
Junk Drawer Non-Junk
I have a really lame bookshelf in my kitchen. (I have to have bookshelves in every room.) The shelf itself isn’t lame, but the drawer at the top is. Every time anyone pulls it out, it teeters and almost falls, dumping its contents on the floor. I’m used to it and know to only pull […]
