The White House

The White House

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Productive Day!

Yesterday challenged my patience at times, but over all it went pretty good. For –35* below!

Right off the bat Emily and I went to work cleaning the piles that had accumulated during my rough week.

We got my husband a variety of shirts for Christmas thinking maybe he would wear something else beside the same style every.single.day. Nope. There they are piled high (with a bunch of other junk). We got it down to mine and Em’s purses, clothes that need exchanged and a package to mail.

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If I took a panoramic shot you’d see it’s all like this. Never ending battle. The bag of clothes is for Debbi, a few toys for Lucas and a table of crafts in progress. Wish I had that craft room done.

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Now do you see how I lost my camera on the table? We cleaned these two areas, too. Swept and even spent a little time on paperwork. (Yuck)

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Millie is shedding like it is April. I don’t even get it. I brushed a bucket full off her and need to do it again. I just love how she crosses her feet. I was asked how she’s doing with the cold…. just fine because she’s been living in the house. This summer she needs a kennel and top-notch dog house built though. She’s just to hairy to be inside plus she’s not 100% potty trained. Oh, and Daisy is a rock star when it comes to the elements. Not your average sheep. :)

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I even took time to go through these drawers and put some winter gear in them. Need to bring the rest of it down stairs. There really hasn’t been a need. It’s been so cold all winter I think the kids have played out side twice? Nick brought in wood and split some kindling. Then I brought in some more, swept and struggled with the fire all day long. I had asked Elijah to bring in more wood, but since I won’t let him do anything he refused. I did it myself and hurt my back. Of course. Made for a long rest of the day. (I know, I can almost hear some people saying …. make him. Really? He’s lost all privileges and if  you know how to make a 6’2”, 180 lb man-child do something he refuses to, let me know).

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We never did get to this mess. We got side-tracked by Sophie barking at the purple ball. All.day.long. Then there was Elijah doing little things to get under my skin. You know, like squeak the dog toy for 15 minutes straight during the end of a very good football game. I just ignored him, but 12 minutes in Lucas lost it and yelled at him. It was kind of funny. I won’t go into detail, but it was a full day of little annoyances and constant badgering to go here or there. I’ve never really presented Elijah truthfully because I don’t want people to not like him. Does that make sense? Anyhow, he worked hard at being a pain all day, but I survived! And I still love him. And he’s still mad.

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In all our cleaning, bill paying and arguing all I really wanted to do was curl up with these catalogs and make my gardening decisions. I just put them back on the shelf. Emily and I did make yogurt yesterday. In fact, I need to get it out of the oven and put it in jars. Fingers crossed it worked as good as it did last time.

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Check this thing out…. it is a hand-held scanner. I can take it out of the dock and roll it across a document or I can leave it in the dock and feed the paper through. I can either remove the disk to insert in the computer or it has a cable to connect to the computer. It was a Christmas gift from my in-laws Claudia and Doug. I am here to tell you this is the most awesome little gadget and came at the perfect time. It’s really helped in my quest to become organized and pay off debt. I love it!!

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Well…we are sneaking up on kick-off time. I’ve got on my Aaron Rodgers shirt and my Green Bay coffee mug. Ready for some football. May my man with the dreamy eyes throw many touch downs today!! :)

3 comments:

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

WOW on the scanner. I've never seen that but it should make your life a lot easier and more organized. Stay strong with Elijah. He's testing you and pushing your buttons. I know it's hard, but if he breaks you, you're done for. Tough love, as hard as it is my friend. Go Green Bay - I'm watching too!!

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

I just thought of something... what if you asked Elijah to bring in some wood, and once he brought in the amount you wanted, with NO attitude, as I tell my own kids, THEN he could be on the computer for half an hour? Would something like that work maybe? Just a suggestion. Believe me, I'm no expert.

Arizaphale said...

Oh I am hearing you on the teenage boy thing. Have you talked to him about what he COULD do to get what he wanted? As Kim says, you can't give in but you could broker a compromise...unless he has too much testosterone for rational thought (haha). I often find mine will storm off and then rethink the situation and come back with a more rational approach. Not always though. I guess being stuck indoors for long periods like that would start to produce cabin fever, sounds like you could BOTH do with a break ;-)
(Oh and I wouldn't worry about what people think of Elijah. You know him and love him and you're just trying to navigate the horrors of adolescence. Many of us are going through the same thing)