Household Theme Song

When we were younger, my family used to take trips to St. George to visit our cousins. We would hike, swim, jump on the tramp, eat, go to parks - the normal stuff. But for whatever reason, one of the things I remember most about those trips was watching a little video called, "The Cat Came Back." In truth, I don't really remember any of the details of that video other than it's about a man that keeps trying to get rid of a cat, but it keeps coming back. Appropriately, the one thing we all took away from that short little video was the theme song...

"But the cat came back the very next day. He thought he was a gonner, but the cat came back... He just wouldn't stay away."

For years me and my siblings would find ourselves singing that song. Just recently, I decided it's my home's theme song. Yes, my home has a theme song.

And now for the strange transition.

I am no domestic goddess. Not by any means. Not by a long shot. I have hopes and dreams of being a great stay at home mom some day that keeps her house in impecable order. But that day is not today. After a group effort cleaning, we sit back and admire how nice it is to have a clean home. And really - it is a sanity thing. When the house it clean, it is so much easier to think, relax and just simply function.

But bit by bit things start to slip. And before you know it - it looks like a tornado has struck. I will come home and wonder, "How is it possible for two people to make such a mess?!" It seems impossible, but obviously it's not. It is a step by step thing, just like anything else. You come home late from work and set things down you would normally put away. You are in a hurry to make dinner and rush out the door so the dishes don't get done.

The laundry gets washed, but you are never home to put it away.

You go on vacation, come home exhausted, and the bags and gear stay piled where they landed when you came home to shower. It happens. And then when you combine that with the fact that we are never home long enough to clean it up... well... you get the point.

And that's when I started singing the song to this little video realizing how well it fit. "But the mess came back the very next day. She thought it was a gonner, but the mess came back.... it just wouldn't stay away."

It was after a long and discouraging day that I sat up in bed whining and crying to Ryan about how overwhelmed I felt. I was stressed about my schedule, fitting in students, work, etc, and I was telling him how much I felt like a failure at not being able to keep up with everything, especially the household stuff. It felt good to get it off my chest, even if it didn't "fix" anything.

The next morning when I came home from the gym, I found Ryan in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up and hands wet and soapy. Not only were all the dishes done, but he had cleaned and scrubbed the counter and sink too. I cannot put into words how immensely happy that made me. It was a small act - but it made all the difference in the world. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted. Sure, the dishes are just a small part of the whole picture - but the fact that he just did it was so wonderful. I have the best husband in the world!!! We sat in the kitchen talking about projects and what we wanted to accomplish next. He must have been bitten by the cleaning bug too because he wanted to tackle a lot of the bigger issues right away, but sadly, there just wasn't time.

This weekend was his weekend to work. Thankfully I was full of energy Saturday morning when I woke up and decided I was going to repay his kindness to me in my time of need by tackling some of the projects he was wanting to take on.

To start of the day I went to pick up our first "Bountiful Baskets" order. That was another thing Ryan just up and did on his own. He researched it out after talking to other family members doing it, and then jumped online, made the order and payment, and gave me the instructions of where to show up. If you don't know about Bountiful Baskets, it's awesome. $15 per basket, per order. You get tons and tons of fruit and veggies. Way more than you could get at the store. For our first order we got lettuce, cabbage, carrots, green onions, tomatoes, bananas, 10 limes, strawberries, apples, peaches, plums, and mangoes. An incredible amount of food. All fresh produce. My in-laws did the math. They compared what they got with sale prices at the stores and it would have cost more at the store.

After the basket pickup, I went outside and decided to mow the back lawn. That is typically Ryan's job, but I figured that would be a good way to surprise him and show my gratitude.We have a riding lawn mower. I usually ride around and do the big parts of the back yard and then Ryan takes the regular mower and trims all the edges and the front lawn.

I have to say, Dodger is the coolest dog. He loves to sit on our lap and cruise around the yard with us. He is awesome.

After the lawn was mowed, I got really ambitious and called my sister Kara. A little bribery goes a long way, and after I got back from a brief stop at yard sale looking for baby items, Kara joined me at my house to tackle the "big project."

Remember my kitchen - or lack thereof? The disaster zone from our pipe breaking? Well of course it has only gotten worse since that time, but now that the pipe is officially fixed, it was time to get rid of those stacks of boxes. I pulled everything out of the pantry so we could really organize it all. Armed with the offer of money, Kara helped sort everything out, find lids for Tupperware, put things into piles, and help me decide where things should go. About this point my energy level began to sink pretty quick, but she kept me going. What a trooper!

Once we had everything off the floor, we started on the table. She picked up our giant calendar and asked for a push pin. I sent her to the pen drawer to find one. She came back empty handed. I went back with her and started digging through the drawer. Something was caught under the organizer so I spent quite a bit of timing fighting with the drawer until it finally came free.

Does anyone else have a drawer that looks like this? And this was after I got the organizer part out. Sigh... that's a project for another day. Point is - I found a push pin and the calendar is now back on the wall.

Kara and I finished washing a few items, sweeping and moping just as we heard the door open and Ryan come down the stairs. We didn't finish the table, but oh my goodness - we have a kitchen!!! It looks so nice! Our voices echo in there now. Empty, but so clean!

Aren't you so proud?! I sure am! And so was Ryan!!! He was so impressed! I think I overdid it a bit, because my energy level crashed after that, but I was so happy! I took a much deserved nap after that.

I may not be the best house keeper in the world, but I am trying. And I am getting better. I am so thankful to Ryan for being such a great help. He has done a ton of work on our back room. It is so clean and organized back there now. He has everything put away back there where it's nice and easy to find. He has also done massive amounts of work in the backyard. He is a stud. I am so lucky to have him.

Will the mess come back? Probably, but I am working on it. I figure I have six more months to get things in working order. And I am sure nesting will kick in and help out - hopefully before I get too big and exhausted. I really want to be better at keeping things clean and organized. I may not be a domestic goddess yet, but I am a goddess in training.