The Texas Mama

The problem with my blog and Firefox is still not resolved, but look! Pretties! It may only be the end of February, but here in Texas, it is spring.  I have planted azelas and Japanese boxwood in the front. They look so puny- miniscule, really.  I am super proud of myself as this is the first time I have planted something of my own in my garden, like in the ground ‘n stuff.  Just call me Martha Freakin’ Stewart. So my mood rubbed off onto the blog. Much improved, I would say- it was so dark and serious.

I’ve been downloading pics onto flickr with comments, spring cleaning and organizing like a madwoman, moving furniture around, getting the shop organized, worrying that my daughter doesn’t eat enough (what is up with toddlers and the no eating?), reading, sleeping poorly, and trying to force Hali to sit in the “naughty chair”.

Great, so you get them there- by carrying them kicking and screaming, of course- then what? She doesn’t stay. Does this mean she is too young for the chair? I have also tried a rug. Same thing.  I have tried holding her down in it, sitting by her, sitting across the room from her, leaving the room, and all to no avail.  She won’t stay put. At first she thought it was a game. 

I think she is too young.  I am thinking about some kind of deprivation system. This sounds bad, but I think that is what will work for her. She loves her v-smile. That can be taken away for VERY bad behavior.  I think maybe something like a jar with candy in it, when she is bad I take some out or something tangible like that.  Is this bad?

So that is the short version of some of the things that have been going on.  It is nearly one in the morning, so I must try and get some sleep now, but rest assured, I miss blogging more frequently and will be sure to be back soon. 

*** I just looked at it using Internet Explorer, and the cute little flower and grass are all chopped up and boxed in a color that doesn’t blend into the background! Noooo! PLEASE E-MAIL ME IF YOU SEE THE SAME THING!!! I am going to cry!

I give up. I have spent the last two hours trying to fix this dang blog.  I know it’s been super annoying how the words all hang over the side there, and I noticed it long ago.  I just couldn’t fix it. This was my second attempt. I even completely changed the template and it was all narrow and I didn’t like it so I went back to closer to what I had before and then the same problem happened. What is up with this? Why can’t the page and words co-exist nicely? This is super boring and I am super frustrated, so sorry to rant. But I wanted to fix it and it is not working, so if a sucky little bland replacement comes up for a while, sorry, I am in the process of fixing it nicely how I want it.

***I e-mailed the quick blog people and they just told me that it was Firefox’s fault as to how I was seeing it, apparently Firefox is not all that. I am actually quite disappointed with Mozilla Firefox- it is not very compatable with instant messaging either, I suspect. I tried to reinstall yahoo im and to install msn im as well, and neither will work. I also have a really old windows for some reason, dispite the fact that this laptop was purchased less than a year ago… so IE doesn’t want to work with other apps and programs because it is so old. Ugh. This sucks. This is why I have been avoiding my blog lately, FYI.

Today, I felt motivated to clean. I mean REALLY clean my house. It seems to be popular amongst all the blogs I read.  Maybe that is what put the idea into my head.  But cleaning got me thinking.  And not just about how OCD I am about wiping up baseboards, trim, and cabinets, perfectly vacuumed lines in the carpet, and trying to keep those dang hand prints off all FOUR of my freaking glass doors!

I got to thinking about what a clean home means.  I think it means much more to some than to others.  A clean home makes me so happy, a gives me a feeling of peace, contentment, and most importantly relaxation.  It makes me feel like I have done a good job, and am doing my best for my family by giving them a clean, comfortable, strees free environment to just BE in.  When I sit there, snuggling on my big comfy couch and I look out at my home- my clean home, that I myself worked hard to clean, I feel like I AM the best housewife.  Heck, I even managed some homemade chili and corn muffins for diner!

I think to many it is not nearly as important that their house bear some resemblance to clean (not that mine is all the time, but I try to not let it get over the top embarrassingly dirty) as it is that say, they watched Oprah AND Dr. Phil.  Okay, I jest (and judge).  I understand how dang hard it is to get organized AND motivated all within the same period of time.  But luckily, I was raised by my mom.  This means that you clean your house, dang it. At least a quick pick up now and then!  A clean home is just something to take pride in- it can really boost your self esteem.

Not that the pb&j stain on one floor pillow and the juice stain on the other isn’t considered something akin to stretch marks and sagging boobs.  Because it is.  They are merely signs that we are moms. Real moms.

I also noticed more incongruences in my cleaning today.  I have a problem with many aspects of a thorough cleaning. 

One- why should I have to clean a sink? I mean, come on! They have water and soap being splashed around in them ALL the time! Shouldn’t they be kind of self cleaning? Then again, if a self cleaning oven isn’t really self cleaning (unless you mean that you- yourSELF get down there and clean it) then why should I expect it elsewhere?

Two- why should I have to clean my washing machine? Same train of thought as above.  Have you looked at your washing machine lately? I mean, I am seriously a little grossed out by mine.  What does that say about my love of laundry? Ugh. Laundry. I soo did a bajillion loads today…

Three- showers and tubs! Same as above. I HATE HATE HATE cleaning the shower! And you always have to scrub if you want it to get truly clean.  I even had to get out the almighty pumice stone.  There is this horrible stuff that they use when they put showers in to make everything stay where it should- I forget what it is called- oh, wait, unless it is professionally referred to as THE BANE OF MY Existence!!! And it WILL NOT come off my shower and garden tub- the pumice stone barely put a dent in it.  I was sooo disappointed with The Almighty And Powerful Mr.Clean Magic Eraser when it failed there.  But it did redeem itself by getting rid of that nasty soap scum/mildew at the edges and corners of my shower.  Dang, how boring am I that I just wrote that much about cleaning a shower?!

Four- where did those stains on the stair come from? I don’t remember anything being spilled there.  Who spills stuff on stairs and doesn’t remember or clean it? Oh, musta been Hali or Jeremy. Speaking of stairs, why do you have to have a separate vacuum to clean them, and when am I going to get one? That dang full size vacuum is just too big for each step.

Five- cleaning my vacuum cleaner makes me feel really OCD.  I feel like Monica from Friends.

Six- who writes this crap, anyways? Oh, Charli does at one o’clock in the morning, that’s who.