A House of Order

I grew up in a house without much order. There was always a lot of clutter, largely due to my mom running in far too many directions and trying to do too many things. Hmmm...sounds like someone else I know.

While I have worked hard as an adult to overcome that childhood model of living in a constant state of chaos, I still struggle with it on a regular basis. I do my best to create a (fairly) neat and clutter-free house. Most of our "living spaces", where we spend the majority of our time, are relatively neat. But step into a closet, my office, or open up a cupboard and you're likely to find things shoved in where they don't belong, just so they're out of sight.

I become close to paralyzed and almost unable to function, think clearly, or work productively, efficiently, or creatively when I am surrounded by clutter. I've been feeling a lot of underlying anxiety in the last several months. As I've been evaluating how I can reduce the anxiety, and free up some of the creative energy that is brewing in my soul, a scripture from the Doctrine & Covenants began replaying itself over and over again in my head:

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." (D&C 88:119)

I know that the stirrings I've felt are God's way of nudging me along in the direction that I need to go to accomplish the goals and dreams I have for myself and my family.

Over the holidays, I cleaned out my closet. I got rid of 3 huge bags of clothes, including some things I haven't worn in 10 years. It felt good.

Last week, when I came home from church, I found that my sweet husband had added a shelf to the top of the pantry wall (without being asked, nagged, or bribed either!). This added about 5 square feet of shelf space, which doesn't seem like much, but it made a difference. I spent the last 3 days sorting, organizing, and cleaning my pantry and food storage cabinets. I don't have any "before" pictures, but here are they are "after":

While I don't have a lot of cupboard space in the kitchen (aside from the huge pantry), I do have almost wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling cupboards in the laundry room. While many of these are used for cleaning supplies, swim towels, laundry necessities, and the like, I also use the laundry room to house the less oft-used kitchen accessories, and as an additional food storage location.

I have one cupboard for "wet" food:

And one cupboard for "dry" food:

When I finished today, I stood back and looked at my efforts, and felt a huge sense of accomplishment. It was good to know that in an emergency, I could feed my family pretty well for at least a couple of weeks. In addition to the outward sense of a job well-done, I felt some of my anxiety dissipate. I have a long way to go to work my way through the cupboards, file cabinets, desk drawers, and closet spaces that clutter up my life. But I know I'll get there.

Just as I must clean out the tangible clutter of my life, so I must also clean out the clutter and unwanted occupants of my mind and spirit. There are shelves in my mind scattered with pieces of grief, anger, hurt, loss, and sadness that are blocking some of the beauty and creativity that is trying to make itself known. I'm feeling a tremendous urgency to write . . . and not just because Steve is counting down the years until he is able to retire on my dime. I've got several book ideas stirring in my mind, but making them a reality requires me to clear out the garbage before I can get to the good stuff.

Life is an interesting thing . . . so often we lose sight of those things that matter most, simply because they're covered up by a layer of junk. Here's to "creating order", both outside, and in.

New Year...New Goals

For the last few years, we have sat down as a family on New Year's Day and set some goals/resolutions. For the last few years, they have been posted on my blog, and nowhere else, only to be forgotten about by January 7. Not this year!

We all agreed that this year, the resolutions should be posted somewhere where we would be reminded of them regularly, and be able to keep track of our progress (or get back on track, if needed!).

Here they are, posted above the "chore chart" in the laundry room.

Granted, I'm the only one that's in there every single day, but maybe if the kids decide to actually use their chore chart, they'll see them too. Steve will likely only see them if I'm lying comatose in a hospital somewhere and he has to figure out how to work the washer and dryer. But I think he has a better memory than me, so he shouldn't have too much trouble remembering what he's working on.

Without further ado, here's the Whitaker Family Resolutions for 2012:

Grant

1. Learn how to read.
2. Learn how to ride my bike with no training wheels. (He set this same goal last year, but didn't make it.)
3. Keep my room clean. (Doesn't hurt to dream, right?)
4. Be kind to my family and don't throw fits. (Parental input and suggestions are welcome when someone draws a blank.)
5. Not hurt my brother. (Brotherly input is also accepted.)
6. Improve all my swim times. (He's got his sights on a medal this year, not to be outdone by his older and much faster brother.)

Jack

1. Audition for at least one play, and if I make it in, be happy. (Olivia may have some competition in the acting department.)
2. Score at least five points in the season for my basketball team. (Last year, he scored one all season.)
3. Spend more time outside than watching TV.
4. Beat the Sharks' record for butterfly. (This could happen . . . this boy can swim.)
5. Keep my room clean. (Again, doesn't hurt to dream.)
6. Get better at golf and shoot at least a 45 for 9 holes. (This could be a reality as well . . . he's shooting consistently in the mid-50's—legitimately— for 9 holes.)

Olivia

1. Beat my personal record of 33 seconds in the 50m freestyle.
2. Finish a junior triathlon. (She's not a runner or a biker, this one may be a challenge. Maybe I'll be her coach!)
3. Do well in school.
4. Do some sort of exercise every day.
5. Complete two personal progress goals every month. (This is a program though the church youth program, aimed at helping young women grow and progress both emotionally and spiritually.)

Steve

Steve's goals are a word for word repeat of last year. He said the only one he did well in 2011 was #3. But he did lower his golf index by 3 points this year, which isn't too shabby.

1. Get under 200 lbs. by June and sustain it through the year.
2. Lower golf index to single digit handicap.
3. Continue for family to be #1 priority.

and now, my goals for the new year:

1. Read Book of Mormon 5 minutes every day as a family. (This was a challenge from our Sunday School teacher this year, one I decided to take on as a family challenge. So far, almost a week in, we haven't missed a day.)
2. Exercise 1 hour 3–5 days a week. (Last year, I said 5 days a week. That didn't happen once. Maybe 3 days is a more reasonable and realistic goal)
3. Reach a healthy weight and maintain it. (I turn 40 this year. I've heard it's near impossible to lose weight once you hit that magic number, so I'm hoping if I start that new decade of life at a healthy weight, I'll be off to a good start.)
4. Schedule 2–4 hours per week to write. (Last year, I set a goal to complete a book project. It got well underway, then life got in the way, and I've barely touched it in months. I want to complete that project, as well as work on a couple others that are festering in my mind. I figure if I start out with 2–4 hours a week, I should at least start seeing small progress.)

In addition, I'd like to get our house to the next stage in the "decorating" department. That means painting walls, adding accessories, and generally making it feel more lived-in than it does right now. This is a lofty goal, as I do not have a great sense of decorating style, so it will likely require some professional assistance. This isn't so much a "resolution", as it is a dream . . . but maybe putting it down in writing will help me to make it happen!

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our house

On the first day of Christmas, my sweetie underwent a pretty gruesome ear surgery.

On the second day of Christmas, at the school concert, I heard some bells ringing, along with a bunch of kids singing.

On the third day of Christmas, our girlie performed in two showings of Sleeping Beauty.

On the fourth day of Christmas, I did some last minute shopping . . . online, instead of mall and crowd hopping.

On the fifth day of Christmas, I dropped our cards in the mail. My procrastination likely made the postman wail.

On the sixth day of Christmas, I was finally done with a quilt that I made for Grant's teacher - She's having baby number one.

On the seventh day of Christmas I did some wrapping, and when I was done, I really felt like clapping.

On the eighth day of Christmas when I awoke, my sinuses felt like they had been broke.

On the ninth day of Christmas, we visited the temple and saw the lights, and listened to a friend sing loudly and bright.

On the tenth day of Christmas, there was no partridge or pear. Instead we attended the school Science Fair.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the kids got out of school. Whoever created the schedule this year is surely a fool.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, I spent the day on my feet, making all sorts of good things to eat.

And now that Christmas is really here, I'm finally filled with the holiday joy, brought about by the birth of a special baby boy.

Merry Christmas!

All I Want for Christmas . . .

is time to finish all the projects on my list this December. Somehow, I think I'm not going to get what I want!

Making a list...and checking it twice

December snuck up on me this year. I'm not sure what happened to September, October, and November . . . because I'm fairly certain that it was just August last week!

I had grand intentions of being well-prepared for the holidays this year, and sitting back and enjoying the month of December with crafts, home-baked goodness, and fun projects with the kids.

The reality is a whole different story! I've got a list a mile long of things that need to be done, and not just to get ready for Christmas!

In spite of the hustle and bustle, I am grateful that this holiday is upon us. Events in recent weeks have reminded me that life is precious. I must savor the everyday moments, even the ones that make me crazy. That goal is at the tip-top of my list right now, and I hope to never cross it off!

Our very own Cookie Monster

Last night, I made cookies. I tried out the recipe for Oatmeal Sugar Cookies from the LemonPoppy cookbook "When Life Gives You Friends" (I won this set of cookbooks a couple of months back in a blog giveaway from my friend Ashley). The kids each gobbled one up last night before bed, and begged to have one included in their lunch today.

This morning as I was packing lunches, I was rather distracted. I ended up with an extra cookie sitting on the counter after closing up all the lunch boxes. I threw it in Olivia's lunch box, thinking it was for her. I then gave strict instructions that the cookies were NOT to be eaten for morning snack, rather AFTER they'd eaten their sandwich and fruit for lunch!

During Olivia's lunch break today, she popped her head in the library (where I work two days a week).

"Mom, there were two cookies in my lunchbox today at morning break. I went and looked in Grant's lunchbox, he didn't have one, so I put the extra in there."

I was amazed at her kindness and generosity.

On our way home from school today, Grant shared the following story:

"The strangest thing happened today . . ." (He used those exact words, I swear!)

"This morning at snack recess, I decided to eat my cookie. It was so yummy! But then, when it was lunch time, I opened up my lunchbox, and there was another cookie! I don't know how it got there, I think my lunchbox made it!"

Jack burst out crying "That is so not fair—I didn't get any cookies in MY lunchbox..."

Olivia and I looked at each other, realized what had happened, and burst out laughing.

I'm thinking a cookie-producing lunchbox is a million-dollar idea . . .

Things that go bump in the night

About a month ago, I was awoken in the night by the sound of footsteps above our room. Steve was out of town, and I literally thought someone was on top of our roof. I freaked out. I sat up in bed, and was trying to plot my escape. How could I possibly get to the kids on the other side of the house before the intruder found us? What could I use to defend myself? After a few minutes, the noise stopped. I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, for what seemed like an eternity before I was able to drift off into dreamland once again.

The next day, on the phone with Steve, I recounted the experience. “There’s no way you could hear someone on the roof” he told me. “The attic is above our room, and all that insulation would block out any sound up there.” “Plus, how and why would someone be on top of our roof? There’s easier ways to get into the house. It was probably a mouse in the attic.”

“No way” I told him. “This sounded way bigger than a mouse. It sounded like a person!”

Fast forward a few weeks. No more noise, no more mid-night awakenings. Then, weeks ago, in the middle of the night, I heard it again. This time, it was coming from the wall underneath one of our windows. I got out of bed and crept over to the window. I peered out, fearful of what might be trying to get into our second story room.

I tried to wake Steve. He rolled over and mumbled something about it being the middle of night and what did I want him to do?

The next night, as I was brushing my teeth, Steve heard the sound for the first time. He started sleuthing around, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

“Maybe it’s a bird stuck in the vent.” He threw on some sweats and headed outside to see if he could see anything. Nada. So back to bed he came.

“ Maybe we should call someone” he said.

In the meantime, I had heard tales of raccoons taking up residence in attics. I became convinced that we had a family of raccoons, happily procreating and raising their young in the warmth of our walls and attic.

The next day, I got on the phone with the local animal control. “I think we have raccoons in our attic” I told the lady on the other end.

“We don't remove wildlife from residences” she told me. But she gave me the number of a company that could help.

I called the number, explained what we were hearing, and scheduled a free inspection for the next day. Then I started thinking of what color I wanted to paint our bedroom after they patched up the holes they would have to cut to retrieve the raccoon babies nestled in our walls. I was convinced.

The guy arrived promptly at his scheduled time the next day. He brought in his ladder, climbed up into the attic access in our master closet, looked around for all of a minute and climbed back down.

“You’ve got a rat infestation. Looks like they’ve been living there for some time based on the droppings.”

I nearly passed out.

He told Steve to set traps and gave some advice as to what makes the best bait. He also showed Steve where they were likely coming in, and offered some suggestions for sealing up the access. Then he went on his merry way.

That night, I could hardly sleep. I kept waiting to hear music from the party that seemed to be taking place above us. Images from "Ratatouille" were circling in my mind, complete with talking rats stirring pots in the kitchen. The thought that we had rats living rent-free in our house was more than I could take.

In the week since, Steve has trapped a total of 6 rats in the attic. There may still be more. One more met its demise outside, plus Steve recovered a petrified rat skeleton from the crawl space underneath the house.

I’m trying to find the silver lining in this whole experience. The only “good” I’ve discovered is that I definitely made the right choice in picking my spouse. There is no way in h*** that I would be able to handle setting traps and removing dead carcasses. He’s done it without a single complaint. I love that man.

Next time I hear footsteps above my room, I'm going to hope and pray it's an intruder. And not the four-legged-with-whiskers variety.