Laundry will forever be my plight. It is a cruel and indifferent pile of clothes that stare me down day after day. I have no problem tossing clothes into the washer. I can even handle putting them in the dryer. It is the folding of clothes that drives me crazy. I'll toss a clean load onto the bed and forget to fold it. When bed time rolls around, we toss the clean load onto the floor to mingle with the dirty clothes that are scattered all over the ground. Roger has a theory that if a dirty shirt touches a clean shirt then they are both dirty. So, the pile gets picked up and tossed into the laundry room. Clean and dirty clothes make love in a nasty pile in front of my washing machine and the cycle begins again when they leave the dryer and are tossed to the bed. They wait to be thrown back on the floor, never worn, always "dirty" somehow.

Well not this week! I have overcome my urge to not fold clothes and I owe it all to my mother. She has stepped in to put an end to the battle that I have going with the laundry. Since I have been pregnant and sick my mother and I have indulged each other. I let her come over in the afternoons and take over my house and she gets to fulfill a life long dream of teaching me how to run a functioning household. It's been the best thing to happen to my little family.

When I was a teenager I knew that my mom had the urge to teach me how to be a homemaker. She had so many secrets that she had learned from reading Family Circle over the years that she wanted to bestow upon me. Honestly, I didn't give a crap about that kind of stuff at the time. If she had tried to teach me the wonderful benefits of sprinkling Comet all over the kitchen sink I would have rolled my eyes and walked away. So, I can see a twinkle in her eye when she gives me a tip here or there as she floats around my house doing menial tasks. We are forging a new era as mother and daughter. Where she tells me where to put my clean panties and I do it with a smile. It's a beautiful moment, the passing of knowledge between my trips to the bathroom to throw up.

So, thanks to my mommy and the purchase of 5 laundry baskets that have been lovingly placed throughout my house. The laundry is clean and has been for one week. I'll keep you posted as the battle continues and I bask in the domestic glow that my mother has unconditionally shined upon me.

So I am all knocked up...10 weeks and 5 days worth of knocked up and my brain is working at half capacity. So why have I decided to finish my novel when I am in the throws of my first trimester? I am worthless. The other day I was trying to retrieve the words "crop circles" and my brain just stopped. It was if I was playing charades but with words. "Ya know..." I'd say to Roger. "The things in the cornfields that aliens build-uh-like a corn maze." Luckily with a reference to the movie Signs he guessed crop circles. Not before I was in tears from the lack of IQ points I know I've lost.

So...now I sit at my computer and struggle to find the words to my great American novel.

I'm a glutton for punishment I suppose.

I'm excited to start a Blog and I'm shocked that it took me this long to jump on my computer and muse. I am a journal writer by nature but since becoming a mom I find it to be more and more challenging to steal moments to actually write words down. Griffin loves to disrupt any epiphanies that I try to scribble in my journal. As I sit with pen in hand, poised to write my deepest darkest secrets, he stands behind me and plays with my hair while watching a cartoon. He leans on me and smacks me with his knees trying to get my attention. It's quite a challenge to have cathartic moments with a 3 year old on top of you. That's motherhood though...trying to grab a moment to grow without neglecting your little one.

I am finally accepting that I am a horrible housewife. the laundry is always stacked up, the house is littered with toys. Every single room is messy. But my child, who I tend to focus my energies is always clean and seems to be well balanced. I am actually fascinated that I'm starting to care about the condition of my house. For the moment I am resigned to pick up the same toys over and over. I am the master of "fake clean". I can have everything stuffed under the couch and all the dirty dishes tossed into the oven in 5 minutes. Whenever I really clean the house Griffin asks me "Who's coming over?" It's shameful.

Sometimes I get insecure that I am not living up to the domestic goddess that I should be. I asked Roger once when we were in South Georgia on a hunting excursion if he wanted me to bake a bundt cake and throw together a big country breakfast for him and his dad and fellow hunters. This one man's wife was always sending muffins and various baked treats with him to the cabin. I just knew that those men were pulling up hungry from hunting all morning to find me, outside with Griffin, throwing rocks in the pond, with nary a pot of coffee waiting for them in the kitchen. I mean Roger must have known when he married me what he was signing up for. So when I told him that I was sorry that they had to cook their own breakfast that morning Roger just smiled and said "When I married you I got roller coasters and glitter."

Well, hang on Roger, cause it's gonna be a wild ride!

My best friend Erin sent me this tiara for my birthday. I am in love with it and wear it around the house for no apparent reason other than it makes me feel delicious. I'll perch it upon my head as I do laundry sometimes or maybe while I'm cooking dinner. Who needs an excuse to wear something so fantastic?



Today is the first day of a project that I'm doing for the month of February. Each day I'm going to post a new photograph of something that makes me wildly happy. It's time for me to get acquainted with my new camera. Also, I'm feeling courageous enough to steal these small moments in my life and share them with you in the spirit of exploration.