This has been a pretty eventful year for me. Here I sit thinking about the past year and some of the really low times and the really high times. Honestly, they pretty much equal out. Another typical Marie year! Let's recap, shall we?
My family moved in with my husband's mother in February. I've been fairly miserable about this living condition ever since, especially since it was only supposed to be temporary until June. Here we are in December and the only ray of light I have isn't coming until March. Argh.
I moved my blog from Webs.com to here. I was hesitant at first but now I wish I'd made the move sooner. Blogger gets much more traffic, is much more user friendly and I love the layout options. Very happy to be here doing my random blog!
I've blogged about many topics this year including movies, books, art and writing. And of course my bitchy blogs about life in general. We can't forget those little jewels.
I made some new friends this year but I also cut ties with a couple people. For good. Some relationships just aren't healthy for you. I don't need anyone in my life who weighs me down, makes me feel like I make bad decisions about my family or just straight up pisses me off daily. Once upon a time I held on to friendships just to have a friend to confide in. Someone to talk to. But now I'd rather have less friends that actually matter to me and give a crap about me personally. The friends I have now are wonderful people who don't judge me and support my decisions, even if they don't agree with them. And that's what I need in my life.
My marriage was having serious problems at the start of this year. It was really looking like splitsville but we've worked out a lot of issues and are back on track, better than we've been in years actually.
And then we decided to have another kid. Because, why not? You can't wait until you can afford to have kids because then you'll never procreate at all. And we aren't getting any younger here. We were shooting for that boy but alas, girl number four is due in a couple weeks. And I am super excited!
Let's see, what else? Oh, my youngest started kindergarten this year. Another tearful day for mommy. (Yes, I cry when my babies start school but I try to leave the class so I won't embarrass them)
I wrote a new erotic novel this year. It will be coming out tomorrow and I will be spamming the hell out of Facebook, Twitter, and my website about it.
Dying my hair is something I've been doing since I was a teenager. I like shades of red and sometimes blonde. Last year I even had the Rogue look with brown hair and thick white highlights in the front. But this year I decided to go back natural. So I haven't colored it in quite some time. And it decided to pay me back by throwing some gray in there. Joy, joy. Oh well.
I also did something I haven't done in almost ten years: cut it short. Yep, to my chin. I don't usually do short hair because my hair type is so bushy but it actually looks decent and it's less hassle so I'm happy with it.
And that is pretty much my year in a nutshell. Still writing and reading. Still doing arts and crafts weekly. Still cursing like a sailor and not caring if it offends. Still wishing I could adopt more cats though I can barely afford the ones I have. Still wanting to go back to school eventually. Still living from paycheck to paycheck and blowing most of our money on outings with our kids. Which my practical side calls stupid but my mommy side says, "They're only young once; enjoy it."
Touche, mommy side. I plan on spending next year enjoying it as much as I can.
I've been told on many occasions that I am a neat freak. Even when I was a child.
I do hold to the whole "a place for everything and everything in it's place idea" and I am trying to instill it in my kids. Mostly because they approach me about six times a day asking where this object is that they put down in some random spot. I also tend to "lose" things as well so I think putting things back where they go isn't so much a neat freak thing but a way to keep my sanity. You have no idea how many times a day I wander around the house trying to find my cell.
I also can't stand clutter in unnecessary places like kitchen counters, tables where you eat, behind doors in bedrooms (to the point where you can't open it all the way), and in living rooms where you entertain. Now my dresser is clutter central and I have to go through once a month and clean all the crap off of it to find paperwork and whatnot but that's okay because company doesn't go in my bedroom to see it!
I can't stand if food has sat out on a counter for more than a couple hours. I don't like trash or clothes lying on the floor, jackets thrown all over furniture, or cups left in random places overnight. But to my point: Do all of these things make me a neat freak?
The more I think about the way society is today as far as cleanliness and the way things were sixty years ago, no, I really don't think I am. Neat freak is a pretty extreme phrase like germaphobic and I'm not extreme. I'm just not a slob. Why does it have to be one or the other?
I think of the days when a clean kept house was normal. Really, it wasn't that long ago. Scrubbing floors on your hands and knees and dusting often were just the everyday. What's happened to society that such things are not frowned upon but considered a waste of one's precious time?
My theory? Laziness. Why vacuum when you have a tiny robot that will pick up your floor for you while you watch TV? People as a whole have become quite lazy. I saw on the Today show one morning the ladies showing off a machine that you slap on your window and it will clean it for you. Really people? Did you sprain your iddle widdle wrist spraying some Windex and wiping with a paper towel in a circular motion?
"I just don't have the time; I work." To that, I call bullshit. I may be a stay at home mom now but I used to work, come home, cook dinner, get kids fed and showered, clean the house and still have time to watch some TV before I hit the sack. The house may have not been shiny and sparkling but it was clutter free and the floors were swept daily.
No, people are just lazy and don't care. And just because I do, doesn't mean that I'm a neat freak. It means I can find things I'm looking for and my kids can play on the floor without cat hair tumbleweeds blowing through the room. If you like a gross house, fine, good for you. But don't label me just because you're lazy, folks.
