By Nicole

I love reading old blog posts that I forgot I wrote!  My life is just a funny rerun.  The same things... the same things...  January 15, 2006... March 30, 2012... the same.  Haha! "I hate to clean. If you know me or my family, you know that we don't like to clean and that there is a HORRIBLE gene that runs in our DNA. I am fighting it with every fiber of my being, but sometimes it remains firmly embedded in my mind not to throw the shoebox away, because you never know when I might need it.... Anyway, the second part of my horrible genetic curse is that I loathe cleaning. I like things clean, I just don't like to do it; pair that with never having a moment that is really my own, and you can understand how hard it is for me to keep my house looking respectable. Oh, and our house, by the way, is the size of one of those shoeboxes I can't seem to part with, so one thing out of place and the whole place is cluttered. So, those are all my excuses for my family's ...

I spent a good part of this weekend cleaning backwards.  Every few months or so I clean backwards.  And here is why.  Saturday or Sunday usually have at least a section of the day devoted to cleaning up the aftermath of the week's tornado.  The usual culprits: dishes, laundry, vacuuming, and picking up, picking up, picking up.... overwhelm and exhaust me.  They are insurmountable chores that dirty themselves faster than I clean.  I've read blogs about laundry piles that have the reproductive proficiency of rabbits.  Seen it.  It happens at my house too! So, overwhelmed and frazzled , I go on strike.  And I turn my back on the dishes.  I waltz from the kitchen.  I sashay away from the living room.  I act as if I don't care about the crumbs in the couch or the pillows strewn across the floor.  I may step lightly away from my usual foes, but they don't see the grimace on my face or the beads of sweat growing on my brow...

So, Grumble Hallelujah could not have come for a better time than this.  For some reason, I have been super grouchy these days.  None of my reasons are truly valid in the grand scheme of things.  I am sleep-deprived (my fault for staying up late reading or on the computer).  Work is crazy.  I am leading another kid's class at church because no one else will step up and do it (yes, if you can't sense the irritation in my voice.... I am pretty irritated), which means 3 nights a week we aren't even home until after 8 (kids' bedtime).  My house is a pigsty.  My weekend is already full.  I am a hunting "widow".  I don't necessarily like that term, but that's what we call it around here.  So add it all up and you have one snappy mom who is barely grumbling her hallelujahs... Which is so lame because my life is so good! Well last night I ditched on meeting my husband out at elk camp because I knew I had packing and house cleaning to do. ...