Keepin' It Real

Remember the insomnia-fueled list of things I wanted done before our recent guests came for Anna's baptism weekend? And the follow-up list that mentioned closets and cleaning? Yeah, I didn't get it all done. In fact, I only finished the cleaning because one of my friends, who wishes to remain monogamous, showed up to help me out the day everyone arrived.

I was just stocking the guests' rooms with chocolate as my parents pulled up around 5:30pm. The girls got the door and I greeted them in tardy, sweaty glory, served dinner from the crockpot wisely set earlier in the day, cleaned up the kitchen and excused myself to shower before John 's parents arrived. For them, I was clean. And in pajamas.

Impressed yet?

The wingback chair still sits in the playroom, awaiting in tattered expectation its fresh new green upholstery. (The wicker dresser was sold in a garage sale.)

My closet purge, scheduled weeks ago, got put off until today. It took me four hours to pull dry cleaning plastic and weed out hangers from John's side, sort his wardrobe and mine. I removed winter items and replaced them with summer items, segregating piles for CCA and my friend Karen.

An entire section on the left holds the clothes I can neither fit nor bear to give away. Maybe seeing all the cute things I could be wearing will help me get back into them? Way back out of view are two dresses from another lifetime -- hot pink linen from our engagement party and lapis blue from our wedding day. A girl can dream...

My friend Amanda pointed out I can do stuff like clean out my closet for four hours because I don't have a two-year-old. True. So if you are a stay-at-home-mom whose kids still stay at home with you, give yourself a break. And remember that I welcomed my in-laws to our home in pjs.

Did I mention that the closet got done because my sis Karen is coming this week? Think how amazing this place would be with more regular visits.