I have an addiction to purses. A compulsion really. I can’t walk by a purse section in the store without getting whiplash. I have a special hanger on the inside of my closet door for all the bags in my possession. The problem is, I can only use one purse at a time. And every time I switch, I am faced with the reality of my tendency to hang on to stuff I don’t need. So I leave the unnecessary things in the purse I’m retiring, transferring only the “necessary” stuff to the new purse. So now I have a closet door full of purses full of junk. And each time I switch to a new purse, I am filled with hope that I will keep it organized, clutter free.

And it never happens.

Yet I am constantly on the search for the perfect purse to solve my clutter problem. I thought I had found the “perfect” purse, but I couldn’t bring myself to shell out the bucks for it because I knew deep down it would not solve my problem. Because the problem is not the purse. It’s me. I have a strong tendency towards clutter but you wouldn’t necessarily know it to look at my desk or my home. One look at my purse though (or my car, which I affectionately refer to as my “giant purse”) and you’ll see that clutter is and may always be my nemesis. It’s a constant battle. I get in these moods every once in awhile – purge mode, if you will – where I just want to throw away everything that I know I can live without. Necessities are food, shelter, and a minimal amount of clothing. When I’m in purge mode, everything else has the potential to be tossed. Sometimes I throw something away and a few months down the road a situation comes up where I find a use for whatever it is I disposed of. It’s at those times I have a “dang it” moment, but I wouldn’t say I ever really regret disposing of the item. Because life goes on. And if I ever need to replace anything, there’s always Wal-Mart

That spreadable butter you can keep in the fridge is nice, but I worry about what they had to do to it to make it spreadable. I buttered a plain, room-temperature piece of bread for lunch and noticed after a few minutes that the butter was melting. For no apparent reason. Just melted right there in front of my eyes. Admit it, you would have been worried too.

I went to see a doctor last night. In my dreams. It felt strangely real. I met one doctor that told me I had Allergies. Kind of like saying you have Rheumatoid Arthritis, or you have Cancer. You have Allergies! Oh no! But don’t worry, they’ll get better sometimes. And then they’ll get worse, and then they’ll get better again. It’s almost like I live in Michigan.

So then I saw a dentist and he showed me my teeth with a mirror. In the dream I could not believe what I was seeing so I kept staring at the mirror, over and over again. My right molars were rotting from the inside and it was as if someone had cut a cross section of them so I could get a better look. And after a few minutes of staring, the dentist grabbed my teeth and yanked them right out of my mouth. I was horrified. When I woke up, I was still horrified. I still can’t get the image out of my head.

So that dream about the dentist is reinforcing the strong advice my actual dentist is giving me about brushing and most importantly, flossing. Of course I forgot to brush and floss before I went to bed last night so the dream was totally stemming out of a sense of guilt. But whatever motivates me, guilt or nightmares, as long as it gets me flossing I’ll be better off. I had to have seven fillings last year, and just found out that I need four more. And possible four after that unless I get my act together. They told me that these particular cavities are between the teeth, meaning there is no doubt the cause is my lack of flossing, which I admit has been my weakness since I don’t know, forever. I scheduled my appointment to get the fillings on my birthday. How’s that? Happy birthday! You’re 32! Now grow up already and floss your damn teeth.

I know butter and margarine cannot – and should not – be compared, but what about comparing butter to butter? The following photo is of two different blocks of butter purchased at two different discount grocery chains. If you open the photo to see it close up you’ll notice they were both packaged at the same plant. I can’t remember what the price difference was, but if I could it would make this comparison a lot more interesting.

Can I just tell you how exciting it was to print a tax return on my new printer without having to walk to the bedroom, turn on the desktop computer, wait, log on, walk back to the laptop in the living room, press print, walk back to the bedroom… See, it’s a task that isn’t all that complicated, but I can make it sound tedious if I want.

And that is why the Wireless Printer is my Roomba. But it’s not just a printer! It scans and faxes too. I have no use for fax, but the scanning comes in handy for making copies. Now I don’t have to use the stand alone scanner that my mom bought for me ages ago (thanks Mom! It had a good life here at the Richmond house.) Did I mention it’s wireless? And that since I bought it with my new laptop it only cost me $40? It’s a life-changer, for sure.

I’m also equally thrilled that my software provider, TaxAct, has finally added city forms to the software. Yay! No more preparing of city returns by hand. I mean, that had an element of fun in it, but when time is a luxury you would welcome an easier solution.

What can I say? I’m just a big nerd. Always have been, always will be.

I moved desks at work. Oh, how I love a change of scenery. I used to rearrange furniture at home every once in awhile, just to get a rejuvenating boost. Now, not so much now that our tv is planted to the wall. So now I have to just be happy with the occasional desk rearranging at my 9 to 5.

Look at me, I’m blogging about moving my desk. It’s safe to say my blog here has become very dull and uninspired. Time is an issue. I don’t have time to just sit around and write about stuff. The irony is that now I have plenty more to write about, but when I sit down to write I can’t remember for the life of me what I wanted to write about. I constantly want to write about the funny things Luke says, but can’t recall them when I want to. What does he say lately? What am I forgetting? Am I really getting that old already?

Here are some of my favorite Luke sayings:

“I wuvver” = I love you
“I want sumping up dare!” – I want something up there, in the cupboard. Aka: fruit snacks
“I sleep dood” – I slept good. Meaning he’s ready to get out of bed and play!
“Do you hear me? I wuvver!” – he said this to me in the car last Saturday.

I’ve been making dinner lately, thanks to e-mealz.com, and my rule is that Luke must at least try one bite of everything. After he takes a bite of something new I ask him, “do you like it?” He always nods his head yes, but very often when I ask him if he wants more, he’ll shake his head no.

It’s real cute when he’s trying to get a word out but he can’t enunciate it correctly. He’s a stickler for doing things right, so he’ll stutter until he gets it right.

He’s potty training. He’s got the #1 down, but we’re still working on #2. He knows where it’s supposed to go, and you knows you’re not supposed to eat it (ask him, he’ll tell you), but he just seems to prefer to go in his pants at this point. Poor Dad is sick of cleaning out underpants.

Natalie is unremarkable in that she eats well, sleeps well, and is good and healthy. She has started smiling a lot more, but we’re still not great at catching it on camera. She coos too, but we don’t have that on camera either. I think stardom is not in her future, but Luke might have a shot. Natalie is going to be the scientist who finds the cure for MS, and Luke will do all the publicity and fund raising. He’s definitely skilled at making a case.

Life is definitely more busy now that I’m back to work but I’m relishing the structure. I just have to be a bit more intentional about budgeting my time.  I’m still home for dinner every night and I am able to spend some good quality time with the ones I love the most. I am one happy woman.

A friend of mine from high school posted this as her Facebook status:

“You can’t live tomorrow today. You can’t spend tomorrow’s money, celebrate tomorrow’s achievements, or resolve tomorrow’s riddles. You only have today. Live in it. Don’t heavy today with yesterday’s regrets or bog it down with tomorrow’s troubles. Fill this day with Jesus, and give the day a chance.”

And then one of her friends replied,

“how can i fill the day with jesus? he probably doesn’t even have an x-box.”

And when I told my husband about it, he sent me the link to this:

My husband is a firm sleeper. I mean FIRM. This morning before I left for work I woke him to tell him that I fed Natalie at 5 o’clock, so that he would know when she was due for another bottle. Then I made him repeat it back to me. “What time did I feed Natalie?” With open eyes and a clear voice, he answered “Five”.

Fast forward two hours, I get a text message from Mike:

“Did you feed Natalie?”

Natalie discovered her thumb today. I just think it’s the cutest thing ever. Luke is a thumb sucker. He only sucks his thumb when he’s tired, and it’s almost always accompanied by his blanket. Natalie is not even three months old yet. I don’t think Luke started sucking his thumb that early, but I really don’t remember. I just know I loved that he could suck his thumb for comfort as a baby. It’s way easier than having to worry about a pacifier. It’s always handy! So if Natalie wants to be a thumb sucker too, I’m all for it!

The Roomba – because a man can’t be bothered with vacuuming. All that pushing and pulling and those pesky electrical cords. Ugh! What a chore!

Mike beamed with excitement when he told me about the new addition to our family – The Roomba. Since he is in charge of keeping our floors clean, I didn’t object when he wanted to spend his Christmas money on the robot that vacuums. But when he went on (still beaming) about his grand Roomba plans I had to chuckle. Before he would run the vacuum in each of the rooms, he would need to clear the floors as much as possible, removing all the toys, chairs, etc. Since it runs on a battery, he would need to recharge it after just about every room. And then of course he would need to clean it after every third charge.

So my question to Mike was this: “How is this supposed to make your life easier?” He didn’t really have a good answer for that. But I will say, ever since the Roomba arrived, our floors have been consistently cleaner than they ever have been before. The reason? Because the Roomba is FUN. What can I say? The man likes his toys.