Is this my garage, or the dump?

 

 

Why is it that everything broken, needs to be taken to the Goodwill, all the sporting equipment, extra household supplies, wrapping supplies, craft items and everything else you can’t find a place for inside the house winds up in the garage?  Obviously, the answer is because there is no where else to put all that junk, but nevertheless it is a disaster area for a normally organized person.  Because my garage also has to double as a laundry room, I think it gets even messier than most.  Well my garage has different levels of chaos.  The first is tolerable chaos, where you can do the laundry without having a panic attack, can walk through the space and reach everything you need.  The next level is fairly chaotic (picture above).  It is difficult to navigate around everything and when you need something clear across the garage you mentally have to make a pathway before you start moving.  The last level is dangerously chaotic.  This is when you can barely walk from one end to the next and each time you enter the garage, you are filled with dread and loathing.  My garage has been at stage 3 for about 2 months now and as of this weekend I just couldn’t face it anymore so I stopped doing the laundry.  I know, I know, what was I thinking?  It was such a long weekend for Tiara and I.  Everyone was either gone, working, or busy , except TT and I.  Each time I did a batch of laundry I was filled with anxiety because the garage was so messy and I just couldn’t stand it.  I knew I couldn’t tackle it and leave Tiara in the house unattended so I just ignored it and tried to not walk in there.  So the laundry pile grew to epic proportions but I knew Mirna was coming on Monday so I would have to tackle the problem then.

Every other Monday, my housekeeper comes and helps me do all the tough cleaning.  While she cleans, I do extra cleaning she can’t get to in 4 hours and do the laundry, so usually by 2pm my house is looking spic and span.  Well to confound my problems even more Mirna cancelled on me, Sunday night.  Now I  had a filthy house, piles of dirty laundry and a hideous garage.  Someone help!!!   So Monday, when I woke up it felt like I had a 10 pound weight on my shoulders.  Nevertheless, Tiara and I went for our walk and did all our regular things, except I still didn’t do the laundry, or tackle any of the real cleaning.  I just straightened up.  I was having the hardest time getting motivated.  Sometimes I can whip out 100 chores and errands in one day and then other days it feels like everything I do takes forever.  It is like I am in a slow motion movie and the camera won’t speed up to a normal pace.  Monday night I felt as if I redeemed myself by making everyone’s favorite homemade pizza but Tuesday morning was a different story.

 

Tuesday is Lou’s day off, since they switched his schedule again, and he had no clean underwear,  the house was filthy and the garage was still  in stage 3.  He immediately got up and started moving  really quick, cleaning, doing the laundry and taking out the trash.  I sighed a breath of relief.  Thank God, someone was taking over because clearly I was losing a grip on running this household.  When he does things like this, he does not do it quietly.  He teases me by saying ” what have you been doing lately, lounging on the couch?  I better get this house in order, because no one else is pulling their weight. ”  He goes on and on, teasing me mercifully.  I know he is joking, but I always get mad anyway, and follow him around making rude remarks.  Today I followed him around snapping pictures for my blog.  But as you can see, his teasing and action got me going just like I needed.  It is like a push from behind and sometimes I really need a big push. Like all moms know, some days the  monotony of  cleaning, cooking and laundry can be so boring and overwhelming we just need a little kick from behind to get us jump started.  So by the time I sat down to write this, my garage was back to stage 1, the house looked good and all but 4 loads of laundry were done.  Yeah!!!  

Thank you Louie, love you….

p.s. Don’t forget today is the last day for the Simply Straws giveaway!!!  Subscribe to my blog and like their page and you will be entered to win…. Good Luck