(no subject)
I can't tell you how frustrated I am right now - with a lot of things, really, but the most looming thing being the mess of my house and the way that I'm the only one who will do anything about it. We live in a two (technically three) bedroom flat; it's not tiny, but it's not big either. There are four of us now and will be five in a couple short weeks. There are Things To Be Done, as I'm sure those of you who read this can imagine - my bedroom needs to finish being cleaned so that the crib can be put up in there, the rest of the house needs to be cleaned, sorted and a lot of crap gotten rid of by way of donation, garage sale, handing down or just plain throwing away. I don't expect much in the way of help from the kids with this; it's not exactly a kid-friendly project, really, though I do expect them to put their laundry away when it's folded and handed to them, and to keep their room at least reasonably picked up. It's the grown-ups' job to sort through their toys and get rid of the stuff they're too old/big for and that they just don't play with any more, which is fine. It's the grown-ups' job to do most of it. The problem is, I'm not the only grown-up living in the house, and yet I'm the only grown-up working on any of this while the husband makes plans for what he's going to do with the Saturday before the baby's due and the two weeks he has off from work because of said baby and so forth. And most other people in our lives seem to think this is the way it should be, which kills me. I'm one person. I'm eight and a half months pregnant. I have two children I have to look after while I'm doing all this, and yet I still get bitched at because I don't do anything, or at least don't do enough. It's bullshit, I tell you. And now I sound all bitchy-whiny about it, but let me tell you about my morning.
I slept in a bit - I got up at 8:30 instead of seven-ish like I usually do.
I got breakfast for the kids.
I checked my email and such things.
I folded two loads of laundry, started the load that was in the wash in the dryer and put a new load in the wash - some things are sorted out to be boxed for garage sale or handing down, but I'm out of boxes and thus may have to resort to bags.
I loaded the dishwasher, made lunch for kids (one of whom is still refusing to eat for whatever reason, and she's the one who's constantly hungry) and myself, took stock of bedroom (in which is more laundry that needs to be folded, and the baskets said laundry is in will come in handy), and sat down here to write this.
It's now quarter to two in the afternoon, and that list looks awfully short to me now that it's itemized. I don't know if my perceptions are skewed by what other people say or if I really have done way less than I think, but now I feel kind of silly for the rant.
Now, interspersed have been occasional breaks for sanity's sake - it's a pain in the ass being the only adult in a household that reputedly has two. I've played a bit of Sims 3, checked the BPAL forums and my email, etc, but the vast majority of my day thus far has been spent working my ass off. And I get told to my face that it's not enough, or that it's nothing, on a regular basis. By the husband, by his family, by various friends (though not the ones I've made because of the kidlet being in school, just the ones we've known for a lot longer and are mostly his friends), by the landlady, by enough people that it's hard to remember that it's not true. Granted, this has been happening since I moved out here at eighteen years old and was a lot closer to true then, but that was over a decade ago. I don't know how many times and ways I can say that I can't do this all on my own. Yeah, it's great that he works a full time job and brings home a paycheck and whatever, but you know what? So do all the dads/husbands around us, and they manage to help around their houses too, at least most of them. Even if it's only by doing what their wives ask them to do, when they're asked to do it.
Ahem. And, that's enough of that, I think. The furnace guy is downstairs - or it sounds like it, anyway - inspecting furnaces and maybe fixing ours. There's a valve or something that leaks and something that doesn't work so we were running the bloody thing on AA batteries all last winter, which doesn't strike me as particularly safe even if it was better for our gas bill than the other way around. There's stuff in the way that I'm sure I'll get bitched at about, but they'll have to deal until I have more boxes to put said stuff in, which isn't right now.
In other, happier news, I think I have most of the stuff I need and want for my Switch Witch reveal package; it's almost all local to the metro-Detroit area, this stuff, and most of it came from the market right down the street. I hope my witchee likes it, though she'll get at least one more thing in between now and when I send the big box. And I can't wait to find out who my witch is! S/he's mostly ninja-ing it, but I've gotten a couple ecards from her/him, the latest of which reminds me to not buy stuff for myself that s/he might get for me, heh. Which is a good reminder, except for the broke and pretty much everything this paycheck going to bills and last minute baby stuff; we still need our stroller and carseat, though that's the only big thing. I really wish we could afford one of the OMG awesome baby joggers they have at Moosejaw (the BOB kind that are built like trailers for biking/hiking camping trips and by a company that did those before strollers), but I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to make do with something lesser, especially since I'm not a runner (though I'd like to start jogging again). We need to get a couple weeks' worth of baby outfits in unisex colors since we don't know the gender, and the weather here's been crazy which will make that a difficult prospect; it's been really mild, for the most part, and more days have bordered on cool/cold than have been hot.
My cards for the handmade card swap are way late (though I PMed the person I'm sending them to to let her know, at least) because I made the first paper way too thick and it didn't dry, though I like this set better anyway - I hope she likes them too. The Altoid tin project is proving more difficult than I thought too, though I suspect that's mostly because of my latent perfectionism and lack of recent experience with things crafty, but at least that isn't late. I'm thinking about taking up some of my old woodworking stuff again to make another box or three for my perfumes and things, as they keep stacking up with nowhere to put them, though I'm spoiled by the box my witch from the shotgun round sent me - so pretty, and I don't have the patience to make things so well, I don't think. Though goodness knows, I know enough people who do woodworking, and really well at that, so who knows?
Huzzah, my landlady is finally gone and thus I can stop hiding; I get way more done when she isn't here than when she is, just because I don't want to deal with talking to her if I don't have to. I'm tired of the recriminations and being told that I have to do this and I must do that. I know what I have to do, and how my house should be kept, thank you very much.
I slept in a bit - I got up at 8:30 instead of seven-ish like I usually do.
I got breakfast for the kids.
I checked my email and such things.
I folded two loads of laundry, started the load that was in the wash in the dryer and put a new load in the wash - some things are sorted out to be boxed for garage sale or handing down, but I'm out of boxes and thus may have to resort to bags.
I loaded the dishwasher, made lunch for kids (one of whom is still refusing to eat for whatever reason, and she's the one who's constantly hungry) and myself, took stock of bedroom (in which is more laundry that needs to be folded, and the baskets said laundry is in will come in handy), and sat down here to write this.
It's now quarter to two in the afternoon, and that list looks awfully short to me now that it's itemized. I don't know if my perceptions are skewed by what other people say or if I really have done way less than I think, but now I feel kind of silly for the rant.
Now, interspersed have been occasional breaks for sanity's sake - it's a pain in the ass being the only adult in a household that reputedly has two. I've played a bit of Sims 3, checked the BPAL forums and my email, etc, but the vast majority of my day thus far has been spent working my ass off. And I get told to my face that it's not enough, or that it's nothing, on a regular basis. By the husband, by his family, by various friends (though not the ones I've made because of the kidlet being in school, just the ones we've known for a lot longer and are mostly his friends), by the landlady, by enough people that it's hard to remember that it's not true. Granted, this has been happening since I moved out here at eighteen years old and was a lot closer to true then, but that was over a decade ago. I don't know how many times and ways I can say that I can't do this all on my own. Yeah, it's great that he works a full time job and brings home a paycheck and whatever, but you know what? So do all the dads/husbands around us, and they manage to help around their houses too, at least most of them. Even if it's only by doing what their wives ask them to do, when they're asked to do it.
Ahem. And, that's enough of that, I think. The furnace guy is downstairs - or it sounds like it, anyway - inspecting furnaces and maybe fixing ours. There's a valve or something that leaks and something that doesn't work so we were running the bloody thing on AA batteries all last winter, which doesn't strike me as particularly safe even if it was better for our gas bill than the other way around. There's stuff in the way that I'm sure I'll get bitched at about, but they'll have to deal until I have more boxes to put said stuff in, which isn't right now.
In other, happier news, I think I have most of the stuff I need and want for my Switch Witch reveal package; it's almost all local to the metro-Detroit area, this stuff, and most of it came from the market right down the street. I hope my witchee likes it, though she'll get at least one more thing in between now and when I send the big box. And I can't wait to find out who my witch is! S/he's mostly ninja-ing it, but I've gotten a couple ecards from her/him, the latest of which reminds me to not buy stuff for myself that s/he might get for me, heh. Which is a good reminder, except for the broke and pretty much everything this paycheck going to bills and last minute baby stuff; we still need our stroller and carseat, though that's the only big thing. I really wish we could afford one of the OMG awesome baby joggers they have at Moosejaw (the BOB kind that are built like trailers for biking/hiking camping trips and by a company that did those before strollers), but I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to make do with something lesser, especially since I'm not a runner (though I'd like to start jogging again). We need to get a couple weeks' worth of baby outfits in unisex colors since we don't know the gender, and the weather here's been crazy which will make that a difficult prospect; it's been really mild, for the most part, and more days have bordered on cool/cold than have been hot.
My cards for the handmade card swap are way late (though I PMed the person I'm sending them to to let her know, at least) because I made the first paper way too thick and it didn't dry, though I like this set better anyway - I hope she likes them too. The Altoid tin project is proving more difficult than I thought too, though I suspect that's mostly because of my latent perfectionism and lack of recent experience with things crafty, but at least that isn't late. I'm thinking about taking up some of my old woodworking stuff again to make another box or three for my perfumes and things, as they keep stacking up with nowhere to put them, though I'm spoiled by the box my witch from the shotgun round sent me - so pretty, and I don't have the patience to make things so well, I don't think. Though goodness knows, I know enough people who do woodworking, and really well at that, so who knows?
Huzzah, my landlady is finally gone and thus I can stop hiding; I get way more done when she isn't here than when she is, just because I don't want to deal with talking to her if I don't have to. I'm tired of the recriminations and being told that I have to do this and I must do that. I know what I have to do, and how my house should be kept, thank you very much.