Yep, I'm Going to Blog About It, Too

 Last night I put my daughter to bed and told her: "Tomorrow you get to see a real princess on T.V." Her eyes got really big and I know if she wasn't already completely exhausted she would have been completely alight with excitement. When I woke her up this morning I didn't even have to remind her of what was happening. "Can I see the princess now?" she asked.

Of course, Lizzie's standard for princess are pretty little blond dolls in pink dresses with massive crowns, but I have to say, there is something in the air of the woman formally known as Kate Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) that just says princess, despite the fact that she does not (thankfully) fit that stereotype. Lizzie was completely rapt as she watched the beautiful princess and her handsome prince walk back down the aisle of Westminster Abbey after officially becoming husband and wife. She leaned close to the screen, a smile spreading across her face as she said with brimming joy, "She's a real princess, Mama."

I know a lot of people think that the concept of the royal family is, frankly, stupid, for a variety of reasons. I guess I understand their reasons, and I know that, until recently, the royals haven't been that romantic vision of pomp and circumstance, elegance, and tradition. They were the real rulers of that country (and of an empire for a time), and did not always do well by their own people, or even by each other. But even with all that, my inner little girl cannot help but love watching our modern royals, romanticizing them and fantasizing out their predecessors.

Whatever you might feel about the monarchy, past or present, there is something undeniably beautiful and reassuring about a day such as today. With all the horrid things happening in this world, there is still this consistency and a sort of magical fairy tale happening, as it's been happened for hundreds of years. I love that.

Free Stuff

If I have one piece advice for anyone, it's don't turn down free stuff. More specifically, if you're driving to work in the morning and you pass a some white metal patio furniture that could look sooo cute with a fresh coat of paint and some cute cushions AND that will fit in your Ford Taurus, you damn well pull over (even though you're already running late) and lug the goods into your backseat. You should also switch out the Taurus for a truck so you would have been able to fit in the free desk that was sitting there, too. You may have to see if it's still there this afternoon and drag to your apartment before you pick up your daughter from daycare.

Best advice you'll ever receive.

Writing Prompt: A Title

Here's the writing prompt I'm taking on from Mama Kat this week:
Tell us the story behind the title of your blog. What is it? What inspired it? What other options did you consider? Are you happy with it?
I'm a serial blog starter. I usually start (and then get rid of) a blog or two a year. The only blog I've ever kept with some consistency is my book review blog, and that's been fairly silent recently (mostly because I haven't had time to read this year). I always begin with some hope, write with consistancy, and then something happens. I either lose focus, lack the time, or don't have the interest any more.

The last time I started a blog, the goal was to write something under a different topic each day. Very ambitious for someone who sometimes forgets to brush her teeth every day, nevermind finding something to write about under specific heading each morning. It was too restrictive.

With this blog...the focus is very loose, and I attempted to title it that way.

First of all, I LOOOOOOOVE the radio show on NPR "This American Life." I listen to it every weekend, love Ira Glass, and feel so...in tune with different parts of our country afterward. And I like how it tells a story. It isn't reporting, it's skillful and beautiful storytelling. And I enjoy telling stories. I'm not always good at it, and I honestly prefer listening to them, but I like to get my two cents in there, too.

Secondly, I love being at home. I love all things domestic. Just like with telling stories, I'm not exactly a master at all domestic things (or any), but I enjoy it, and with consistent enjoyment comes a certain amount of confidence and then mastery, which would be long term goal, I suppose. I like cooking, organizing, sewing, coming up with systems on how to get things done, and I simply love being at home with my family. While I didn't want to choke myself with "rules" about what I can write about in this blog, because it is for me more than anyone else (though I like that at least a few people read it), I did want some sort of focus, and since one of my strongest interests are all things domestic (and within that being a mother and wife), that settled what I'd write about.

I really didn't consider any other titles. As soon as "This Domestic Life" came to me, it stuck. I knew there wasn't anything better it could be called, and I wouldn't be satisifed with anything. While I'm certainly no Ira glass, and not all my blog entries could be considered stories in the traditional sense, "This Domestic Life" rings the truest when thinking about what my blog is about. I love this title and I love this blog.

Top Ten Reasons I Can't WAIT for Summer

1. NO SNOW (yes, we still have some snow on the ground, and, occasionally, just to torture me, the sky still spits out little white flakes)
2. Swimming in the lakes, ocean, rivers, pools that we live near
3. Reading as many books as I can possibly manage while having NO other remotely academic distractions
4. Going to Old Orchard Beach and Popham Beach
5. Hot, sweltering weather
6. Gardening
7. Going out on my parent's boat
8. Camping, camping, and more camping
9. Naps
10. Having more time to do things like cook good food, watch crap T.V., sew, paint, and decorate, and do and make things with Lizzie

When You Want What Everyone Else Has

Another friend of mine announced via Facebook that she's pregnant. I'm so happy for her. She and I are a rare species--dedicated moms who are balancing being wives and mothers with being full-time education students. She has a little girl who's about a year younger than Lizzie and from all appearances, is doing a great job. I am totally thrilled for her.

And almost nauseatingly jealous.

I have wanted to have another baby since Lizzie was about six months old. She was just so...perfect. Who wouldn't want to try for perfection again. And I always knew that I didn't want my kids to be as far apart as my brother and I are (six years). While there was never a problem in the age difference between my brother and I (we're actually pretty good buds), I always wished I had a brother or sister closer in age to me and therefore wanted that for Lizzie. At this point that doesn't look like it's going to happen and it makes me sad.

And almost completely nauseatingly jealous of my friend who is already having her second. It makes me feel even more like there is no reason why we shouldn't have another. Her husband is in the same line of work as mine. They have bought a home, too. She's not even graduating this semester, but has more school ahead of her, yet she is having a baby. And while that might seem to be a lot for a young couple to take on, she's not the type to go into anything lightly. I have no doubt that she and her husband will go through this life change admirably.

And I honestly think we, DOH and I, could do the same. But DOH wants me to get a job and then he says he'd consider having a second baby. Well, isn't that a bit counter-intuitive? Education is not a career field where you can waltz in for a year then leave to have a baby and then expect to get your job back. When you are starting out in education, you are literally under probation and a school district can choose to not renew your contract if you sneeze the wrong way. As a new teacher, I don't want to give my employers any reason to not renew my contract, especially in such a competitive job market. DOH just doesn't seem to get that!

So, it leaves me in this position. If I get a teaching job next semester, or even a job in a school district working as an Ed. Tech. or something of the like, then that means I will go through the '11-'12 school year not pregnant, likely watching several of my friends get pregnant, feeling painfully jealous and unhappy. Hopefully I will feel comfortable enough in my district to get pregnant over next summer (2012) and have our next baby in the spring of 2013. That's two years away.

That's two years of watching people get pregnant and have babies. I don't know if I can do it. In addition to all that, Lizzie will be five, which is just as big a distance as six would be, in my book. And there goes the fulfillment of having two kids close together. Of course, we could have a third kiddo, but we don't if that's something we want yet.

I'm feeling a little bit desolate at the moment. I know, in my head, that having a baby right now isn't right for us. But in my heart, and I tend to listen to my heart quite a bit more than my head, for good or bad, I really want this. Of course, though, there is a big difference between right and want, and part of being an adult is acknowledging that difference and following through in the correct way.

But it's so hard.

Our Easter

 Miss Liz dying eggs. She kept asking when they were going to hatch!

 The Easter Bunny came! Lizzie was, however, a bit disappointed she didn't get to see him.

 Taking a walk and enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. I don't think there is a better way to celebrate Easter and rebirth than going out and enjoying the wonderful changes nature is making this time of year.

 The mountains of Western Maine. Love 'em.

 Liz pretending to be a horse.

 The river.

 Liz with a rock (this is turning into an Easter tradition, it seems, as I have a similar picture form last year).

 Liz releasing the rock back into the river. "Be free, rock!"

Another picture of the river. I'm looking forward to coming down again as the weather gets warmer and things brighten up. This is definitely a place I'll miss going when we move.

I Have a Problem

I'll be the first to admit I'm no housekeeper. I never seem to have the time, energy, or attention span to sustain any sort of cleaning regimen. It gets done when it gets done. My goal the last couple of years has been to at least keep things sanitary, clean, and smelling...not gross, if not nice. It may be cluttered, but at least you're not going to catch some sort of bizarre disease if you come into our home. I know that's not a very high standard (you neat freaks can feel good about yourselves as you read this :-p), but that's just how it is at the moment.

Actually, at this very moment, our aparment is not only not disgusting, but is relatively organized and clean, as it should be, because I've spent the last three mornings working on picking this up and organzing them (I still have a couple of sinkloads worth of dishes to do--for realz--but that takes forever, because our hot water runs out so quickly). One of the big projects I had on the list was laundry.

Of all the chores I have around the apartment, laundry is the least painful. I can start up the washing machine or dryer, let it go for an hour, then come back and fold the laundry while watching T.V. or listening to the radio. It's relaxing and I don't have to dedicate an extended period of unbroken time to it (unlike washing all our dishes, which I have to do by hand). However, since we live in an apartment building that has a shared laundry facility, we don't just pop our clothes in the washer or dryer and let it go. You have to have quarters. $2.75 worth of quarters to be exact.

For whatever reason, we've always been bad about remembering to get quarters. While DOH sort of collects change (he doesn't ever really use it for some reason), he never seems to remember to bring in quarters for me and I never seem to remember to ask. Like a lot of my housekeeping duties, laundry gets shoved to the bottom of the list. This has resulted in a literal mountain of laundry. I'd show you a picture, but honestly, it's a little embarrassing. Admittedly, some of the clothes in our launry "pile" have been sitting there since we lived in our old apartment (which we moved out of in July 2009).

So, my goal for this weekend, in addition to to just getting some of our clothes washed so I had something to wear at home besides pajama bottoms, was to organize what we had and decide what could be packed up and sent to the new house. Now, don't think I'm starting that horrible cycle of leaving clothes to sit and never be washed after a move. Because I can finally (FINALLY) wash clothing without having to have an absurd number of quarters on hand, my intention is to get ALL of that laundry done and to have it organized even further (donate, keep, chuck or upcycle). So, once everything was said and done yesterday, this is what I had:
Okay, there was supposed to be a nice little example picture here, BUT for some reason I'm unable to upload it :-/ Maybe later.

The picture would show you a sizable amount of laundry still yet to be washed, BUT it was all neatly organzied into baskets, just waiting to be hauled off to the laundry room. And then I had a shot of my bed, where I had piled five (six?) trashbags FILLED with laundry that's heading to the new house this coming weekend. All this laundry will be done at the new house (maybe in a new washer and dryer?). Where are we going to put six bags of dirty laundry for a week in our insanely tiny apartment? Oh, they're still hanging out in our bedroom, piled up by myside of the bed. That's fun.

So, with all this wonderful access to my own laundry facility and even a line to hang laundry so it can dry outside in addition to using the dryer (I love the smell of laundry dried outside), my assumption is that more laundry will get done. Clearly, if that's not the case, then I really do have a problem.