Thursday 13: "Slimy, yet satisfying"

"Slimy, yet satisfying." That's what Timon and Pumbaa teach young Simba about eating bugs instead of fresh meat when they find him in The Lion King. (Not to be confused with The Lion King 2 or The Lion King 1 1/2, though I'm sure we own them all if you need to borrow them for clarification.) Anyway, while going about my day yesterday, I found myself reviewing things that I do as part of my routine that I also find oddly satisfying. (Though eating bugs in lieu of meat will definitely NOT be one of them.)

1. Hanging out the laundry-Maybe it is because as a very small child I used to do this with my great-great Grandma and Aunt M or because Anne and I spent several of our adolescent summers in Tucson doing likewise, but I really enjoy what I'm sure most would find to be a really unpleasant task. I try to drag Natalie out there with me as much as possible to keep me company, so far she doesn't find nearly as therapeutic as I do.
2. Kneading Bread-While I usually do use a breadmaker for such a task, I brought one recipe home from Italy that not only is unadaptable to the breadmaker, but also requires ten full minutes of kneading. I don't make it often, but when I do I understand better why pioneer women probably didn't need as much Prozac. (I also understood this when I used to demo rug-beating at work.)
3. Decluttering-I'm trying to get the house down to a more acceptable level of chaos before the baby comes and life as I know it stops altogether for about 6 weeks and turns into a sleep-deprived blur. (During which time the older kids go back to school and the whole taxi driving routine begins again. Yikes!) Anyway, I've gone back to my Flylady roots and spend as many days as I can getting rid of as much as possible. Every day, I dread doing it and procrastinate a lot before getting started. And then, without fail, it is nearly impossible for me to stop myself once I get going.
4. Overpaying on things like car payments, credit cards, and the mortgage-I think my husband and I will always be at odds over this one, but I love paying more than I need to on all of the above. One of the things I'm doing as part of the 'bail our rear-ends out of debt yet again' financial plan is reviewing our various debts and seeing what can be paid off with the liquid assets from my money market acct. (set up by my Dad and I in lieu of a retirement package when it became obvious I wouldn't re-enter the workforce until my mid-30's) We really needed to pay off Dave's car, so much that I was willing to cash out some things at a loss if needed. BUT, it turned out that we owed far less on it than we realized and will be able to pay it off without a problem by the end of the week. That is one piece of good news I really needed this week.
5. Filling my pantry as cheaply and healthily as possible-I'll spare you the minute details, but let's just say I love the fact that there is an Aldi's and a Wal-Mart within a block of each other about 15 minutes north of my house. The thrill is in saving my receipts and then trying to go under the total from the week before last.
6. Fixing something myself-The longer it sits on DH's 'to-do' list without getting done, the more satisfied I am when I do it without him. My most recent accomplishment has been hanging up the rest of the clothesline. He was "pretty sure" we were still saving money only hanging up half of the laundry and just putting the other half load in the dryer. I wasn't. I love my new clotheslines, and I love even more that they can be taken down and put up easily so we don't accidentally hang ourselves when we are in the backyard. Anyone want to help me replace the Master Bathroom toilet? Or finishing the halfway set-up crib. That's up next, but I'm not sure all the bending over and lifting at 38 weeks pregnant will be all that easy by myself. (The crib is actually my fault, last night he realized he was missing a bolt and used the words "rig up something else" in conjunction with finishing my baby's bed. I said to just wait and buy the right bolt on the way home from work today and therefore do it right. I'm so picky sometimes.)
7. Exercising-Much like decluttering, I can come up with every excuse in the world NOT to get started. But then I always feel so great and am so gratified by the results. Of course, just getting through my day with four kids and a very pregnant body feels like a workout lately, but I can't wait to start reclaiming myself once this baby decides to show up.
8. Bringing something good to read to my Dr. appointments-While all the other pregnant mommies are jockeying for the two newest copies of whatever Dr. P has out  in the waiting room, I'm enjoying my copy of Home Comforts or Anne Lamott essays without bothering to look up until my name is called. I'll admit it's a little silly, but having my own book that I don't have to share makes me happy.
9. Dropping off recycling or clothes/items to their proper bins in town-We are great about boxing and sorting here, and terrible about remembering to drop it off. So, as annoying as it is to drive into town with our loads o'junk, driving away from the drop-off spots feels great!
10. Using my own shopping bags-Little old ladies in Italy discovered this LONG before it became the trendy and green thing to do here in the USA. But I'm glad it's finally caught on here too.
11. Giving my opinion on matters other than homemaking and child-rearing-Shortly before leaving my job, I attended a museum round table discussion about issues concerning...welll...museums (and libraries). Over the summer, I was invited to be a part of a museum focus group evaluating public perception, I have also taught a couple of lessons in Relief Society that focused on church doctrine in the last few months. It's not that I don't embrace my role as a mother, but there is more to me than that and it is nice to tap into those places from time-to-time as well.
12. Finishing a shopping or to-do list-I'm very good at making these, but when it comes to completing them...THAT'S when I find the joy in them.
13. Making a menu for the week and sticking to it-When I do this, the kids know what we're eating, the shopping budget stays on track, and life just goes a lot more smoothly. It may not be as spontaneous as other families, but it works much better for me than guesswork every day at noon and 4 p.m.

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