Friday, March 5, 2010

Finishing the 10 Things List

Hi friends.  My little guy has  been doing better and I am now back to my usual perky and silly self.  Or maybe that's because it's Friday.  You all know what Friday means right? Date night!! Okay, here it really means going out to eat.  Our weekly ritual.  It is what keeps me cooking during the week.

Moving on.

About that 10 things list, let's see, I have 7 items left, right?  Anyone been counting?  Well, I say 7 items so 7 items it is.  I know I was going to do a day-to-day list, but my attention span is very slight.  Thus, I became rather bored with that idea. So, here's a nice, smooth bulleted list of my last 7 things.

  • I often write comments and posts that are not completed thoughts.  Usually by the time I sit down to blog, I have only a few minutes so I am rushing through my comments before one of the kids wakes up.  Now you know why half my comments on your blog probably don't make sense.  And why I jump around from freakishly happy to mournfully sad posts.  Sorry about that.

  • I am paranoid about hand washing.  I wash my hands AT LEAST 20 times a day.  If I know you don't wash your hands (after using the restroom or changing diapers, that is), I will most likely not ask you to watch my kids (lucky you),  won't eat at your house,  and will avoid letting you hold my babies.  Yes, it is that bad.

  • Hand washing isn't my only tick.  If I find a piece of hair in my food, my appetite will vanish.  It will take me a few months to make that food again let alone eat it.

  • We don't have a dishwasher so I am extremely anal about how my dishes are cleaned.  I don't let Mr. B (or anyone else for that matter) wash the dishes because I know I will wash them again and I don't want to hurt his feelings.  Hey, at least I have a heart, right?

  • We furnished our whole apartment with $300.   We went to hundreds of garage sales within a 2-month period, searching for the right furniture--kitchen table, queen sized bed and mattress, couches, end tables, bookshelves, desks, and dressers.  Obviously, our furniture does not match but, by golly, they are comfortable and make our apartment look cozy.

  • I will do laundry all week long and pile it up on our big couch.  By the end of the week,  there is no where to sit on said couch.  Classy, huh?

  • Mr. B's real name is......Ben. I know, I know, we all have really plain names.  I am getting used to it now.


Now that I have virtually unclothed myself I am going to hide in my closet, er, I mean bedroom (I can't fit in my closet).

31 comments:

  1. I wish I could furnish with $300! That is awesome.

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  2. We got our amazing sectional couch off Utah classifieds for $150, I LOVE LOVE buying secondhand as long as it's quality. And that is COOL that you have mismatched furniture... it reminds me of Monica's apartment on Friends, and it just looks eclectic and awesome.
    I am totally the same way about the dishes, although we do have a dishwasher. But I am the ONLY person that loads them, because I know when I rinse them off they get cleaner and I like to stack them in there a certain way. Props to you for not having a dishwasher though! I grew up that way so I know what's its like to BE a dishwasher.
    I loved reading the 10 things about you.
    P.S. I TOTALLY cracked and bled with Camie, for 2 weeks, to the point it hurt when anything (including my bra) touched me, let alone to let her latch on. Bad, horrible, crying times. Thus the switch to formula. Just didn't put it on my post cause Eric's grandparents read it and I think it's TMI for them. : )

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  3. Love your blog. Found you on MMB. I would not be allowed to watch your babies. but I can live with that. Have fun eating out. It is my favorite thing about date night too.

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  4. I am obsessive with hand washing, too. I completely and totally understand that tick!

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  5. Don't ask me why, but it always makes me feel better to know other families living in apartments :) We're in a little two bedroom place, and it's not ideal, but it's home.
    And ditto on the hair in food thing. Yuck.

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  6. Ha! The hair in food thing - that's totally me too! Blech. Even if I know it's my own hair, I can't handle it.

    It's so nice to get to know you even better, Amber. Thank you for bravely sharing these revealing, endearing things about you and your family.

    Ben, Amber, Andrew, Emily - sounds just perfect to me.

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  7. Well, I'm with you on the hand washing. You should have seen how paranoid we had to be when we brought home the preemie - it was doctor's orders about germs and his fragile condition and people were very resistant to obeying the rules!

    Have a great date night! Glad the little guy is doing better!

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  8. I'm another obsessive hand washer. I have to keep lotion everywhere because my hands get so dry during the winter as a result.

    Great list!

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  9. I totally get what you mean about you being the only one to wash the dishes. I won't let my husband clean the bathroom or vacuum for that same reason.

    How great you were able to furnish your apartment for only $300. I have been desperately trying to redecorate our space on a budget and now have new hope that I can do so on a limited budget!

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  10. I've never been able to get into those parenting books. Or self-help in general. People's lives are too unique to fit one rigid way of doing things.

    We did not buy anything furniture for our house but a bed for the first 5 years of marriage. Hand-me-downs were our best friends.

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  11. And that is what I get for opening all the blog posts to comment on at once- just pretend that comment was for the post where you talked about the parenting books... the one I just hit in my tabs and thought, didn't I already comment on that?

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  12. Linda, thank you so much for visiting AND commenting!

    Ah, of course I did not clarify what I meant by hand washing. (See, my posts really are only half thoughts.) (If only I could provide a clip from my brain, things would make so much more sense.) Anyway, I mean people who do not wash their hands after using the restroom or changing diapers. See, I'm not THAT picky! : )

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  13. You are such a hoot - thanks for the giggles!

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  14. I recently read that the people most likely to develop hand eczema are surgeons and stay-at-home parents. Guess we're in good company washing our hands all day long!

    And I am looking right now at an entire couch stacked with laundry - glad I'm not alone in this charming habit.

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  15. Glad to hear things are going better. Love hand washing, clean dishes and garage sales myself. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Just 300 bucks? The frugal shopper, huh? That's cool.

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  17. Yep, I'm the same way, when I find hair in my food, my appetite vanishes completely.

    PS: In response to your question on my blog about poets to read, I'd suggest the following, as they are awesome amazing:
    Ellen Bass
    Adrienne Rich
    Lucille Clifton
    Rita Dove
    Mary Oliver

    That should get you jump started, anyhow! ;)

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  18. Oh Amber. Your couch and my couch are bosom buddies!

    I take one week off and you go and move. I've got some blogger updating to do.

    I'm glad you guys are feeling better.

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  19. I knew I liked you! (from one obsessive handwasher to another!)

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  20. Will you wash my dishes too? I promise it won't hurt my feelings if you don't approve of my washing skills.

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  21. Great list Amber! I am NOT an obsessive handwasher, nor a clean freak AT ALL... but, Hannah is. She washes and washes and cleans and cleans. Strange how a five year old picked up this obsession on her own! And although I'm not a clean freak, the one thing I must have? Is a neat and tidy family room including the couch. Pillows must be lined up and puffed up and NO stuff on the couch. Funny- we're opposite!
    And I'm so impressed with the $300 furnishings. That's impressive!

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  22. Apparently, even 18 years after the birth of my first child, I would still qualify for holding yours (in the hand washing department).

    Now, as for the laundry on the couch trick, shame shame. I am shocked. Appalled. Staggered.

    Everyone knows that laundry installations are far more effective when you have multiple mountains on every available surface. Oh, wait. That bills stacked on all flat surfaces, and laundry on the cushy ones, so that people sit on the floor, or on the mountains (it beats ironing).

    Your names are not plain!! Good grief. I'm wagging my finger at you, woman! Your names are classic. And suit all of you perfectly.

    Now. Must run. Need to go wash and pile something...

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  23. Not a thing wrond with second hand furniture. Have had plenty of it through the years. I think I have you beat, when my hubby and I got married...poor college student. We even had book case built with cinder blocks and booards. We also had a utility spool table. Feel better? Trust me, furniture does NOT make a home..you do and it sounds like you're doing a beautiful job. Blessings.

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  24. You don't have a dishwasher? EEK! The horror! I seriously don't know how you survive!

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  25. I bet you could! It was all we had in our budget. Besides, we are hoping to bring our furniture with use to med school. I just hope it lasts that long. : )

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  26. Um, I'm not sure if our apartment looks eclectic and awesome. I go for comfort over aesthetically pleasing. But, if it survives through med school, I cannot complain!

    The only reason we don't have a dishwasher is because of cost. Apartments (in our area) are more expensive the more appliances you add. So, we figured we could make it work without a dishwasher. And we have. Mostly.

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  27. Laundry is meant to be piled on the couch. And I HATE having to wash my kids hands ALL the time. So I invest in a whole lot of hand sanitizer!
    Luke gets really grossed out when he finds one of my hairs in his food. Not that I blame him in the least, but then I tell him if he gives me too hard of a time over it, he better start learning how to cook 'cause I'm going to quit! LOL.

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  28. Can we have a dishwashing party together? Because I am super anal about that too. And my mom lives with us and leaves food bits on the dishes and it totally grosses me out. Then I end up rewashing the whole group, which is neurotic, but I can't help myself. And my hands? They are scaly. From too much washing of course.

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  29. OK. Have you tried rubber gloves? They have become my best friends.

    And, you are a saint for letting your mother live with you. I just wanted you to know that.

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  30. [...] Washing hands.  Considering my hand washing compulsion, this was tough.  I used almost all of my hand sanitizer and tried not to touch any [...]

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