A BBQ we had at our house on Memorial Day prompted – as per the usual – a thorough and frenzied cleaning spree.  The expectation of company always gives me new eyes (and fresh anxieties!) with which to look at my house and see all the cluttered nooks and crannies!  I can usually manage to keep the floor [...]

I was 36 weeks pregnant and in the hospital’s prenatal ER, the doctors attempting a third medication to get my blood pressure down from 200-something over 100-something, when my husband got the call about his promotion. We would be moving from Portland, Oregon to Houston, Texas. This did not help my blood pressure, I can [...]

Many years ago I met a woman whom I decided had the most unimaginative life possible. She had a large family, and the last handful of her kids at home were all in school and old enough to fend for themselves.  Despite what seemed like an abundance of free time, she didn’t work outside the home, [...]

The title of this post may have you reciting all sorts of emotional adjectives:  exhausted, bitter, disgruntled.  And while there are certainly times when doing housework makes me feel a bit…well…like a servant (sorry, it’s true!), there are other times when it makes me feel something much better:  connected. When life is busy – as [...]

I’ll keep the details brief.  I mean, it’s not like anything really HAPPENED.  But it sure was enough to change the trajectory of my evening! It’s late, it’s time for dinner.  I turn on the gas oven to cook some chicken nuggets and french fries (Homemade Happy Meals, we call them).  I stand at the [...]

I’m not exaggerating when I say our house is like a battery graveyard.  Seriously, we’ve got dead batteries ALL OVER our house – in drawers, on bookshelves, on kitchen counters.  The guilt I feel over this is substantial.  With 7 members of our family using things like TV remotes, Wii remotes, DVD remotes, mp3 players, [...]

I feel almost silly for how excited I am about this review. I mean, dishwasher detergent is dishwasher detergent, right? Right? We’ll see. I recently received a 12-pack of FINISH Quantum for review and quickly began reading through the product’s features on the box. Of course there’s the big red ribbon declaring “#1 Recommended Brand” [...]

I was recently given the opportunity to preview some products from Office Max‘s new InPlace System by Peter Walsh, available in stores beginning this week. Peter Walsh is an organization expert, a well-known author, frequent guest on Oprah, and host of the TLC show Clean Sweep. He has long preached the link between the state [...]

4pm on a day I’ve been lazy and have done little housework: feeling guilty, restless, overwhelmed 4pm on a day I’ve done a ton of household chores and projects: feeling bitter, restless, overwhelmed I cannot seem to win.  Either I pile on the mommy guilt for not doing all the things I think I  should [...]

There are doors that stay shut in my house, just because I cannot handle to see the constant mess on the other side. I am grateful the kitchen is at the back of my downstairs – that way the dishes and clutter stay out of my routine line-of-sight. I can usually manage to keep the [...]