Not in it to win it. Sorry.

Dear Kittens,

1. I skipped yesterday and I know you were sad, but the deal is I was VERY ILL. Listen, I am not all that sick, but I am a giant crybaby about being even slightly sick. I think there was a time when I could power through, but that time is long gone. I had a doctor’s appointment already scheduled yesterday, so the doctor gave me an antibiotic for this illness. I am not sure at all that I need an antibiotic. I decided that if I’m not significantly better after the third dose, I’m going to stop taking it.

2. Dudes, I do not know what else to tell you. I finally finished that book about dogs. It was not worth it, I’ma tell you that.

3. Yep, I’m out.

Love,
Catie

You have a lot of points.

Dear Kittens,

1. Sephora has a card where you can earn points. You can spend you points on certain items. Rarely do I want the things they offer. I have A LOT of points. Whoever rings up my order always comments on how many points I have. I wish that Sephora allowed me to use that points in other ways or that they offered a wider variety of stuff. Until them, I am doomed to get this comment, “wow! You have A LOT of points.”

2. I maybe mentioned that I have a cold. It’s not a bad cold, but I am a crybaby. I think it’s funny when people talk about men being crybabies when they’re sick. That’s certainly not true at my house. Andy is very stoic when he’s ill, but I am not. I complain, a lot. There is whinning. Sometimes there are suicide threats. If it’s a bad cold, I will absolutely cry. Yeah, I’m a party. Not a fun party, but a party all the same.

3. Today I met Traci in Menlo Park. We had lunch then we did some walking and shopping. It was a really nice afternoon that ended right on time. By the time I got home, my cold had kicked into high gear. I took a 2 hour nap. I’m very excited about going to bed tonight.

Love,
Catie

Out.

Dear Kittens,

1. One of the best things we did yesterday was hang plates! I’ve been collecting plates for some time now and I’ve been meaning to hang them on the wall in the dining room, but I never got around to it and that room got so messy, there was no point. Now the plates are hung and I am so pleased.

2. I have a cold. I don’t think it’s a bad one, but it’s slowing me down and making me a bit foggy headed.

3. Yep, that’s all I got. Sorry, Kittens.

Love,
Catie

habba habba habbbbbaaaa chooo

Dear Kittens,
1. Today was much slower and less progressy than yesterday, but still really good. The most difficult thing for me with this purge project is the emotional exhaustion. I work hard to not beat myself up over not doing this work sooner, I force myself to make quick decisions to keep or get rid of things and I use everything in me to be patient with Andy. It turns out that he is STILL not a mindreader. I should sign him up for a class or something. I’m so pleased with the work we’re doing here and with every load that goes to the trash or donation, I feel lighter and something else. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s good.

2. Andy and I just talked via Skype. He’s in the bedroom and I’m in the living room. He had to log off because he said people (me) were making lewd suggestions via video chat. The nerve of some wives.

3. My treat this week is meeting my friend, Traci, for lunch on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to spending time with her and eating the lunch time foods and then walking around and doing some shopping or something. Right now today, I am looking forward to going to bed where I can sleep like the dead until morning and start this work all over again.

Love,
Catie

Making Room

Dear Kittens,

First of all, I am super tired. Like eyeballs dropping out of my head tired. It’s the best type of tired because I’ve been working so super hard today. Andy and I spent 6 hours getting rid of stuff and organizing the garage. We aren’t finished in there, but we got a lot done and I’m okay with where we stopped. I didn’t intend for us to spend so much time just on the garage, but I think it was time well spent.
Oh! I almost forgot this, I found a few clothing items that I was lamenting giving away, except, they never made it to Salvation Army. They are in the washing machine right now and I’m hopeful that they will be as fabulous as they are in my memory.

Second of all, tomorrow we stay inside and take care of our two trouble rooms. The office and the parlor. The parlor is really the dining room, but it really was the parlor for a little while and the name stuck. The office is the hardest room for me because, well, a lot of reasons I don’t feel comfortable revealing, so I 100% admit to putting that room off. It is, of course, the pivotal room. It’s the clutter that actually matters and quite frankly, is the key to keeping ALL the clutter under control. This whole purging project has been about the office and tomorrow is the big day of getting it under control for reals. VERY EXCITING, right? Yes, yes it is.

Third of all, my lovely friend, Craige, made me think about how much time I spend online an what it’s doing for me. I spend more time online than I want to. I get sucked into mindless clicking and then before I know I feel all Internet hung over and gross. I want to make my daily Internet time have more intention, but for now I’ve decided to take one day a week off from the Internet. I’m choosing Sunday to be my day, but that might change. Right now the rule is that I’ll keep my laptop off all day, I’ll use my phone only for immediate communication, calls, text or e mail, but I’m leaving the rest of the Internet alone.

And now I’m gonna wash my face, bursh my etteh and go the bed. I predict I’ll be asleep in no time since at this moment I am typing iwith my eyes closed because they are so tired.

Love,
Catie

Grain Free

Dear Kittens,

1. My nails are painted a pale pink with a super glittery polish on top. So much pinky glitter. I don’t have to tell you it’s awesome. I’ve been going to my nail shop for about 4 years now and I love them there so much. Today I have a small bruise on my foot and all the the ladies needed to come over and look at it and then ask me how it happened and then tell me how it was so bad. SO BAD. When they nag me like that, I call them my Vietnamese mothers. When I left the salon today I said, “Bye Mommies!” They all laughed.

2. Even though I’ve been doing non-stop obedience training with Murray since we first started with the dog trainer, he still needs guidance and sometimes I’m better at that than other times. Murray is smart and coniving and always working the angles. He spots an opening to do something, he maximizes that opportunity. I admire him for this trait. He makes the most of every single situation. And this is exactly why I’ve decided to crack down on him. He’s backslid in several areas and so I’m lowering the boom, as it were, and I can tell from the look on his super cute face that he’s sad to see the good times go. It’s too bad that he’s shown me that he knows exactly how I want him to behave, otherwise I might be satisfied with this stuff we’ve got going on these days. Poor, poor Murray, having to follow all these arbitrary rules. I joke! In reality, I notice that Murray seems much happier when I’m holding up my end of the dog pack bargain and being the real leader.

3. I recommended a book called Pack of Two, yeah, I take that back. This book should’ve been an essay. It’s just story after story of people whose attachment to their dog is, i don’t know, maybe a little bit troubling. Maybe my attachment to my dog is disturbing and if you think that, trust me, this book is absolutely not for you. One interesting point the author makes is that if a man has a dog, no one thinks that the dog is a subsitute for a child. If a woman has a dog, it’s often assumed that the dog is a child substitute. A lot of people have referred to Murray and Seamus as my “furry children” or my “babies” and I find it annoying. They are my pets and I love them and sing songs to them and make up elaborate stories about their non-existant secret lives, but I do not think of them as being my children. Mostly, I think of them as co-workers that I really have great affection for and sometimes have to clean poop off of.

Love,
Catie

Chile Verde

Dear Kittens,

1. Guess what? I totally forgot to take the boxes of stuff I’m getting rid of to the curb today. I didn’t just forget, I massively forgot! I didn’t remember until I went to do some laundry and I saw the boxes all stacked up. I momentarily beat myself up and then I realized that it’s not a big deal. It would’ve been nice to have this stuff picked up instead of me having to drop it off, but this is okay. Also, I’m not finished and I think it will supremely satisfying to take everything at once.

2. This weekend there’s going to be a big push to finish the Purging Project. Andy’s taking the whole weekend off, which is awesome. He usually works 6 days a week, but not this week! I’m really glad he’s taking the time off. We’re going to have dinner at a steakhouse, we’ll work super hard on the house and it’s going to be super great. I’m really looking forward to this weekend.

3. Kittens, I have some news. I’ve rediscovered <a href=”http://www.sockdreams.com”>Sock Dreams.</a> I don’t know how I forgot about them, but I think it’s good that I did. Look, I don’t technically need socks, but tonight I wore rainbow striped knee socks under my rolled up jeans and it was wonderful. I’d completely forgotten how very cozy it is to wear knee highs under jeans. I cannot wait to wear these socks with skirts, too. Anyway, I’ve ordered some more knee high socks and I can’t wait to get them.

Love,

Catie

Mrs. Anchev

Dear Kittens,

1. I sort of like blogging regularly, but this every day seems so stupid! I don’t think I’ve written a single post over 500 words. How are you kittens ever going to get your reading practice in with me skimping on the words every second? The truth is, you aren’t and I cannot lie, I’m not even sorry. I am sorry that I’m not sorry, though.

2. Today I went to my mom’s classroom, affectionately known as Room 6, and did an art project with the kids. I enjoy my time in the classroom so much. I go once a month and twice a year (Christmas and end of the year) I put on a tea party for the kids and they love the hell out of it and so do I. I started a project with the kids last year, where I take a photo of the whole class every month. It’s fun to see how the kids change so much in the course of the year.

3. As part of upping my game with the homekeeping, I’m getting more serious about decorating our house. We’ve lived here for 6 years and I haven’t taken much of an interest in the place. Lookit, this house is a fixer upper and we haven’t done much fixing up and quite frankly, I hate certain things about this house and I’ve let that kill my interest in decorating. I could say DESIGN and be all fancy pants, but I’m not going to do that to you. Instead I will tell you that I bought new curtains for our bedroom and the living room and I am in love with them. I will also tell you that I plan on having some stuff done before the end of the year that I can show you and that will be exciting pants for everyone, right?

Love,
Catie
p.s. Tomorrow I have a lunch date, a walk around date and then a dinner date and I’m sort of already thinking that I might need to spend the day in my pajamas, but that doesn’t seem very likely. I need to start making pajama dates.

Pure Life

Dear Kittens,

1. Part of getting rid of everything I don’t love, is upping my game as a homekeeper. I’ve started ironing our pillow cases and hem of top sheets! And I love it. It takes me about 12 minutes per set of sheets and it’s reminded that I enjoy ironing. A long time ago, I used to iron Andy’s shirts every morning and I truly loved it. I guess I stopped doing that when he started wearing polo shirts at work all the time. Very few of our clothes need to be ironed these days, but I have lots and lots of table linens that will be getting pressed into submission.

2. Andy got a new car late last year, which means it’s my turn to get a new car. I have a few minor complaints about my car and it still runs fine. There’s no rush in getting a new car, but it’s fun to look around and imagine driving something new. Maybe I get me a sports car! Maybe not! What about a scooter with a sidecar? Wouldn’t Murray look so cute in a side car?

3. Welp, it’s clear that I am not going to be finished with my purging project by the 10th. I’ve made amazing progress and I’m quite pleased with what I’ve gotten rid of, but it was just too big of a job. I’m  going to keep working on it because my ultimate goal is to have the two main cluttered areas cleared out, the so-called parlor and the office, by Thanksgiving. That’s absolutely doable.

Love,

Catie

Flaaaat

Dear Kittens,

1. A friend of mine (Tracy!) linked a recipe for pumpkin gingerbread and I’ma make it tomorrow, but instead of doing in a loaf pan, I’m going to double the recipe and make it in a cake pan. Testing for Thanksgiving, that’s what I’m calling it. Yep, testing. It has nothing to do with my love of gingerbread and pumpkin. NOTHING AT ALL. Seriouslly, I’ve been looking for a recipe that wasn’t too sweet, sort of spicy and I think this one will do it. I’ll link to it after I make my test cake.

2. I recently got a new shower caddy organizer type deal and I love it! Click here to take a look-see. The baskets move up and down and side to side and because of that I can fit EVERYTHING on the caddy. Nothing is in the corners of the tub or the window sill. I love Simple Human products.

3. Oh, here’s something- I hate flat shooes. HATE THEM. I mean, I don’t care if you wear them, but I’m never going to look at your flat shoes and tell you they’re cute. I’ma look at them and think, “this is her choice, it’s okay that she choosed those flat shoes. Please don’t scream.” haha. Not really, but I hope the whole ballet flat thing goes away tomorrow. That would make me super happy.

Love,
Catie