The older I get, the more I mirror my elders. . . .

So I've been "home" with the girls a whole whopping 1 1/2 weeks, and things are going great. I feel a lot less anxious this time around w/ the whole sahm thing-before, I just felt like I wasn't ready and could fully appreciate all that is involved in being home throughout the day. In just one week, I feel as if I see my mom and grandma in myself as I become a little more domestic-these are a few of the "things" reflecting on me:

I officially have dishwater, dry as hell hands-don't get me wrong, I apply calming cream at every opportunity, but the constant wipe down of the counters, contact w/ laundry detergent, and bleach is taking its toll.

Um, my kitchen drawers and cabinets are spotless, they no longer have that "lived in" feeling of a few crumbs or some miscellaneous object floating among the silverware, or bowls. My mom even commented on it the other day when she reached into my drawer-"Pete, you must have too much time on your hands".

Those closets I've been putting off organizing for the last 3 years are finally getting tended to, day by day I move from one to another. Items are purged, organized, donated, etc.

I've been hanging clothes on the line-I've always enjoyed doing this w/ my bedding, but rarely would I take the time to hang a full load out to dry. Maybe it's my frugal, or more so cheap dad inside me trying to save a buck on energy-but whatever it is, I feel pretty ambitious in terms of laundry.

Most days I'm pretty much up and at em', not sitting in my pj's all day; but there are occasional days where my bra doesn't go on til noon or so. Yeah, you read that right-it makes me giggle, I used to stop by my grandma and the first thing she'd say was "just a minute, I haven't even put my bra on". It's not such a bad thing:).

I have this incessant need to bake, which I'm not really a baker-but I do enjoy making things that the kids can help with. And for the fun of it, today I froze 10 lbs of ground sirloin, 2.5 lbs of ground turkey, and 10 baked chicken breasts.

But lastly, I have had the opportunity to just sit in the chair and rock Ainslee, and I've been able to take my time and read a few books to Laura, draw a picture, or paint her nails, or whatever it might be. I see Alex onto the bus in the a.m. and back off after school-and all of those things are reminders of what this very house was to me when I was a child. I would frequently get off the bus at Grandma's, she was so patient and would really "play" with me, and we would just sit for hours in the old green upholstered recliner rocking. I remember those times so fondly, I hope my children will too.

My house will never be spotless whether I'm home all day or not, it will always have some level of "mess" in it. I don't know if age has made me a little more patient to the thought that "there's always tomorrow" as far as cleaning goes, and I'm happy just working on small projects daily-rather than tackle the whole house.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how well the transition is going into the sah world. I think this time around I'm a little more prepared, we've recently become members of the Y which will provide us with some "outside" entertainment and social life. The kids are all participating in classes, and I'm hoping to get back into a workout routine. We'll also be visiting the library, and Laura is attending a 3k class, one day a week. I'm really excited just to be "available" to all of this.

Classes start Nov 1st for me, I'm a little dampened by the courses-an Art201 and Eng230 course. One a liberal art I'm required to take-and the other is a pre-req to many of the other courses. My Eng credits from UW-L were over 10 years old and couldn't transfer-bummer. I think they'll be good "warm-ups" back into the school life for me.

Life is good.