Things That Are Hard

(That's what she said!)

Ok, no, this post isn't about that. It is about things in my life that are HARD! Tough, if you will. Difficult. Whatever, get your mind out of the gutter.

1. Peeling carrots without a vegetable peeler

RIP to my veggie peeler. About 4 years ago, I got a veggie peeler from Wild Oats (now Whole Foods) in Little Rock. It has been a good peeler. A loyal peeler. And last weekend it died. I thought this was no big deal. It was actually easier for me to peel the potatoes without it. Carrots are another story. I've already put a new peeler on my grocery list for next week.


2. Being pregnant while having a toddler who doesn't sleep through the night.

Separately, these things aren't so hard. Being pregnant? Not so hard. Having a toddler? Trying, but not necessarily hard. Having a toddler that doesn't sleep through the night? Sucky, but not so hard. Combine the three and you have a recipe from the devil.

3. Menu planning with a picky husband.

I try to cook different stuff. Keep things spicy in the kitchen. But Jake likes his meals in a very simple format: meat, potato, vegetable. Or sometimes meat, vegetable, vegetable. He'll try anything I cook, but it is really easy to tell when he's not a fan. And it isn't that what I cook is bad (seriously, I'm a pretty good cook when I have a recipe to follow), but he just takes issue with meatless dishes and some textures. So our meals end up being the same thing week after week, which suits Mr. Jake just fine.

4. Keeping our "bonus room" clean.

We have this room off the kitchen that was an addition to the original house. It is kind of a multi-purpose room; there is a built in desk and some storage, a closet that Jake uses as the home for his clothing, and the closet where our laundry machines are. Next to the living room, it also has the most open space, which means it houses a lot of kid playthings. We keep the train table there, with all its accessories, and a little picnic table for impromptu snacks and lunches. But because there is so much going on in there, it is also a disaster most of the time. Computer trash, clean and dirty laundry, papers cascading everywhere, toys galore. It drives me crazy, but no matter how often I pick it up and sweep it down, it is a disaster again within 36 hours.

5. Staying stocked with milk

A few months ago, I posted about how insane the amount of milk WIC gives us is. How we could never go through that much and I was throwing gallons and gallons away each month. My, my, my, how the tables do turn. Since Jack weaned, we are going through about a half gallon a day. I went through what WIC gave us in 15 days this month and am now buying gallons two at a time when I go to the store (which is about every 4 days, at this point).

6. House training a puppy

Do I even need to elaborate here? This is part of what is keeping my bonus room so dirty. Cara (our 8 month old puppy) still isn't fully house trained and is peeing on our beds. I'm washing sheets like a crazy lady, but that creates a backlog of laundry. Which then sits around in my bonus room.

7. Figuring out "Lost"

We are late getting on the "Lost" bandwagon. We just started season 1 this year. WTF is going on? We are about 7 episodes in and it just keeps getting weirder. But from what I gather reading around the internet, that doesn't really change. And you don't really get any true answers. Why am I watching this again?

8. Getting a job

Mtn. Home=the land of no jobs. At least not jobs in my field. If I was a LPN, RN, or CNA I'd be set. I'm getting my application together for the last opening in my field within an hour's drive today. Pray I get the job.

9. Making this list an even 10

So I'm going to stop now. :-)