Sorry that it has been so long since I blogged last. I think I understand one of the potential benefits of plural marriage....while wife #1 is cooking/baking/drying/canning ALL day...EVERY day...the rest of the house is going to pot. Laundry isn't getting done. Dishes are done 3 times as often. Bathrooms start growing things that could be used as science fair projects. So, if there were another wife to pick up the slack, the family would probably be happier. Such is the state of things at our house.
I am in the kitchen all day long. Mark has no clean clothes for work. Brynlee's school uniforms are being worn twice before being washed. I won't relay the state of the bathroom or kitchen floor but let's just say that Landon's black feet and knees are grossing me out. But dang it....WE HAVE BREAD and dried zucchini.
Sigh...
Honestly, we've been doing well until this last week. I have enjoyed using the whole wheat a little more than I though I would. I have always enjoyed more "rustic" cuisine. However, the thought of eating it 7 days a week was a little tough to swallow...literally. Landon loves the homemade bread. (Thanks Joanna!!) Brynlee loves the fruit leather (pear and peach/mango) and the cracked wheat cereal, especially now that it is getting cooler. I made a vegetable soup with home dried veggies that Mark loves. All good things. It just takes so much dang work. I am not afraid of hard work. I enjoy it immensely when I feel that I am accomplishing something. Lately, it just feels like I am providing minute to minute, never getting ahead of it. Which brings me to my next point...
Living on your food storage is not conducive to happiness when you are fighting depression. It is no secret that I struggle with depression a lot, and more so since Landon was born. For the first little while of this experiment, I was feeling a lot better. I felt like I was accomplishing something. Staring at 11 loaves of bread that I just made by hand gave me a huge sense of satisfaction. The 2ND week I learned more and realized that there were times to use real milk and times to use the powdered; quick oats and regular oats are not always interchangeable, and dried green beans look terrible but reconstitute great.
Week 3 has been a different story. It started with too many drying trays in the sink and a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. Ok, I'll just wash them...um...no Cascade. Ok... I'll hand wash them. AAAGH! We're out of dish soap. I knew we had another bottle but I couldn't find it. It just went downhill from there. It's amazing the tools that Satan uses to discourage us. Somehow, I think that my happiness is worth a little more than dish soap but I'm just not feeling it. Somehow I ended up at:
1. I am fat and frumpy.
2. I am disorganized.
3. My cleaning skills are not even substandard.
4. I have gained how much weight?
5. Why am I having so many headaches?
6. Too much junk.
7. Why am I only sleeping 3 hours per night?
Again, I know that these are tools that Satan is using on me right now. Mark is being great and helping where he can, but it's a big load for him. Brynlee's new thing is "Mom, are Satan and his helpers making you happy or sad?" It isn't said with apprehension, but more admonishment.
So, it finally ended up with going out to dinner. We compromised on a place that would be better and serve fresher food. This left only one place...Sweet Tomatoes. I enjoyed it immensely, especially because I didn't have to make it or clean up afterward. I was feeling much better. Then I came home and saw all the dirty dishes. Here we go again...
So that's where we're at. It has been a really hard few weeks. We have decided to have a yard sale to get rid of a lot of the things that are cluttering up our house. Hopefully this will help the cleaning and laundry portion of things. I am completely open to any and all suggestions that you might have as to how I can snap out of this funk, make cooking easier or whatever.
Since this was a little bit of a "downer" post...I have listed below the FUNNIEST blog I have seen yet. (This was compliments of Melissa Sheets Sonntag.) Don't just look at the pictures, read the commentary too. I don't want to give anything away...it speaks for itself.
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
Here's to things getting better.
4 comments:
Oh Cori...I love you! You know how wonderful I think you are. If it were anyone else, we would've given up on day 2. You're doing great, you are beautiful, you are an awesome mother, you are so amazing! I love you!
Cori- I to am in complete admiration of what you have undertaken. I think you are amazing I would have run out and just bought some more cascade and called it emergency time.
As for depression, I think we all struggle at different points along the road. For me it comes in stages directly correlated with the amount of stress I am under at the time. My trick has been to try and diffuse the situations as I feel them coming on before the truck hits. Sometimes, I can head it off, and other times, well, we just work through it.
Food storage. HUMMMM!! I love mine, but I also love the grocery store. Once your experiment is over, I think we will be calling you for advice and words of wisdom. I think we have all learned a bunch from you.... Like using things and rotating so things don't expire and leave us with unleavened bread. ;)
As for living healthier, we could all use a little more of that. But, I think we all need an occasional eat out. A great reward for doing all the things moms have to do, the laundry, dishes (by hand or dishwasher, they are still a pain), cooking, being a chauffer, tending kids......
Besides, "men are that they may have joy" . I hope once the experiment is over, you can find the balance that will allow the joy and peace to permeate your home again.
Thanks for sharing all your lessons with us, you are an inspiration to us all. We love you and miss you.
Oh Cor... I ditto what both of these girls have said!!! You are amazing. I wish that I could be more like you in this way. As you know my food storage consists of 25 fridge packs of Diet Coke, and some Progresso soup. You are amazing. It was such a fun surprise to see you guys yesterday, I only wish it could have been longer. I hope your car is O.K. As for the depression stuff, I have just the answer. You have done a great thing, and have done pretty well with it. But for now, take a break, enjoy the fall, the crisp air...open your windows, and turn the radio up real loud, organize, and take your house back. And if that doesn't work, call me and we can go and have a treasure hunting day. I love you, and I am so glad your my sister. Keep your chin up.
Cori - I am so excited to find your blog. It is fun to kep up with what your amazingly beautiful family is doing. Send me your email and I will invite you to my blog.
jennica@redrockhvac.com
Love - Jennica
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