My year in review

Days of Thanksgiving: Twenty-Three

23. I am thankful for a clean house. I hate cleaning. I am not one of those people who enjoys the act of cleaning, tidying, scrubbing, dusting, or vacuuming. All I need to do to motivate myself to those tasks however is to think of the feeling I'll have lounging on my couch knowing my toilets are scrubbed, the counters are wiped and the floors are crumb free (for the time being).


I grew up in a busy house that was overrun with kids and pets. It's not that my family wouldn't have loved a clean house, it's that it just wasn't a priority. I should rephrase that, it wasn't a priority for the majority in the house, my mom would have killed for a clean house but she couldn't win the battle against seven (often lazy) kids, an instrument collecting husband and furry pets galore.


Now that I have my own house, I force myself to make cleaning a priority. I still hate the act of cleaning, but the result of having a clean house cannot be matched. It is the start to all things great.


Now if only I could tackle the virtue of organized closets and drawers...

Days of Thanksgiving: Fourteen

14. I am thankful for repair people. After putting my car into oncoming traffic and having my dishwasher deemed kaput, our dryer stopped tumbling. I knew I never should have put, "What in the world could happen next?" in print. I know one should never put all of their laundry off until the weekend, but that often happens in our house. I have a hard time staying up late enough during the week to get something washed, dryed, folded, and put away. 


The incident was on Friday afternoon of course and there was no hope of repair help before Monday. We spent the weekend digging DEEP into our closets and even made an emergency run to Target for socks and underwear at one point. Monday over his lunch hour, Nevin was told all we needed was a new dryer belt. While that is $100 I would have preferred to spend elsewhere, at least we didn't need another trip to Lowe's! 


I am thankful for people whose expertise is different from mine. I don't know how to fix a dryer (obviously) and when my dishwasher overflowed the best I knew how to do was turn it off and lay down towels! When my computer malfunctions, I yell for my husband, mom or brothers. If I want advice about resume writing, I have a friend in the wings. More information on current events, a great history teacher friend.  Parenting, an abundance of friends and family (both online and off). I can't do it all. None of us can. It's not a weakness to ask for help but instead a strength. 


May I know when to ask for help, but also when to offer it.