Week 2: Okay

I’m strangely very proud of myself for this week.

One of the silly things I really enjoy doing is “warning” my husband that the house is a positive disaster when I’ve cleaned as a surprise. It’s always a possibility, because I am good at mess-making, so he always falls for it. So, I pulled this gag on Thursday night.

I had done some extra-obvious cleaning that day. Our carpet really needed vacuuming, and the dishes had heavily piled up while I overcompensated on laundry (trying to get it caught up to a manageable place). The dishes took me a few hours, so the freshly freed counter space was super noticeable. When he got home, he started looking around for my “mess” that I’d warned him about.

But, what I wasn’t expecting was his reaction. He was his usual happy self about the cleaning I’d done — totally typical for my little gag — until he saw that I’d re-filled both hand soap containers. He dubbed me the Best Wife in the World for that. It’s the little things, apparently, that count!

So, that was all pretty exciting, but what I’m actually proud of myself about is food-related. I tried two new food items this week! This is a big deal for me, because my pickiness is rampant. While I am working to eat “healthier” foods overall, any new food that I try counts in my book. We bought me some Tillamook Vanilla Bean yogurt to eat for breakfasts and/or desserts, but we only bought two. Sadly, I ran out. And whined about it. So, the husband said I should try his Yoplait yogurt. I was horrified. Then he told me he’d gotten a vanilla one.

I don’t eat yogurt in non-vanilla flavors. Maybe someday I’ll branch out and try other flavors, but for now the Yoplait vanilla was a pretty big step. I grabbed the one in the fridge with the two vanilla beans on it and ran back to the couch to watch a Friends Gag Reel on DVD with the husband before bed. I tried it, and it was weird. It tasted okay. But, it was weird. So, I tried it again. I was kind of mumbling to him about how it was kind of weird and thick. To which he pointed out that it was the Thick & Creamy variety of yogurt. Oh. Em. Gee.

I still thought it was okay, but weird (Yogurt is thinner in my head. Perceived texture is very important to me with regard to food.), so I kept eating it. Unfortunately, it upset my stomach, so I couldn’t finish it. This was a huge step for me though. Usually when I blind try things, I gag and spit it back out. Fortunately, yogurt is a single texture food. I once bit into a cheeseburger without peaking in to make sure it was plain. Let me tell you, that was disastrous. The ketchup and mustard and pickles — oh gawd.

A small part of me kind of finds it pathetic that trying a new brand of yogurt is so exciting for me, but the rest of me is pretty dang proud.

Finances 101

Money stresses me out. Bills stress me out. Debt stresses me out. I know I’m not alone in that. But why does it all have to be so crazy-making?

My husband and I aren’t frugal. We aren’t even responsible with money. We’re impulsive spenders who live beyond our means.

I just Googled* “why balance a checkbook”, because I realized I had absolutely no idea why people are supposed to balance their checkbooks. I still don’t think I get it really. Maybe more research is in order.

Then I read about people going without even debit cards, sticking solely to cash to pay for things, and that mystifies me. For starters, I feel like I couldn’t be trusted with an envelope of cash at the grocery store. That might be because our default grocery store has a varied video games selection though. I’m not the kind of person that can stick to a list at the grocery store, unless I really, really focus on the stress of money. I’m just so easily excited and distracted by things. Besides, there’s always an excuse or a reason for junk food.

Where does somebody start learning to be responsible with money? What does responsible with money really mean? It’s different for each person, right?

Note to self: You probably won’t be responsible with money until money is more important than frivolous things.

*I actually SwagBucks‘d it, but same difference.

Water doesn’t belong in that part of the sink

Our kitchen sink is kind of broken. I mean, it’s fully functional, but the little plastic cap that says H and C on it popped off sometime, and we just never cared enough to have the apartment staff come in and fix it. It was never really a problem, you know? We know which side is Hot and which side is Cold, after all. For the record, we still have the cap, it’s just not affixed to the faucet.

Yesterday I turned on the faucet to fill our Brita. It’s an Ultramax, so it takes a little while to fill up. While I waited, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Aw, crap. Our faucet is leaking. I turned off the water. The drip stopped. But this drip is in such a strange place. So, I peaked into the area that’s normally covered by the Hot and Cold cover, and it’s full of water.

I called the husband in to look at it. He’s hardly more handy than I am, but a second opinion never hurts. He and I both agreed that the little chamber was just very slowly emptying itself (since there should be no water in there in the first place). The faucet itself wasn’t broken. (Sigh of relief)

It was so full, that we had to stick a rag in, and absorb some of the water out. At least it’s not leaking now!

Note to self: Next time, try to get less water in there when you’re cleaning the sink.

Week 1: Starting Out

It’s 12:03 AM, and I just ordered pizza from Domino’s. That’s practically health food in my book; I mean, it’s got tomatoes in the sauce. That’s the most fruits and vegetables I’ve had all week. I’m not going to count this as successful branching out for obvious reasons, but it’s better than the large Chicken McNuggets meal I could have had from McDonald’s.

The thing about this transformation (for lack of a better word) is that I’m doing it more out of necessity than want of change. Sure, in a perfect world I’d be able to eat all of the foods that I enjoy the aromas of. In a perfect world, I’d even be an awesome housekeeper. As it stands, I’m thrilled with myself for having done laundry and taken out the trash while the dishes are piling up on the kitchen counters.

It’s not like I have no experience cleaning. I had household chores growing up. This should be easy once I find a rhythm, right? I’ve made myself a task schedule on MyChores. Without something like this, I think I’ll completely forget to do laundry for a month or won’t do dishes until we run out of forks (as we have now).

We’re all more successful with goals, right? I’ll be starting with super easy 3-month goals that I can succeed at, in hopes of further motivating myself!

• Be adventurous with at least 2 new foods per month.
• Work out 3 times per week with the Wii.
• Keep up with the laundry and dishes, so I’m not constantly drowning in them.
• Keep up with potential at-home income options.

I think that will make for a great start.

So, what do you all do to make sure your chores get done? Any goals for yourself this year?

Post 1: Obligatory Intro Post

For lunch today I had an ooey, gooey bowl of Velveeta Shells & Cheese pasta. For dinner? Chicken strips and cheese fries.

Did I mention I was 24? That’s 24 years old, not 24 months, by the way. I’m also married — a married woman even. These are not just the carefree flights of fancy of a bachelor(ette) college student.

And for those of you still holding on to hope: Sorry, this was a completely normal day food-wise for me. I wasn’t splurging on a much-needed junk food binge or self-medicating with comfort food. This is my life as an adult 12 year-old.

This blog will follow my attempts at growing up from the spoiled-princess child I currently am. I’m an adult picky eater. I’m a complete slob. I’m impulsive with money. I’m lazy as the day is long. How much of this can one person change, in hopes of bettering herself? How much will I even want to change of this? How quickly will I give up on the whole thing?

Is it possible for someone like me to become a SuperMom? I suppose I’d have to have a kid before I could even try to be a SuperMom, so I’ll work toward DecentWife for now.