Pet Peeves with 74 Days to go...

This is the post I didn't want to do yesterday... I am trying to be more positive... To be more encouraging, but this post has been rattling around in my head for several days now. Since last night I added a couple things to this list I will try to just put it all down in writing and move on...

Here is what is bugging me right now...

1. Ants...
You know, the tiny little black bugs... Ants are invading my kitchen and it's driving me crazy! We have a super busy household... I would not be exaggerating to say  an average of at least twenty different people are in and out of our house daily. I have sprayed for the ants and put out ant baits, but the only way they will go away is if everyone commits to scraping and/or rinsing their dishes and wiping up messes in the kitchen. We had three days without an ant spotting last week and Allison left out a cutting board she had halved a grapefruit on and when I walked into the kitchen there were at least a dozen ants all over it! With this many people coming and going I don't think my kitchen will ever be perfectly clean for long... Does this mean I will be plagued by these things forever?? Any tips??

2. Spoiled Meat / Burnt Dinner...
I went to brown my pot roast yesterday morning before putting it in the slow cooker and when I opened the plastic it smelled so rancid I nearly lost my breakfast. I just bought it Saturday! That is $17.00 dollars in the trash. I would have taken it back to the store, but my daughter works there and Paul didn't want to cause trouble for her so it was just a loss. Luckily I had a chicken thawed that was supposed to be tonight's dinner, so I boiled it up and used it to make three beautiful chicken pot pies. Good news right? Not so fast, I put them in the oven and went down to the basement to change over the laundry. When I got down there I spotted the "wall of bins" and decided to try to find some stuff for Katy and Jed's new place. Allison came home and we started reminiscing about the stuff in her "baby bin" when Paul got home and yelled down "What are you burning?" You guessed it, burned beyond use. I ended up running to the store and buying pizza rolls and freezer fries... Don't judge me.

3. My To-Do List...
I normally love my to-do list. I usually love the satisfaction of crossing things off the list. I used to do a new one before I went to bed every night. I liked waking up to a fresh list... Since becoming youth leaders the list grew to the point that it made more sense to do a weekly list. I had adjusted to this fairly well...

Now, with the wedding my list is an average of three legal pad pages long and grows daily. I re-write it whenever between cross offs and add-ons it grows to over six pages. It is always at least two full pages and grows quickly from there.

I know this is temporary, but it no longer feels like a tool but a like a nagging boss. I feel guilty even typing new posts and reading blogs even though I promised my husband I would take at least an hour a day to do those things, since it give me joy and it's just for me. The "list" creeps into my sleep, my quiet time, my conversations... It is a tough task master... I may need to detox from yellow legal pads after the wedding.

4. Anti Spam Codes...
You know the ones... When you go to leave a comment on your favorite blogs and you have to type in some code to prove you are human...

They are getting so hard to read that it often takes more then one time to get it right. Why are people using these? I disabled the one on my blog when I first started and I have had to delete exactly one spam comment... It was no big deal... I just hit delete... Done. Do you notice none of the big time bloggers use these... Why do so many smaller bloggers fear they are going to be spammed?

I have several close bloggy friends who use this feature (you know who you are) and I will still comment on your blogs, but know to me, dealing with those codes feels like closing your jacket in the car door... You think you are done, and moving on, and you get yanked back and have to fumble with an annoyance.

5. Cats...
I love my cat... I am even very fond of Katy's and my mother's cats, but the three of them are adding up to a huge annoyance to me these days. My mother's cat scratched his face badly and needs to wear a cone for awhile. He is the only outside cat in the house and is driving me nuts trying to get out. He also can't navigate the stairs with his cone so we were forced to put a litter box upstairs in the bathroom... I hate this... Every time I go to the bathroom I am confronted by a dirty litter box that needs scooping and you better wear shoes or you are walking all over sand... Yuck!!! As a result my broom has taken up permanent residence in the bathroom, so every time someone spills something and needs a broom, it is closed in the bathroom with someone else. When her cat does sneak downstairs to the old litter box he doesn't use it and instead poops on the floor. We have partially finished out basement and have two bedrooms down there... Including mine... I actually stepped in cat poop outside my bedroom last night in the middle of the night when I got up to go to the bathroom... This has nothing to do with the cone... He is just an untrained cat with bad habits that my parents never dealt with. Because he spends more time outside then inside these days we forgot about his little habit of pooping all over the basement... Also, Katy's cat is just a little over a year old and is full of energy... He wants (needs) a lot of stimulation and attention. Katy is rarely home these days so who do you think he follows around? I don't need a fuzzy shadow, underfoot, wanting to be picked up, crying outside every door I close... He is like a toddler that someone dropped off for me to babysit without calling first. And just like a toddler who spends more time with his babysitter then his mom he is confused over who he should be bonded with, and she resents how much he prefers me. Then there is this thing...

In my living room... Directly in my line of vision... All the time. I know it keeps them from attacking my furniture and I appreciate that, but it's just so ugly and messy. Also it is right next to the paint smudge on the trim that I told Paul not to worry about because I am painting all the trim white... That was a year and half ago! Aghhh...

6. Housework/Laundry...
The people in this household seem to see how stressed I am and how overwhelmed I am. They all suggest things I can do to relieve stress (blog, go out with friends, take a walk, steal an hour to read, etc.) but they don't seem to get it that I can't do everything I used to do for everyone and handle all the new stuff on my list too. I need more help around here with the daily stuff... Actually, Allison gets it and tries to help, but it is kind of hit or miss (at least she tries). Paul is always telling everyone to help me out, but only occasionally pitches in himself. In fact it seems like people don't even seem to realize how behind in things I am until it effects them. Then they are frustrated because their laundry isn't clean, dinner is late, or they can't find the dish they want. In that frustration, they don't feel much compassion for the person who they believe should have handled it, even though common sense tells them to not complain... most of the time.

7. Well Meaning People...
Well meaning people are bugging me more then event the ants, but I don't know what to do about it. There is the grooms mom who complains to me and all over town to anyone who will listen that she isn't included in the planning of the wedding, but even getting he guest list was difficult and she and her husband seem resentful about planning the rehearsal dinner. They seem to think it is insane that they are being asked to feed 30 people... Yo, we are feeding 150 the next day, chill... Then there are the friends, people from church and acquaintances who offer to "help in any way needed" but as I start to call them to see if they want to help either with stuff now or on the day of the wedding they don't seem to actually want to help. Everyone wants to help set-up and decorate (The task I need the fewest people for) but so far nobody I've called wants to help stay after and clean up or bake/cook before hand. Granted, I have only called a few people so far, but these calls are hard to make, and rejection is hard to take...

8.Wedding Registries...
Ok, it's more like the fact that people either aren't using them or don't know how to use them. Katy's shower is two weeks away and if you look at her registries at target and kohl's it looks like only one gift has been purchased... It turns out this is not true... I have found out that people are shopping off them, but not shopping through them, so it doesn't show what is still needed. Then people call me and want to know what to get, because they don't want to get her the same thing someone else did... I don't know... That's why they have registries people... And to the person who wants her to be "surprised" by what she is getting so you didn't order through it... The surprise will be on you... I just learned that two others have ordered the same thing!

Here's the thing... I've had all this swirling in my head for days, but I really don't want to seem like a complainer. I am actually enjoying planning this wedding... I love my crazy, busy life... I am blessed to be apart of this process, I know several moms who fought with their daughter non-stop or were shut out of the planning... The girlies and I are having a blast and other then the above pet peeves and a couple pushy vendors it has been fun. There is nothing like a wedding to make you wish you had more money to spend, but you just keep reminding yourself that it is only a party, a one day party and it is fun finding ways to make it amazing on a shoe string. I just thought if I share my little annoyances I could move on...

Your turn... What is bugging you today?
Thanks for listening,


PS.I have just been informed I had the stupid code thingy activated on this very blog... I have disabled it twice now... Perhaps blogger reactivates these things when they update?? Who knows... Let's just bask in the irony for a few moments! ;)