Mama's State of Affairs

* Me, I'm perpetually dehydrated.

* I administer Children's Tylenol willy nilly to crying children.

* I am in the process of decluttering the house, with eight more boxes of Sturm und Drang from my early twenties recovered from the attic today.

* The cat Otto bites me, out of love.

* The sippy cups keep releasing their valves insidiously in the middle of the night, soaking young daughters.

* The garbage and recycling are full once again, and it's highly satisfying to have the past carted away each week, what with the decluttering efforts.

* I lack sentimentality, nevertheless, I retain the little baggies in which I slipped my second and third daughters' belly button scabs.

* I'm learning about all of the light bulbs in our house for the first time, changing them myself, using stepladders and ingenuity.

* I continue to despise cellular phone technology. Except when it saves my ass.

* I wear shoes my husband doesn't like, but they are lace-up Keds and fill me with FlyLady motivation.

* After reading my old journals, I have to remind myself out loud that I am 39, I married a handsome Republican, I actually live in this house and I have three daughters.

* I wrestle with the temptation to put this blog back on Google Search, because I like attention, regardless of the invasion of my family's privacy.

* I load the dishwasher in silence, and if silence is broken, plans to administer more Children's Tylenol remain in effect.

* Love. Love love love love love. This house is lousy with it.