My cleaning neuroses

My family always teases me for being a germ freak. It was pretty bad when I was in college and learning about all the nasty things that are passed around, but I feel I've relaxed some since I had children. Although my house is not spotless by any means, I'm still occasionally grossed out by our own slovenly habits.

Here are a few of my cleaning neuroses:

1. The back of the kitchen sink. To me, the whole kitchen can be spotless and shined, but if there's crud and water spots lurking on and behind the faucet or on the window sill, I'm totally grossed out. (My sink was full of dishes when I took this picture, so you get the idea of what I don't like).
   
2. The stove. I hate spills on the stove. I hate cleaning spills on the stove, I hate cooking when there are spills on the stove, I hate looking at spills on the stove. (This is actually my stove after Kraig made breakfast one morning. Eww.) In our first house we had zero counter space so our stove had to double as a work area. To combat the yucky spills, I invested in a set of these babies: I love them! If used properly (sometimes I have to remind Kraig to put them on) they avert yucky spills that later turn into burner flambé.
   
3. Laundry. I'm very particular about my laundry. I got it from my mother who used to hang all our clothes to dry in color order :) It's a good thing I have such a killer washer and dryer to make my life easier, otherwise my week would be consumed with laundry. Even though Kraig was the one who sold me my washer and dryer (and probably knows how to use it better than I do), I don't like it when he does laundry. I fear that something will get bleached that shouldn't be, or spun at too high of a speed, or dried in the dryer when the instructions say to 'lay flat.'
   
4. Dishes. I love a clean kitchen (see #1, although mine is hardly always clean--I'm married to a chef!). I love a full dishwasher and I love clean dishes. I have in my mind the correct way to load a dishwasher for maximum cleaning and sometimes catch myself reorganizing the racks after Kraig's done the dishes. It's a sickness really. This is the incorrect way to load the dishwasher: All the plates and bowls must be arranged according to size and facing the same direction. This is the what my ideal dishwasher load looks like: It's like there's order in the universe.
   
5. Don't even get me started on bathrooms. I live with three boys now so sometimes I just have to close my eyes (although I will give Kraig credit for being a fantastic bathroom cleaner when motivated to do it.)

What are some of your neuroses? What do you quietly check for when you go to a neighbor's house? The top of the fridge? The medicine cabinet? The toilet seat? Do tell!

Kraigy had a little lamb...

Kraig entered his second competition today! The ACF paired with the Lamb Ranchers Association for a meeting in Keystone, Colorado. Each of the 10 chefs that entered the competition were assigned a lamb rancher as a partner to plan, prepare and present a plate of top round lamb.

Kraig's partner, Jean. Top round lamb.

Kraig was the only apprentice to enter, setting himself in competition with his chef and mentor and other Certified Executive Chefs in Colorado.

So this was his menu: Top Round Lamb steak, a vinegar based coleslaw, and mashed sweet and purple majesty potatoes with feta cheese.

His plate. He said it looked better in person :)

He didn't place this time, but brought home prizes for being the only apprentice to enter. The Lamb Ranchers were the judges and complemented Kraig on his steak saying it was one of the best they've tasted.

Well done (or rare, as the case may be), Kraig!

To play or not to play?

This weekend I realized that there are two kinds of people in this world: Those who play games and those who don't.

I am a game person. Every game presented to me has the potential of being the funnest game I've ever played. That is why, as some of you may have read in my post last week, our"favorite games" are probably not considered rip-roarin' good times to most people. Ok, ok. I know. Most people wouldn't put Scrabble on their to-10 lists. I'm not a game snob. I'll play almost anything.

Kraig and I finally invited another couple over for dinner last weekend. We've been meaning to do it for ages, but something always kept coming up. A few weeks ago we ran into one of my dearest friends from college. Ok, probably not one of my dearest since we didn't keep in touch since I graduated, but a good friend. He (and his wife, he'd just gotten married) had just moved to Denver, so we invited them over for dinner, dessert and games. The conversation was great, we were having lots of fun getting to know his cute wife and getting reacquainted since it'd been years since we'd seen each other. Then we pulled out the games. Both said they loved playing games, but oh the torture! The evening ended after one painful hour of games and I felt awful! I felt that the whole evening was a flop because Kraig and I didn't have 'fun games' to play, which is entirely untrue. It was just that they weren't 'game people,' even though they professed to enjoy playing games.

Anyway, I've come to this realization and will choose my dinner party activities accordingly. I promise I won't force you to play games that you don't want to play!

But, just so I know. Are you a game person or not?

Who thaught whom a lesson?

We have a rule in our family that if you are not reverent during prayer, you can't eat dinner. Ok, really it's a rule for Andrew since the rest of us do fine. He's usually quite good at being reverent, closing his eyes and folding his arms, but tonight he pushed the limits of the rule.

We say our family prayer at dinner time, so instead of saying a blessing around the table like at lunch, we kneel in the living room. I knelt down and asked Andy to also kneel (Kraig was at work). He started acting silly and I reminded him that if he wasn't reverent he couldn't eat and he'd have to go to his room. Well, he quieted down for a second and it appeared that he was ready for the prayer so I began. Holy Cow! He threw a fit-- Screaming, kicking, flailing around. I admit I had a hard time focusing on the prayer, but when I finished up I calmly asked him if he wanted me to take him to his room or if he could go down by himself. Through tears he told me he needed my help, so I carried him down and shut the door. He came up a few minutes later wearing his happy face and asked if he could eat his quiche. I told him that, no, he'd made the choice to not be reverent so he didn't get to eat dinner. I few tears ensued, he tried to negotiate, but I was determined to stick to my guns. I went ahead and fed Joshua while I ate my dinner. Andy just stood there by the table.

Finally he asked me if he could say a prayer and be reverent. I told him, yes, but that he still wouldn't get to eat dinner. This is the prayer that my 2 and a half year said,

"Heavenly Father, please bless Mommy to be happy. Bless me to eat some quiche" (he paused at this point to look to see if I was listening) "Bless me to be reverent. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Sigh. Well, I caved. Did he learn a lesson? Would it have been more effective to continue to refuse him dinner even after he showed he was truly repentant (if a 2 year old can show he's repentant...)? Or was it enough that he didn't get to eat dinner with the rest of us? I wasn't concerned about him skipping a meal and being hungry. He wouldn't starve by missing one meal. I'm more concerned about the lesson that he did learn--either that mommy caved or that Mom showed him mercy. But shouldn't I show mercy?

Ideas, comments, child raising tips, please.

The games we play

Kraig and I are game people. Well, maybe I should be more specific. I'm a game person and Kraig will play games with me if I ask. We don't often come across a new game that we're dying to add to our collection; we tend to stick to the old standards. Here's a brief list of our favorite games and some of the variations we add:

1. Uno. I've been playing (and cheating) at Uno since I was Andy's age, I think. I love Uno. It is probably my favorite card game ever. Of course the original rules have long since been rewritten to what we affectionately call "Rencher Uno." It's kind of a "no holds bar" approach to an otherwise quite sedate little card game. It's fun with two people, but always more of a challenge when you throw in a few more of our family members. Except Kyle. On Sunday nights when it is just Kraig and I we do crazy things with the rules--trading hands when a 2 is played, cluck like a chicken for a skip...stuff like that.



2. Rummikub. I had never played this game until my honeymoon. Somehow it ended up in our condo with us...I don't know. Anyway, this is another Webb family favorite with our new and improved rules. We play Speed Rummikub. No more long, boring turns waiting for the other player to make a move; it's an all-out, race to the last tile match.
   
   
   
3. Scrabble. I know what you're thinking, "Wow! The Webbs sure know how to have a good time!" But it's really fun! Recently I've been on a "Speed Scrabble" kick. It's a lot more fast paced (hence the name 'speed scrabble') than the original scrabble with the board and tile holders. There's no "triple word score" or "double letter score" or any scoring for that matter (although I suppose you could score it if you wanted...), it's all about the most creative words you can come up with that are still real words. Our recent "hit words" were: Zany, visage, neuron, atomic, Jacqui (Kraig got extra points for spelling my name). We keep a dictionary close at hand and if you can find it in the dictionary, it's fair game.




4. Hand and Foot. We got these rules from a friend and can never quite remember how they go, so every time we play it's something different.

We're always looking for new fun games. We've heard good things (and enjoyed playing) Buzz word, Cranium, Settlers of Catan...

What are your favorite games?

Josharoo

One year (and four days) ago, my baby was born. It took me a few days to post a welcome to him in this world, so I don't feel as bad that it's taken a few to celebrate his 1st BIG ONE!

Happy Birthday, Joshy. Here's a little recap of your first year...

A Trial Seperation

My blog and I had a falling out and decided to take a break last week. I would have posted something about it, but the blog wouldn't let me. So instead of idling my time away waiting for a reconciliation, I did what any newly separated woman would do and went on vacation.

Denver International to Salt Lake International

Ever since we picked up my brother from the airport a few months ago, Andy's been talking about going on an airplane. He's been before but not that he'd remember. We woke up early early on Tuesday morning and flew to SLC where Robin picked us up in my van that she'd had with her in Utah all week long. The flight was uneventful and blissfully short, but Andy got a kick out of it. The plane was only 1/4 full so we got our own row and my 'lap child' got his own seat, thus increasing my enjoyment on the flight.

Salt Lake International to Small Town, Idaho

As Robin was coming to the airport to pick me up my car started acting crazy. I won't go into details (only because it's still painful for me to talk about), but after a stop to visit one of my mechanic brothers-in-law to see if he could diagnose the problem, we continued on to my Grandmother's house. Our average speed was about 50 miles per hour. Ya. It's still painful.

But despite the car trouble, we had a wonderful visit at my grandmother's. Last time I was there Andy was about 5 months old, so we were long overdue for a visit. I think it was a little overwhelming to have 6 extra people in their home (not even beginning to talk about the decibel level of said 6 people), but Grandma and Grandpa never complained about the noise.

Small Town, Idaho to the Homestead

So with a fervent prayer and a lot of faith that our car would work, we headed on to the Rencher family reunion at our family's Homestead. Ahhh. The Homestead. I think that heaven will look like the Homestead. My heaven, anyway. We spent our 4th of July weekend there. It was a great time laughing, riding 4-wheelers, getting dirty, eating, and sleeping (a little).

Favorite quote: Darren, "Just in case he needs to 'cap' a cousin." Wow, I've got some interesting characters in my extended family.

The Homestead to Colorado

Leaving the homestead is always emotional. I can't remember a time as an adult that I've driven out without crying. It's the heritage, the land, the memories, the family, the love. It's just the Homestead. If you've been there, you'd know what I was trying to say. I hope that I can pass on a love for that land to my children just as my parents have passed it on to me.

Once again, we started our trip with a big prayer in our hearts and a whole lot of faith that we could make the 600+ mile journey with 4 kids, 8 suitcases, 2 tired moms and a temperamental DVD player, all without incident. I'm pleased to report that the prayers and fasting worked because it wasn't nearly as painful as we had feared. We made it home safely (average speed 75mph, if you wanted to know) and were pleased to be at home again with Kraig and our own beds in separate rooms (remind me not to share a camping mattress with Andy again;)

All in all, the separation was good for me and the blog. It's made me realize how important the blog is in my life (wipe a tear) and how deeply our relationship runs (sniff, sniff). I love you, blog.