Thursday, October 21, 2010

Why I'm Embarrassed to Get Unexpected Company

I'm a day late.  But, that's how I roll lately.


Jen over at Denton Sanatorium challenged her readers to 'keep it real' and show what a day in their life is truly like.


I'm pretty much gonna let the pictures speak for themselves.  Basically, this is what my house looks like on any typical morning before I've had a chance to straighten.  And, it doesn't matter how many times I straighten, do dishes, wipe counters, pick up toys, etc.  this is inevitably how it looks again at the end of the day.


So, if you promise you won't let this effect your opinion of me too much, here goes...

 Kitchen counter before morning clean-up. Note our lovely 60 year old linoleum and the bare light bulb above the kitchen sink.  Nice.

This is the doorway we primarily use to enter the house.  It comes directly into our dining room/ kitchen.  I'm not thrilled about how cluttered it looks with our coats, bags, etc. hanging on the pegs right there (and it gets worse in winter).  But, so far I don't have a better solution.  We have no downstairs closets.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  No downstairs closets.  Our house was built in the 30's and apparently closets were taboo for the Old Order Mennonite family that built it.  It also had no upstairs closets, but we added a couple small ones there.

We have a teensy tiny living room.  But, if the children want to play downstairs, this is where they do it.  So, this is how it usually looks.

 Ok - so this isn't totally realistic.  Usually there's much more laundry sitting there waiting to be folded.

 If you look through the door and window you will see our sunroom area.  That's the closest look at our junkroom  sunroom that you are getting today.  The rest of the area looked relatively uncluttered, so I had to include that.

 Our computer room/ office.  Um.   I have a little filing/ organizing to do.

And, finally, on the opposite wall in the computer room you will observe our air hockey/ gun cabinet/ deer horn display area.  And, will will see that the air hocky table has become a waiting zone for things that I need to put away.

Alright, there you have it.  I actually did more than just let the pictures speak, but I felt like I needed to be a proper hostess on the tour.  You will note that I did not show you our bathrooms or the upstairs or our scary cellar/ laundry area.  Perhaps another day.

So, there you have it....the reality of the place we call home.  I dream of someday being super organized & clutter free.  Someday....

15 comments:

  1. Love the real day post. I am sure life with all boys has a built in "messier than usual" life..but they are so sweet and they love their mamas!!
    Cute blog!
    Lisa

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  2. Looks like a very lived in, fun, exciting and real home...not one where you are afraid to touch and not one where the kids feel they aren't welcome.
    I love it!!!

    Stop by my blog and play the game...you are tagged...that is if you want to I would love for you to.
    Blessings

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  3. Why, it does look like our house!

    And what is about old houses? They didn't put in big kitchens, they didn't believe in closets and here, they really didn't think electricity was gonna catch on....

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  4. Old houses have their disadvantages, but my dear! The woodwork! The trim! The character! You can always build closets. But character takes decades (spoken from my virtually character-free 3-year-old house).
    You're real. Four boys will keep you that way, won't they?

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  5. I was looking around today and wondering why there are always piles of stuff laying around everywhere. I guess it's mostly my fault we all have so much stuff. Sigh.

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  6. I agree with Jen, your house has oodles of character, love it!

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  7. I would love to make you a cheesecake...I make a lot of varieties....wish you were closer. They aren't as hard as people think...I have started teaching my daughter and daughter-in-law!

    Oh ps on your house....my son is a custom home builder and so all your beautiful trim work and extras that can't be found in homes today...enjoy your treasure.

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  8. I loved seeing these pictures. Not because I care about your house, but because now I can picture you somewhere- not just floating out there in cyberspace:-).

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  9. Your description of the kitchen in the morning and at night spoke to me. We have the same kitchen gremlins I'm sure. It feels as though its a bit like the movie groundhog day sometimes doesn't it? I "exposed myself in a different way for this link."
    Dana

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  10. HI Karen and thanks for the visit - wasn't this a fun assignment?! Looks to me like we have the same paperwork issue ... it's so comforting me to know I'm not alone ;-) Hoping we'll see more of one another - it's nice to 'meet' you!!

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  11. Hi Karen! I loved taking a tour of your home today, mostly b/c now I know I am in good company!! I love when people keep it real and I think that is an awesome challange, too! I hope you have a great weekend.

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  12. Karen,
    I love, love all of the beautiful wood in your home! Thank you for sharing with us!
    Susan

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  13. Your kitchen is way neater than mine. Your living room is cleaner than mine. I just wasn't that brave. Maybe another time. I have a corner next to where I usually perch in the family room that looks like the pile on top of your filing cabinet. Except mine is on the floor. Like it threw up there.

    Thanks for visiting me today!!

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  14. I love your home and you crack me up! Totally with you on unexpected company!
    I think my kitchen is worse than yours. Though right before we moved in they changed the kitchen floor to pergo, but fear not, the linoleum is the master bedroom!!!
    Very classy!

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  15. I love how liberating the whole keeping it real thing can be.
    Love the hocky table pile. We have a place just like that here!
    We don't have toys in our living room so much anymore, but I remember those days....trains and blocks and CDs in a line all over the place!
    Have a great day!

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