Hunca Munca in my basement

In Beatrice Potter's The Tale of Two Bad Mice, she tells of rodents wrecking havoc in a dollhouse: smashing plaster food, tearing the bolster, stealing things.

These mice seem to have moved to our basement, and are doing something in the dollhouse that Potter never mentions in her book:
My grandfather made this dollhouse for me, and now the mice seem to be using it for a toilet. Hunca Munca is definitely not sweeping out THIS house.

Another thing Potter doesn't mention is what happens when the household cat gets ahold of the mischievious mice. Hunca Munca was found dead at the bottom of the basement stairs.

(no picture, sorry)

Unfortunately, I'm fairly certain her criminal partner, Tom Thumb, is still on the loose.

Crying Uncle

OK. I get it. I am not in control.

I move across the country because my husband has the call.

I move into a temporary house, and I weather the storm.

I put in an offer on a short sale, and wait... and wait... and wait... for it to close.

We move in, and work hard to surmount all that Murphy and his damned law throw our way.

I pray and pray and pray that our home in Louisiana will sell.

We finally get and accept an offer. This week.

And then...

Yesterday.

A geiser. In the master bathroom. Flooding through the ceiling down to the living room below.

Water. Everywhere.

A new ceiling. New hardwood? New carpet? New plumbing.

Calls to the insurance company. Trying to answer questions about the catastrophe 1000 miles away.

No idea what's going to happen to the offer... the SIGNED offer PENDING INSPECTION... scheduled to close the end of this month.

I realize that there are people facing worse things. Earthquakes and tsunamis and nuclear disaster, for instance.

But still...

please.

I am waving the white flag.

I am crying uncle.

Enough already.

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

I won a contest over at The Road Goes Ever On, and Kaye promised to make me an apron. I was looking forward to its arrival, but couldn't imagine the joy that awaited me when I opened the box.

First of all it was not one, but TWO aprons. She made one for The May Queen as well.And she made us each a "pot gripper," as you can see on our hands.

But that's not all.

They are REVERSIBLE. Check this out...


So cute! You must take a closer look...
She made the aprons to match my blog layout!!! I feel so special! Kaye put so much love and creativity into these, it just makes me smile. And look at the pockets....










(The May Queen doesn't know about the blog, but fortunately hasn't asked too many questions about the names yet. They tickle me to no end)

Thank you, Kaye! One of the best, most personal gifts I've ever received.

Now... what should we cook first?

Today's Top Headlines: Monday Mission

Painted Maypole would have been better in the lead role
Director confesses that casting choices were political; Painted Maypole declines to comment

Single Parenting Sucks
Mom and daughter missing "Daddy" after a two week absence

No Rhyme or Reason to Roofers
4 estimates vary by a span of $5000

Looking for a Muse in all the wrong places
Blogger finds herself at a loss for words

Desk Discovered
While cleaning her home, woman exclaims "there really is a desk under here!"

Southern Arctic Freeze Finally Thaws
Locals once again venture outside without socks

Bed Sheet Pants
Our costume designer works stage magic with a bed sheet and some elastic.
(We make no claims on the attractiveness of the pants)

This post has been a Monday Mission. This week's mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a post in the style "Today's Headlines" (inspired by this Cold Spaghetti post). Please submit your top headlines to the editor by placing a link in the widget below:



And join us next week, when your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a post in the style of an instruction manual.

Christmas Gift Shopping List

For MIL
Health

For SIL
Patience
Support
New Friends in a New Place

For MQ
Gratitude
Obedience
Joy
Faith

For Hubby
Peace of Mind
Confidence
Security

For Friend E
Patience
A New Job (With a big pay raise! and great benefits! and a good working environment!)
Time to enjoy her new baby

For Friend R
Her house to sell
A New Start

For Friend S
A healthy pregnancy

For Chrissy
A miraculous and clean bill of health

For Niobe and Creative Type Dad and Chantal and Furrow
Healthy babies

For ME
Time to relax and enjoy family
A clean house (and garage. and attic. and yard)
Hard drive data recovery (at least the pictures!!)

Do you think I can buy these things at the mall?

This post has been a Monday Mission. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a post in the style of a shopping list. Join the Mission Impossible team by adding a link to your post in the widget below.



Join us next week, when our mission will be to write a post in the style of A Holiday Tune (inspired by Jeri's 12 Days of Christmas spin-off).

My Deepest Regrets: Monday Mission

Dear Faithful Readers,

I regret to inform you that I will be unable to participate in this week's Monday Mission. Since my return from vacation I have, in addition to putting up the Christmas decorations, been seized with a desire to banish clutter, dirt, dust bunnies and other various unpleasantries. Also, I have attended 2 auditions, the usual church commitments, and have, of course, my 3 actual jobs to juggle. The shopping needs doing, the hair needs dying, there are cards to be written and mailed, presents to be shopped for, and holiday cheer to be had. And of course, there's the commitment I made, in a fit of insanity, to NaBloPoMo. The duties of the Mission must, regretfully, be left to others this Monday. However, I am sure you will find some suitable reads in the widget below (per usual) and hope that you will consider taking on this Mission yourself in my absence.

Regretfully yours,

Painted Maypole

This post has been a Monday Mission. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a letter in the style of a letter of regret. Play along, and post a link to your regrets in the widget below.



And join us next MONTH (new month, new missions!) when our mission will be to write posts in the following styles:

Dec 6 Table of Contents

Dec 13 Shopping List

Dec 20 A Holiday Tune (inspired by Jeri's 12 Days of Christmas spin-off)

Dec 27 a Bumper Sticker and/or Vanity Plate

[and just for fun (or extra credit? ooohhh... I LOVE getting extra credit!) the Monday Mission I DIDN'T go with:

Dear Dust Bunnies,

I regret to inform you that you must find a new home. You are being banished via broom and vacuum. Your friends the fur balls, the dust layers and the counter grime will be evicted as well. Maybe you can find a new place to be roommates. Please forward this note to the clutter and window streaks as well. Mama's on a Mission. A Monday Mission, in fact.

(not so) regretfully yours,

The lady with the Oreck and a crazed looked in her eye]

What Dreams May Come

I have dreams about what my life would be like with less clutter. The open feeling of clear counter tops. The organized shelves. The ease with which I will find every thing.

There will be more space in my life for stillness, for reflection, for relationship. There will be time for reading and enjoying and relaxing. Creativity will flow.

Open. Expansive. Free. Relaxed.

But somehow I just never seem to be able to get rid of enough stuff, organize it fast enough, put things where they belong.

The dream is probably all a lie, anyways. Even if my home were impeccable I'd probably still feel stressed and overworked and guilty for sitting with a book and forget where I put my keys.

Right?

_______________
25% more Monday Missions in every jar!

Mondays Mission is to write a post in the style of a food label. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. Or maybe that's because I haven't had breakfast yet.

Project Clean Closet Complete

Because I know you were just DYING to find out if I ever found the floor of my closet. Yes, yes I did. I even vacuumed it. I gave away 2 big bags of clothes and found new homes for lots of stuff. I folded and stacked and put things away. Not perfection, but pretty darn good. I walk in my closet and it seems so spacious and nearly airy. You'd even be proud of me - I was at my favorite thrift store last week and had two cute tops in my arms, and then put them back. I really didn't need them, and they didn't quite fit in with the "purge and clean" I was in the middle of.


Now... how long do I think I can keep it like this?

(I did NOT clean and organize the craft closet - although I did make SOME progress in there as I got craft supplies out of the main closet. It's just not a top priority. Maybe when I'm not working on a show. So... April?)

Keeping me honest

When Chantal posted her corner of shame I thought maybe I should do the same thing for my closet of shame. Maybe showing you how disorganized it is will help motivate me to actually do something about it. Because I'm having a hard time getting to my clothes. (and do you think I have enough? egads! And this is only MY half of the closet. My husband has is own, VERY VERY NEAT half.)

And while I'm at it, maybe I'll tackle this tiny closet off of my closet (yes, we have an enormous closet. be jealous. it's OK) that I used to scrapbook in, but it's just too dang small, and now it just holds piles of crafty stuff.

Will Painted Maypole be able to walk through the closet floor once more? Will she purge some clothes? Will she do anything about the boxes of stuff she meant to organize last summer?

Stay tuned....

____________________

Monday is fast approaching. Your Monday Mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a post in the style of an ode (perhaps to your valentine? here's a definition of ode that I liked: "lyrical poem exalting someone, often in a formal and dignified style"). Idea courtesy of Mary G.

Flotsam

I'm on a bit of an organizing kick, and after tackling MQ's closet and bookshelves I have moved into the kitchen and am organizing one of the worst areas of our home: the kitchen desk. Catchall of all clutter, the desktop, four drawers and shelves above it have long been disasters. This evening I was sitting on the kitchen floor emptying the last two drawers. The bottom drawer held mostly recipes I've torn from magazines and downloaded from the internet over the years - some of which I've tried and most of which I haven't. I was going through them, throwing most away but still setting aside a small pile of things I'd like to try (with hopes of doing some of them this very week).

Then I found it.

A clipped coupon that expired in 2001.

Before The May Queen was born.

We have moved TWICE since 2001. How on earth did a clipped coupon get packed and unpacked TWICE?

I think this cleaning out is a wee bit overdue.