housewifery

The frantic running frequently required by housebuilding and business-running and on-the-fly, in-the-cracks mothering doesn't leave time for the more inspired kind of domestic engineering I prefer to aim for.

During this period of extreme focus on the making of shelter, we don't put a lot of attention into the shelter we live in right now, mostly because we know it's temporary (and also because we just plain don't have time!). Personal decorating has nearly gone out the window entirely. More thoughtful homeschool projects and exciting field trips are exchanged for lessons at the building site and discussions with the work crew. Cleaning and home maintenance are done in sporadic chunks on rare "days off" when we're not at the building site or running around acquiring materials for the build. Cooking is less inspired, somewhat more repetitive, and includes more pre-packaged items than we're used to. (I feel obligated to disclose that in our household "pre-packaged" means store-bought cheese — rather than homemade, boxed broth, store-bought bread, etc. We haven't delved into TV dinners quite yet.)

This morning, as I faced piles of dishes that had built up over several days of neglect I discovered the refrigerator wasn't working. While I shook my fists at the sky, I rearranged the schedule a bit. Before noon I had poached a chicken, put a Thai-themed roast beef into the crockpot, baked some leftover cookie dough that Eden made two nights ago, baked a rhubarb cake, cleared out the freezer and fridge into a small back-up fridge we had (thank goodness!), AND done all the dishes! Whew! All this in between addressing Heliocentric work and taking supplies to the guys at the building site and ordering materials from suppliers and trying to be a not-to-distracted mama, etc., etc., etc.

As a reward I indulged in a rare extravagance: I showered two times in as many days. I even washed my hair both times. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say.

Now we're off to the lumber store...