out of order

i try to maintain some semblance of order at our house.  i might not be the world's best housecleaner (in fact, aside from vacuuming, i'm pretty much terrible at all of it) but i do manage to keep our home relatively tidy.  i cannot stand clutter -- the kitchen counter might be sticky with a few crumbs underneath the toaster oven, but i at least make sure there's not piles of crap sitting on top of it that belong elsewhere.

i have vowed to myself that once our renovation is complete, that it will turn a new page in my life's book and i will become a regular merry maid who mops the floors, scrubs the showers, and dusts the lampshades on a very regular basis.  this renovation is also going to turn me into an early riser who exercises at 6:00 a.m. and who does not procrastinate work assignments and who runs on time, if not early.  it is AMAZING what this renovation is going to accomplish in my life!  i'm calling it my Miraculous Life Makeover.  just you wait and see.

but this renovation -- the same one that's going to effect radical change for the better in me -- is, in the meantime, wreaking havoc on the one thing i actually do right.  because there is no order in our family life at the moment.  our dog has been at my doting in-laws' for the entire summer.  half of the kids' toys and books and clothes are in my parents' basement.  we've also got stuff stashed in their guest room, at the beach house, and in the back of the car.  in short, if there's something we need, there are about seven different places where it might be ... and it's always in the last place we look.  (funny how that works.)

so i've had no choice to to embrace disorder.  i've learned to turn a blind eye to things not in their proper place -- because, for this moment in time, usually it has no proper place.  i shrug it off, reminding myself that this phase is only temporary, and once we are finally back in our house, i can spend a full day restoring my beloved order (and sanity) into my life.

never before has this been so obvious as it was this afternoon.  we're at topsail, where we have spent the majority of july, and have somewhat of a routine to our days.  we spend three or four hours on the beach, and when we're finally starving and have exhausted our snack supply, we return to the house to clean up.  i always stand in the outside shower in my swimsuit and help the kids, and then send them upstairs to get dressed while i shower myself.  by the time i join them, they're always sitting at the kitchen table, dressed and eagerly awaiting lunch.  i've gotten to the point that i look forward to seeing the concoction of clothing they both will have selected without me.  liam's usually in some totally mismatched outfit (today's pairing was a yellow striped shirt with blue and red plaid shorts) and susanna, for the past four days straight, has been in her purple flowered dress. 

i haven't bothered either one of them about their choices, because, well, it's summer and i really don't give a flip if my son looks like he's colorblind or if my daughter's stuck on repeat.  but i did finally ask susanna why she was so smitten with her purple flowered dress.  was it the pockets?  is it super comfortable?  does it have extra twirling power?

"well, it's just that it's the first one i see," she explained, "since it's always on the floor near the door."

aaah, the whole disorder thing.  a crumpled dress on the floor -- sounds perfectly reasonable.  i would've probably realized this, had i ventured up to the second floor to look in their rooms.  when i finally did this tonight to gather up their dirty laundry, i couldn't find any of liam's underwear.  so i asked my second question of the evening regarding their attire.  "liam, where are all of your dirty boxers?"

"hmm," he thought aloud.  "i don't know if i have any underwear besides the ones i have on."  i immediately felt the need to clarify exactly what he was telling me, so i asked him if he's really been wearing the same pair during this whole long weekend.  "oh no, not whole long weekend!" he assured me.  whew.  "i mean, i don't wear underwear out on the beach, silly!"

the end of our renovation -- and my Miraculous Life Makeover -- could not come soon enough.  until then, you must forgive me as i'm sidestepping piles of clothes on the floor and searching frantically for lost library books.  and if i allow my son to go commando from time to time while the wash is being run, well, i hope you understand that the mann house is temporarily out. of. order.