Christmas Moments

Kate in front of the tree after the Christmas Eve-Eve Progressive Dinner with my family

Christmas Eve Nativity with the Bangerters

Whitney and Hailey are angels, Todd and Cherish are shepherds, Zac and Jessica are Joseph and Mary, and Kate and Ashlee are two of the three wise men. By next year, we'll have our third wise man with the two new members of our nativity who will be joining us in 2009. Cherish and Todd's baby will be 10 months old and Jeff & Anna's baby will be a perfect baby Jesus (I'm crossing my fingers for a boy).

Christmas Morning, around 7:00 am: Kate's gift from SantaGreat-Grandpa Cherry with Jessica, Zac, Hailey, Whitney, Kate, and Ashlee after Christmas morning brunch

Who needs Christmas presents when you have Uncle Todd: The Toy

A rare photo of my mother-in-law actually allowing me to take a picture of her. I did threaten her. :) Thank You, Kathy!!!! That's Scott's Dad in the background. I love you guys!

Kate in front of Grandma & Grandpa B's Christmas tree

I plan on stealing some photos from Jeni to add to my Christmas Moments so they will be more complete...

The thing I love most about Christmas is that it is Ours. My family and Scott's family in all their contrast, unfolding simultaneously in parallel.

My family's tradition is that we have no tradition. Every year our celebration is something shiny and new. My mom loves to reinvent Christmas somehow. I don't know why, exactly, but I love that the thing we can expect is the unexpected. Every year the menu is different, the game we play is different, the activities we do to bring on the Christmas spirit-all different.


Scott's family's Christmas is like a record they replay. Each year builds upon the next and the only way you can tell them apart is the year on the photo, the hairstyles of the ladies, or the age of the grand kids. I think this made me a little uncomfortable the first few years we were married. I kept wanting my family to settle down and have traditions I could count on like my in-laws. Then I wanted my in-laws to spice it up a bit. Now, I get it. I love it. I love that I have the expected and the unexpected and both are magical in their own way. Scott's family is my anchor and my family is the sail.

Donde Esta Santa Claus?

Kate was able to see Santa several times during this Christmas season. First at the Ward Christmas party the first week in December.She wasn't even scared like last year. She went right up to him with a big smile and let him pick her up. They walked all around the cultural hall and said "Hi" to everyone. She talked about it for weeks.

Then, Christmas Eve she saw Santa twice and the second time he was with Mrs. Claus! Very cool.

I find myself still caught up in the magic of Christmas. I thought for a moment each time I saw Santa that I still believed-that it wasn't someone playing the part, but the real deal.

The Goings-On & What Not

Random moments from November to December:

Kate is funny about her shyness. Shy one minute and a complete HAM the next. Scott and I have been trying to figure out if she has a rhyme or reason to this behavior. So far, we think it is aimed at men, but not boys. She is even shy around Scott for a few minutes right when he gets home from work. It drives Scott crazy. She runs away from him and finds me. Then after a minute or two, she gives him big loves and tells him she loves him. Then, within seconds after he is out of the shower and all ready she asks him to play with her and her "people".

Kate chewing gum. She sneaks into the gum a lot. Then, for several hours after swallowing several pieces of gum, she smells like mint. It's nice because it helps to cover up the strong vinegar smell from all those pickles.

Things Kate loves: Puppy-Puppy; cousins; Grandparents; telling fairytales; playing with fairies, princesses, castles; pretending to be a ballerina, witch, fairy, princess, or mean step-mother, and dishing out pixie dust.

Do all kids eat snow habitually and bring it in the house in pots and pans to sup at the kitchen table? Do they even eat it out of the gutter like Kate? Yuck. Kate will escape at least once a day to scamper in the snow barefoot. What is it with kids that they can withstand that kind of pain? Do they have slow reactors, bad circulation or something? Of course, within a minute she is screaming for help and of course my shoes are no where to be found so... brrrr!

What a blessing that we finally had a good snow storm. Now it feels like Christmas.

Here's Kate getting creative with our new TV box (Scott's very large, christmas present that he bought for himself). At least it's not a snowmobile. : )

Of course, all the coloring tuckered her out. I'd like to say she actually took a nap--no such luck.

Check out My FIL's New Biz

So, since Scott and his brothers took over their Dad's Plumbing business, Gary's been keeping busy going back to his roots as a woodshop teacher and doing what he really loves. Cherish, my SIL, put together a blog for him to make a little money. Check it out: www.garyswoodshop.blogspot.com. I have several of his creations in my house, too. He made me a potterbarn-esque headboard, two very sleek bedside tables, and a sideboard/sofa table that I love and everyone throws compliments my way for them.

"Flower 4"

Okay, I was tagged to pull up the 4th picture in the 4th folder on my pictures--Thanks Paige ; ). Unfortunately, the 4th folder had all the sample pictures that came with the program.

BORING

So I had to cheat and go to the 5th folder.

This is Scott and my Dad playing Foosball during Christmas break last year.

What's Your Favorite Christmas-Picture Book?

Okay, if you know me well, you know that I LOVE books and children's books are my favorite! Even before Kate was born I was collecting Christmas books in anticipation of my future family. I have a small collection of Christmas books and I pull them out of their hiding place December 1st and start reading one everyday to Kate at bedtime. Today, while I was reading A Christmas Dress for Ellen, by Thomas S. Monson, I couldn't hold back the tears. But I was surprisingly embarrassed to be crying while trying to read to Kate. I just knew she would say, "Mommy why are you crying?" Luckily, she was zonked and didn't have the slightest idea the her mom is a bawl-baby. But then, I was embarrassed that I was still reading the story, aloud, while crying, even though Kate was asleep. But, I finished the story just the same. And it is a lovely story. If you don't have it, I recommend it. If you have any favorite Christmas-picture books, I'd love some more suggestions so I can add to my collection. Scott usually buys me a new one to open Christmas day.

Confessions of a 20-Something Houseplant

I don't have anything to say. Is it okay to say that I don't have anything to say? Hmmn.



That's usually how I start many posts. I usually come up with something as I type that I have nothing and I delete my opening line and lead with my "something" but today... nope, still nothing. I want to say something. I have lots of thoughts. I am very grateful. I am happy. But, I just don't have anything to say.



I really need to get Kate into some playdates. She needs some friends her age and gender. We have a shortage of 3 and under girls. And I could use the interaction with people my age and gender, too.



Okay, I'm going to throw my biggest weakness out (well, I might have bigger ones, but this one is on my mind) I am the biggest hermit crab ever. My neighbor (now a grandma) says she's "a houseplant". That's my name for myself these days. I don't like to leave the house. I like to stay at home and keep the home fires burning. Whenever I leave the house, I have a buzzer that goes off and tells me it's time to get back home. I know people who can be go-go-going all day, everyday and I can't understand how. Is that something I could train myself to do? Is it okay to be a hermit?



No, it can't be okay. I wish I could serve others somehow. I feel so useless. I want to ease someone's burdens or offer encouragement to some desperate soul. Or make something, share something, benefit someone somewhere with some skill that I have hiding away.

I'd love to have a magic formula that could cure me from my home-body nature. Well, if anyone has a magic cure for cutting my leash, let me know. And if anyone knows someone close by who Kate could be friends with... that would be nice. The poor girl is an extrovert who loves action and company and she's stuck with an introverted, hermit crab for a mother.

Attempt Three: Potty Training

Kate has been a pee-pee-in-the-potty pro for the last two days! A week or so ago, Kate helped me order some prizes from the Disney Store (14 figurines from the Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella movies). We decided she could earn one each time she went pee-pee in the potty. She was so excited. She checked the mail with me several times and every day she talked about the people that were coming.

Yesterday, her rewards arrived. I wish I could have bottled that moment as we sat on the living room rug and opened up her surprise. She was so excited, she went immediately and earned Briar Rose.

Right now, she only has 4 more of the 14 left to earn. Within minutes of earning Drizella, Kate was all ready to earn Anastasia. I was doubtful that she could produce so I told her that if she was going to earn one this time, she would have to go without any help from me. She was off to a good start. I had to nudge her shorts past her bum but other than that, she did it all on her own--until she got to the "going pee-pee" part of the job. As I figured, she had nothing to give the potty. She was so upset. She looked at me crying and calling out to me to help her go pee-pee. This is how the conversation went:

Kate: (yelling with tears forming) "You have to help me mommy!"

Me: "Help you? Do what?"

Kate: (flailing her legs as they dangle from the potty and trying to bite anything within reach ie. the shower curtain, her sleeve)"Help me go pee-pee! I can't do it!"

Me: "How can I help you go pee-pee?"

Kate: (still crying but now her veins are bulging out of her neck) "Because you are the person who helps kids!"

(she is desperate--She can't figure out how to pee and somehow she thinks I can do something to help her go)

I asked her if she wanted help down from the potty (it's extra tall for my 6'5" hubby--Kate uses a two-step stool to reach the toilet and sink). She said, "No, I'm having a time-out!" But when I said, "Okay" and started to walk off she screamed and pleaded for me one more time to help her go pee-pee.

I then proceeded to explain that the only way I could help her go pee-pee is to give her a big glass of water and I told her that in an hour or so she would need to go again. She tearfully accepted my suggestion and drank up.

I was struck by her thought processes, as I always am with her. I was fascinated by her interpretation of me: That I'm the person who helps kids. What a funny thing for a 2 1/2 year-old to say.

8 Tag

Here's a tag from Cherish...

8 things I’m looking forward to:
Having playdates with moms that have girls Kate’s age
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Getting my hair done (who knows when that will be?)
Christmas
Time with Scott over Christmas Vacation
SPRING!

8 things on my wish list:
Learning the secret to helping Kate be still for more than ten seconds
A continuation of all the things I already enjoy about life
A vacation
Cooking skills – or maybe what I really need is a desire to cook
Clear skin
Nerves of steel
Plants for my garden
A new digital camera (don’t tell Scott, we just bought one last year but I want a better one)

8 TV shows I love to watch:
Biggest Loser
The Office
America’s Funniest Videos
Trading Spouses
Super Nanny
Nanny 911
The O’Reily Factor
Movies

8 things that happened yesterday:
Can I think back that far…

Drank one of those instant breakfasts-gulp
Talked to my mom on the phone
Went to the post office and remembered that it was veteran’s day
Shopped at Wal-mart
Organized my father-in-law’s letters from his mission—in chronological order
Made cookies and ate half a dozen of them
Watched the Biggest Loser while eating those half a dozen cookies
Felt guilty about the cookies so I jumped around the room for a while and tried to squeeze in some exercise during the last part of the show.

I tag YOU.

The Rites of Fall

Kate the fairy.

I explained Trick-or-treating to Kate while we were on a walk in our neighborhood and she talked about it all week. But, when the day came, she said, "I don't want to go to the neighbors, mommy." I figured I would run with this one and save myself some pain. So Scott and I just took Kate to her Grandparents and to cousin Samantha's so she could see how the costume turned out--Sam played a big role in the overall costume design. I'm sure this is a typical problem with 2 1/2 year-olds--Kate couldn't decide how she wanted to dress up for Halloween. For the months leading up to Halloween, Kate wanted to be a princess. I thought I would just use one of her dress-up princess costumes. Then as Halloween approached she started seeing all the spooky things and thought a witch and then a ghost would be fun. Luckily, the Tinkerbell movie saved the day. Grandma M bought Kate the fairies from the Tinkerbell movie and Kate's been on a fairy kick ever since. I didn't have time to make her costume look exactly like Tink but she seemed to be satisfied and told everyone she was Tink or a Fairy Princess.


Friday morning Kate and I had some of her cousins over to play. Zac said he'd never played in a pile of leaves before so we decided to remedy that situation.

This was an uncharcteristcally warm fall day, perfect for rolling around in leaves and trick-or-treating.

After a while, we raked all the leaves into a tall pile and they each took turns jumping into it. They really got into it, too. Whitney and Zac even begged to help rake. Silly kids. If you can disguise work as play, these kids will do anything. I got a kick out of watching the difference between my rough Kate tear apart and throw herself into the leaves and the ever-cautious Hailey who walked gently up to the pile and lightly plopped herself into it.

Samitslan

So, my 15-year-old niece, Samantha (Sam), gets off the high school bus in front of my house and hangs out until my oldest sister (her mom) comes to pick her up on her way home from work. Sam's usually at my house at least two hours. We arranged this, so Sam wouldn't have to hang out alone at her house, which is just a few miles away.

In the beginning of the school year, Sam did her homework while she hung at my place. After three weeks, her ambition wavered. Now, we end up doing silly things while she's here. A while ago, she introduced me to her imaginary country, Samitslan. She has gone to great trouble to create a fictional country with laws, punishments, a flag, territories, everything. She says it's a socialistic country. She seems to really know what she's talking about. Her and her friends play around with all this stuff while they hang out. I can't tell you how much I wish I wasted my time imagining up fictional countries instead of day-dreaming about boys.

Today, our silliness consisted of going link after link on people's blogs trying to see how far we could go. We would click on each blog's tenth friend's blog. Does that make sense? It was fun. We saw lots of cool things. Then, we changed my blog up a bit and we wrote our names with our mouth, feet, and opposite hand. Here is Sam's attempt.

I think she did pretty awesome. On the top is with her right foot, then her left hand, then right hand, then mouth. After she was done, she realized she had put the pen in her mouth after holding it with her foot! Pluhh!

She and I always have a crazy time. A couple weeks ago, Scott went with a buddy on an overnighter at his family's cabin so I asked Sam to come stay with Kate and me. Long after Kate was zonked, Sam and I were giggling the night away in the king-sized bed. It was all silly stuff, to be sure. The last thing I remember before I fell asleep was Sam introducing me to the gurgly sound her stomach makes when she moves. We had a lot of fun. I never had a little sister but Sam really is that for me.

I enjoy having Sam here more than she will ever know--not just because she's helpful with Kate. She keeps things real and fun. Ironically, Sam is the one who gives me the parenting advice that works! Go figure!

Our Empty Room

I've been a little busy moving my office downstairs. We're running three services through Comcast now. When the tech came for installation, we realized we needed to rethink how we are using our rooms. We needed to add a cable outlet in whichever room we chose for the office and it seemed silly to go to the trouble of setting up our current office (upstairs) because our plan has always been to move our office downstairs once we have more children.

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Now we have an empty room upstairs and it's really weird. I keep thinking maybe we jumped the gun. Suppose we never have more children? Yes, I have these thoughts a lot because Scott and I just aren't the conceiving type.

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Today, when I finished cleaning out the upstairs room and put all the final things in the office downstairs, I--for the first time--thought maybe we would choose to adopt. Maybe Scott and I should talk about it so we can save for it. Scott is still in the hopeful stage and thinks I am horribly impatient and that I don't have enough faith. This is possible. But maybe my women's intuition is kicking in, telling me that it won't happen again and that Kate was a miracle and I should go to plan B. ???

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All I know is when I look at that empty room I have the overwhelming feeling that it would be selfish of us to leave it that way when there's got to be a little someone, somewhere who could use it. Of course I would pray and make sure that was the route our family should take. And then there's all that money to be saved--I hear it is quite expensive to raise someone else's child--how odd. But really, what else does one do with an empty room?

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We're using two of our three upstairs bedrooms. We have a separate playroom and an office and a family room and a living room... The only thing I can think of, besides using it as some future child's bedroom, is turning that room into a formal dining area. We could open it up to the living room and it would make perfect sense with our eat-in kitchen being less than spacious. I know that would cost less than adoption. So, it's an idea. But what good is a bigger-better dinning room with no more than three people to eat in it? And at what point do we make such drastic changes like adoption or changing a bedroom into a dining room?

If you have any ideas, let me know.

Especially for Gary & Kathy

I thought Kate didn't know the ABC song yet. Grandma B was telling how her niece helps her children learn the ABC's by singing the song while washing hands. So, we tried this today and to my surprise she sang along.

Well, I called my mom and dad so Kate could sing them her newly acquired ABC song. However, she got bored of the process before I could call Scott's parents. Lucky thing that I recorded it! So here you go, Grandma & Grandpa B. Enjoy.

P.S. This is 9:00 am, she just finished eating her pancakes (with syrup this time). She wanted to watch Emperor's New Groove (which she's never seen before) so I made a deal that she could watch it with popcorn if she sang the ABC's for Grandma & Grandpa.

P.S.S. Notice the one letter that she skips. :)

And yesterday, she came to me with money (coins) in her little purse and said, "I have good news, and I have bad news." I was cracking up so hard that I couldn't even find out what she was going to say until a little later. The good news was something silly about the money. I couldn't tell what she was saying about the bad news.

Then, while I was pretending to be her pet doggy, following her around, panting, and barking, she turned around to look at me and said (in her best imitation of Woody from Toy Story 2), "Reach for the Stars!"

I already relayed this next thing to the Grandparents but I loved it so much I thought I should write it down for me so I don't forget:

Kate has decided she no longer needs a nap. I beg to differ but I thought I would let her have her way for a while and see how it goes. Yesterday, she struggled but kept bouncing back and trying so hard to be pleasant. By 5:30 pm she was done trying and got whiny and couldn't keep it together. I told her if she kept crying and whining then she'd have to go straight to bed. She pulled herself together for one minute more only to lose it again. I picked her up and while carrying her to her room I told her that it was time to go to bed. She was SOOOOO upset and in her most passionate 2 1/2 year old way she cried, "How can you do this to me?" With Scott within earshot, we both laughed harder than ever--So hard that we couldn't put her to bed. We got her laughing, too. She was able to make it until 7:00 pm and even then she exclaimed pitifully, "It's not fair!" But she was adorable and went sweetly to bed after our bedtime ritual. Scott and I had so much fun with her--even in her tantrums she is adorable to us--she keeps us laughing.

Random Accounts of Kidspeak

Kate painting her DQ Dilly Bar on Malifecent and Sleeping Beauty

Last night we were getting ready to go for a quick walk and I told Kate we needed to all get our shoes on before we could go. We all went in different directions. Then, Kate comes to me with her shoes on and she hands me a pair of mine and she says, "Here's your shooooos, momma. I bwaht (brought) them just in case."

First thing this morning, I open the door and Kate goes into some out-of-the-blue line of questioning about Toy Story 2 characters, which she's only seen twice.

Kate: Is Buzz here?

Me: Buzz? What do you mean? Buzz Lightyear?

Kate: No, not Buzz Yight-year, Buzz is Woody's friend. Is he here?

Me: No

Kate: We have to get ready for Woody and Buzz they're my very best fwend (friend). What's the girl's name?

Me: Calamity Jane

Kate: Oh, Yeah, Can-uhn-ee Jane. I want to play with her, too.

Later on I caught her repeating, "Run like the wind bullseye"

Some of Kate's other Best Fwends: Horton, Turtle, and Puppy-Puppy

Then we were cleaning up in the basement after playing in the playroom and while we were walking upstairs, I noticed Kate was crawling up the stairs on all fours. She was looking down at her hands and suddenly said, "I don't have paws. Just fingers. Just fingers and poe-nails (toe nails) and feet."

Mid-Week Respite

Scott's work is a little slow right now so Scott forwarded his business calls to his cell phone and gave his employees the day off while we went for 4-wheeler rides at the cabin.

I don't have to tell anyone that fall is in full swing. We captured several pictures and here are a few from Windy Ridge, otherwise known as "the lookout."


Kate in her "cabin shirt". I had to call it that so that she'd put it on. She has an abhorence to long sleeves (I think she caught it from her Grandma Mayfield).

Loves for Daddy--lucky guy. He is always getting the "loves". That's okay, I know who Kate wants when she skins her knees or has a bad dream.

Too bad we didn't bring a photographer for this backdrop. We could've had our Christmas photos captured and out of the way. Anyone good at photoshop? :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUPPY!

Puppy has been in the family since before Christmas 2006 and it was high time he had a decent birthday celebration. Here's the cake and song.

And today, while I went back and forth from the car to the house putting the groceries away we had a cute exchange:

Me: Hey Kate, are you doing okay in there?

Kate: Yes-sir-ee Momma! Because I have a starburst in my mouth. Look!

The "yes-sir-ee" made me giggle.

Till We Meet Again...

Adene Ruth Houtz 1929-2008

Sunday night, while Scott was gone fishing, Scott's Grandma died in her sleep. She was only 79. The thing I remember most about Grandma Houtz is how she used simple traditions to show her love and unite her family. Every Sunday she made a special dessert and her children and grandchildren came to visit. Holidays were her specialty. Every holiday had a rhythm that never skipped a beat.

If Scott and I showed up to visit unannounced, both Grandma and Grandpa dropped everything they were doing and sat in the living room and listened patiently to all the new things in our lives. Selflessly, they rarely shared the details of their aging aches and pains unless we pulled it out of them.

Grandma always made me feel like I was one of her very own grandchildren, and I was. She knew about me. She went to every special event I invited her to. Her presence was enough of a present but she gave those, too. The day I knew she was my Grandma, just the same as Scott's, was my first Christmas Eve as Scott's wife. We gathered with the whole Houtz family to celebrate. I looked up on the mantle and saw a stocking with my name on it. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. They could have just given one stocking for each married couple but I had a stocking all my own. In a way, I felt like that stocking was always there with my name printed on it, waiting for my arrival into the family.

I know I will feel a great whole in the family with Grandma gone. God be with you, Grandma, till we meet again.

Gone Fishing

Daddy has only been gone since this afternoon and we miss him already. He's gone fishing in Montana with his two brothers, his father and some work associations.

I can't help but wonder what I will do without him for three and a half days. The rhythm of life is so interrupted without him. I think of all the women who send their men out on regular business trips or for deployment to Iraq or wherever the brave are sent. Women are widowed, divorced, and alone all over. I can't help but be extra grateful that Scott comes home to us everyday and seems to enjoy our small, little lives together.

I realize I don't talk a lot about Scott. I think I leave him out so much because he is so constant. I talk about new things so much. That's why Kate is my biggest topic--she's a new little person everyday. But Scott is as steady as a beating drum. He works hard, everyday. He never complains about it. He's just SO "just right", a perfect fit. And "so 'just right'" has a tendency to get "so boring" to listen to with any kind of frequency. I wouldn't change a thing about Scott. Even his semi-reckless driving adds something fun to life that I couldn't do without. And the insane way that he is so tidy and particular about little details. He can't sleep with the closet doors open, things like that. Come to think of it, I can't even think about the long list of idiosyncrasies I noticed when we were first married because they are so normal to me now after eight years together. Weird. I wonder if other wives get so used to their spouse's unique, but quirky ways that they don't notice them anymore--or maybe even grow to adore those quirks???

Everyone Has a Feminine Side

My niece, Samantha (15) takes the school bus home from high school everyday and the bus drops her off in front of my house. Last week, I also picked up my nephew, James (9), from elementary school while my sister was at an appointment. I felt like a grown up for once. I had older children in my home and I felt, for a minute, what it might be like if they were all mine.

After my heart stopped racing at the idea of being a mother of three, I turned around to find them playing dress up together.

Don't you think James looks especially good as Princess Aurora? I guess this is what happens when you have five girl cousins on one side of the family. Kate says James is a "ballerina girl."

And Kate as Alice in Wonderland. If I ask Kate who she is dressed up as, she says, "Dizzey-land Girl" (Disneyland Girl).

House Tag

My sister-in-law, Kristi, did this house tag and I thought it would be a great way to humiliate myself. The rule was, to take pics as the house is--no cleaning up first.


1. Your Sink: To be honest, I forgot to take a picture of the sink in the morning when I ran around the house taking pictures so I took this picture after doing the lunch dishes. I cheated. But it was clean. I maybe had the tortilla pan in the sink from the night before but that's all, I promise.

2. Your Toilet

3. The Outside of Your Fridge

3. The Inside of Your Fridge: Talk about Economy ketchup! I can't keep enough ketchup in the house. If you'll notice, We have two mondo-sized Heinz bottles in here. Scott is the ketchup king and Kate is his queen.

4. The Inside of Your Closet: I go through phases. Sometimes all the hangers and clothes are color-coded and organized by type. This is all the other times when I'm just happy the clothes are clean and off the floor.

5. Your Laundry Room: Hey, at least it's spacious.

6. What Your Kids are Doing Right Now: Cute little thing, happily playing underneath my desk while I check emails and read a couple blogs.

7. Favorite Room: not because of the way it looks exactly, although I love the headboard and side tables my father-in-law made and the curtains and bedspread my mom gave me for Christmas--I love this room the most because it's my "living" room.

8. The Messiest Room: The Office (notice Kristi's blog still on the computer as I had just finished reading her tag).

9. Self Portrait: This one is a doozy! Kate woke up early and I was checking my email--one thing lead to another and at 7:00 am, I found myself blogging. I know, it was a weak moment, what can I say. The second I read Kristi's blog, I got up and took pics. So here I am--in all my glory--the Julie that only Scott sees is now public.

So, now it's your turn to take pictures of your house. Don't clean, just get up right now and do it. I promise the sink was my only omission to the rules.