cleaning and fixing - just weird?

it seems like time for me to redirect my energy.

i think i've justified my interest in decorating and house projects as being a nice break from constantly thinking about the more constant pressures of raising children, and the somewhat redundant tasks of maintaining a house and family. fooding it up, wiping down, scrub, vacuum, polish. calming tempers, carefully observing rashes. the constant battle with entropy. sure, it's not a battle you can win, but i feel responsible to try as hard as i can.

at least, i've always thought it is important to be as clean and organized as i can be. of course these ideas all come from how you are raised. my mother was a very, VERY (obsessively) clean and organized person. and even though it might not have been the healthiest approach for her, it did always give me a feeling of security to live in a home that always felt fresh, smelled clean, my clothes were clean, there was no clutter to trip over. (clutter is a tough one, though, because i think children do like to create clutter while they play, and if someone is constantly picking up your playthings, well, i think this can limit creativity. clutter is a separate subject, though. but briefly, i do sometimes wonder if it made it less fun to play knowing that my mom was dying to return everything to its appropriate space... i for sure allow a LOT of play clutter, and i allow huge messes, especially when stella is into a "project", i don't want to interrupt by trying to control the chaos.)

but back to my point - i felt that the cleanliness of my childhood home gave me a sense of order, calm, and security. interestingly, i don't think my siblings felt the same way about it. but i personally am thankful to my mom for being a great homemaker. i suppose some of that comes down to our "nature" and whether we feel calmer in cleanliness or just restricted.

hmm, i know this is a lot of detail. it may even seem overly analytical. but when you come from an over-the-top clean home, these things seem important. and when your job is taking care of a home and it's occupants (and most adults consider this to be at least one of their jobs) it seems like a worthwhile topic to reflect upon.

i wonder what it would be like to be a person who was just sloppy and never questioned whether this was "okay" or not. and of course there is that weird "cleanliness is next to godliness" issue, as well as "idle hands are the devil's, um, playthings? puppets?" you get the idea. i often think it would be really freeing to not care at all about mess.

industriousness and hard work - things that i was raised to believe are SO very important, so important that they contribute or detract from your overall Goodness. Is this a common struggle that people have? or only people who, like i've described in my situation, came from a perfectionistic home? or is it an American obsession? puritanical? and, related to the cleanliness obsession - how about our society's current obsession with germs and hand sanitizer? seems a little creepy at times... i am always seeing moms slathering their kids in bottles of that stuff. im not saying that i never use it but - doesn't it seem a bit extreme to anyone else? the super strong cleansers we use to clean our homes - similar issue, isint it?

well, at any rate, i think most people are affected by this cleanliness ethos. probably just subconsciously. it is interesting to watch my inlaws reacting to a spill on a piece of furniture. they go into complete panic mode. their tempers flare, they are rushing around like a fire is about to reduce their home to ashes. the spiller is bound to feel about the size of a crumb, too, by the way. and they seem to be operating the dark about the WHY of their perfectionism - it's just, well, how it IS!

going off on a tangent here, in a way... what i was originally thinking about was less about cleanliness and housework and more about how we feel about our houses, and the drive to improve them (or the lack thereof). it seems to me a pretty basic almost primal instinct to want to "feather the nest" - picturing: cavepeople fighting over cheetah skins. i enjoy nest feathers. not so much cheetah skins. i think most people do enjoy sprucing their homes, to differing degrees. and of course most improvements need cash, so it is a luxury to an extent. but we obtain such a sense of security from the feathering. and i guess, what i've been trying to remind myself, lately...all the feathering in the world does not keep a family safe, or together, or happy. thinking of buddhist principle that desire is the source of all suffering, because it is feeding into this illusion that things we desire will bring us happiness, etc...

i always believe in the middle way. i know the answer, or at least the safest bet, lies somewhere there in the middle. caring, but not making it a priority. checking in often to ask: what is my motivation? am i focusing so much on the external as a way of ignoring the deeper and more difficult questions? being aware of excessive materialism. i know i would never surrender completely to the entropy, give up on keeping the children reasonably clean, keeping the toys tidy enough that they are promoting creative play rather than hindering it. and though my children very rarely put vegetables in their gullets, i will continue to try to offer them with, um, moderate frequency (hey, ya can only look at SO much food being wasted, right?) and im never probably going to stop being bothered by the cracking paint outside my house, or the bedframe that i would love to replace that causes huge thigh bruises if you work to close to it.....

ah well, an inexhaustible subject in my mind, but surely exhausting for everyone else. that is, for both of you who read my blog :)

more basement

awesome room, eh? but i think i saved it mostly for those wooden posts.

this is a nice way to use a basement space. i love metal shelving. love the homey touches, too. i think this is what i am hoping for in my basement. i dont want to try to make it look like some opulent living room, just a basement that is finished enough to be comfortable for use.

love the stair rails. also, the open glass of the windows. my ceiling is of course about 13 feet lower than this.

the dark painted ceiling thing. hmmmm. nice, but this ceiling is much prettier/tidier than ours. ours has a million "sister joists" and a kajillion nails poking through. perhaps they would not be noticeable with dark paint?

had a picture of white ceiling, too, but cant find it.

i've called so many posts "random things." let's try "radon things" for a change.

i adore this type of light. and i went out on a very thin limb, more like a holly branch, and purchased a similar light for my front entry, which is currently lightless. oh, oh, how much attention this will draw, and im afraid it will be mostly negative. but, my dears, my dears, it's my house, so, ta ta! ta ta!!!

hello, you are my favorite place. well, nearly. i would have to add a few colorful french chairs and frou frou it up a bit. but i think the contrast would be magnifique. and radon-ish, as well.

my old house! i thought this light was just sooo perfect for the house. put it in right before we moved. i hope the people there now enjoy it! i also loved the little copper doorbell. again, a radon picture i just happened across.

basement. windows. hmmm.

this used to be our front door. just came across the pic and thought i would put it here. for some reason this door and i really did not get along. im so glad he is gone.

ah, good, i found a picture of the rear of house. its an old picture, but not much has changed. its not the best view for considering this dilemma, though... you cant see the doors. we are wanting to make the windows bigger and use glass doors to let in more light. i think it is important to try to keep consistancy but... sometimes it also can be nice to use contrasting styles. i was thinking it might be interesting and fun to use big open glass for lower level, rather than the small grilles in the more traditional windows on the rest of the house.

i think this is a decent idea, but im not sure where to stop/start the style difference. for example, we will be replacing a few windows on the SIDE of the house and i dont know if those would be better being traditional to go with front, or modern, as i would like to do in this area by the concrete patio. i think i will go try to channel the spirit of an architect right now.

im thinking that it would look best to have the glass doors and all basement windows facing the back of the house be similar - ie, no grilles, or more contemporary. it's just those side windows im unsure of. also we are going to try painting the beams a dark color and hanging track lighting (the thin metal band type, not the white thick 80s kind) so contemporary is sort of the theme...

look how tiny stella was!!! wow, we've been working on this place for a very very long time. she is now almost 6!
i need to take a new picture of the rear of the house for this project. otherwise i have to stand out there in the almost-snowing cold. with rafe.