venting

Good morning! How's your week going?  We're having lots of fun on Spring Break - having bonfires, eating S'mores, playing golf (Tommy and Will, not me), shopping (while the boys played golf), shooting hoops, drinking smoothies (Tropical Smoothie has an awesome new green smoothie - check it out if there's one near you!), and spending lots of time just being together.  So glad we still have a few more days!

So since we've been meeting here on a weekly basis for a while now, I thought maybe it was time that I just get really honest.  I mean, we're friends, right?  Alright, well sometimes friends just need to blow off a little steam so let me just take a few minutes....and tell you how much I can't stand the entryway of our house.  For real.  I can't stand it.  It's crowded and more crowded and even more crowded.  When you walk into our house, the door opens in and to the left.  The coat closet is on the left wall directly inside the door, which means that, yes, when the door is open, the coat closet is directly behind it.  How convenient.  Also, the steps to the second floor are about 3 feet from the front door.  Which means that when all four of us come in the door right after each other, there's always a traffic jam because Tommy and Annabel stop immediately inside the door to take their shoes off which makes Will and I have to wait outside the door.  

And guess who's always carrying all the bags and toys and books that travel along with us?  

Me.  

And guess who always gets stuck outside holding all of said crap?  

Me.  

And guess who is completely fed up with said entryway?  

Me.  (Ahem.  Deep breaths.)  

This is something that never even crossed my mind when we looked at this house.  But I know for next time.  Oh yes...I know for next time.

Maybe I should back up a minute and tell you first of all that I love our house.  It's a really cute cape cod with a nice backyard that backs up to a little creek.  We've got a fire pit and a porch swing and a sandbox and some raised beds back there.  Last year I planted a perennial bed that I'm looking forward to expanding this year.  We live right in the middle of two cul-de-sacs so it's a relatively quiet street with tons of nice neighbors, kids Tommy and Annabel's age, and plenty of room for riding bikes.  Our kitchen is pretty much perfect with room for a big table and enough counter space for me to make whatever my little heart desires.  We have four bedrooms which we've turned into two bedrooms, an office/guest room and a playroom.  We have two bathrooms and although I love the convenience, I hate to clean bathrooms so sometimes I think we could definitely get away with one.  The only other sore spot for me with this house is the size of the living room.  Let's just call it...."cozy."  But oh that entryway.  Well, let me show you.

 So here it is...the door on the left is the front door, the door on the right is the coat closet door.  See?  Tight.

So this is an average morning:  Tommy walking out the door, shoes untied, to play a little before-school basketball; Annabel climbing up the steps, still in her slippers; me standing on the steps trying to get the jackets out of the coat closet, calling to Tommy to come back so I can tie his shoes (we really, really need to teach him how to tie his shoes, like yesterday), and grabbing Annabel before she falls backwards off the steps.  Perhaps you're thinking, "Gosh Chelsey, that seems a little dangerous for her to be climbing those, maybe you should get a gate!" And to that I say, "Yes, good thinking, but we already thought of that and it's just too bad that putting a gate anywhere in this vicinity makes it even more ridiculously crowded and makes me even more ridiculously angry."  Oh man, sorry that came off so wicked witch-y (What?  Did you say I spelled that wrong? It's a "b" not a "w"?)  Ahem.  Deep breaths.  

Ok, so maybe this is all starting to sound  a little crazy, but if you think really hard, maybe there's a place in your house that just drives you insane like this one does to me.  In the course of my morning, getting out the door to walk Tommy to school honestly causes me more stress than just about anything else - with a possible exception being Annabel dumping her entire bowl of cereal (with milk!) off of her tray.  So see above for my solution.  Coats, hats, mittens, backpack, shoes (you can't see them in this photo) all lined up on the couch, ready to be put on away from the door so that we can all walk outside in a single file line with zero cursing under our (read: my) breath.  Hallelujah and why in the world did it take me so long to figure this out?!  Apparently I thrive on chaos...um, or it slowly makes me insane, which is probably more in line with the thoughts that you're having about me right now.  But either way, a solution has been found!  Let's see how long it lasts before chaos rules again. 

Although we love our house, the plan is to eventually move to a house with more land.  I am determined to find a house with a mud room.  Or an entryway that is a hall instead of a tiny box.  Thank you, Pinterest, for giving me hundreds of inspiring ideas for decorating said future entryway:

Last four images here

 Just looking at those photos makes my blood pressure drop.  Ahh, someday.  

Thanks for listening...you're a good friend.  Care to join me?  What part of your place drives you insane?