Housewifery

When I first got married I wanted to be the perfect wife. I wanted to have the house sparkling, freshly baked goods always available, to make hot meals every night (or good cool meals when it's hot). My best friend and I had joked before G and I began dating that someday I would be a "Martha Stewart Stepford Wife." I considered it a good goal.

When I first moved over here, I had planned on getting a job so we could save more. But it quickly became apparent that because of G's schedule if we wanted time together, I would have to not work. He works 12 hour shifts, that switch every 4 weeks from nights to days. And with the switching I also saw some of my housewife goals go down the tubes. As the 2 years here have worn on, we've both noticed a decline in energy and health. The schedule is physically draining, and my house shows it.

I am slightly OCD about how things should be in my house (please don't let this put you off, I rarely notice any mess, no matter how huge you may think it is, outside of my own home). I like the place to sparkle, and when I get the energy you can find me scrubbing our stainless steel sink with baking soda to make it shine. I am not above getting down on my hands and knees and scrubbing a floor. In a perfect situation I like everything in drawers folded neatly, and things hung facing the same way in the closet, grouped by type (dresses, shirts, pants, etc.) and color.

But currently I have begun the habit of kicking my shoes off in our tiny entry way so that it's a bit backed up. My bed is rarely made. And my closet is most definitely not color coordinated. So I might have become a bit obsessed with the idea of the move, and the possibility of a normal day job for G. It will mean more energy for both of us, but also a set schedule. When we first switched to days this last time we would get up, work out, eat a fairly large breakfast together. I felt like we connected more even on the days he was working (whereas now we've slipped back into the exhaustion and seem to just be zoned out when he gets home at 10 at night).

I look forward to moving to MD. I look forward to the clean slate, the new start on our home. I've already began a list of things to buy to keep up more organized and the home looking nicer. We've sat down and discussed some rules we are going to set up to keep things looking nice and clean. But if he is on a normal day job, I don't want to ruin his weekend by having Saturday be the day we clean. I plan on keeping it up throughout the week, and then Friday nights just having him help me with cleaning the bathroom and washing the sheets. Those things can be done quickly or while we are relaxing with a movie, and it will leave Saturday and Sunday to relax and enjoy each other. And that is something that right now I very much look forward to, as we are both preoccupied with cleaning and getting things done for the move right now.

Are there any tips you have for keeping your home picked up and running smoothly? Any task you decided to just let go of? Please share, since I am working on getting this housewife thing right.

And if you know of any good organizational or cleaning blogs, please let me know! I'm always looking for tips to make life easier!