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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
17 Comments:
I like the boot camp idea! I get fed up with picking up behind all of them, the complaining about dinner, not able to put away their laundry after I've washed, dried and folded, hearing how they are "too tired" to pick up the mess they made after school yet they weren't "too tired" to make the mess and can run out the door to play, put dishes ON TOP of the dishwasher but can't put them IN the dishwasher and it goes on and on! So last spring I went on STRIKE! I did not cook for anyone but hubby and I. I refused to pick up, I refused to wash their clothes, I didn't wash their dishes if they didn't end up in the dishwasher. They were no longer allowed to play in the living room. They had to play in the playroom or their rooms. This way we could still walk in the living room after days of not picking up. They did get tired of it after a while. They began to do those things. BUT it quickly faded after a few months. I am at that point again. I feel the "strike" coming! I hear the picket signs rattling. . . .
i think you need to have a tupperware party and get the lady to sort out your pantry hahaha!
For what it's worth, K, my pantry was every bit as stuffed as yours before I cleaned it out.
I start boot camp as soon as the kids are home for the summer. I make a chart and make them toe the line. It's the only way I can maintain my sanity all summer.
Denise and Kristin--I have the same style pantry as you girls. Sometimes I wish we'd skipped the pantry when we built the house. I miss the good old days when everything was stuffed into the cupboards!!! The pantry door at our house is ALWAYS open, except if we have company--and sometimes even then!
Here's a hint: Now that we're empty nesters, I figured something out. It's NOT ALWAYS THE KIDS. A whole BUNCH of crazy behaviors I blamed the kids for ended up being MY HUSBAND. And to think he let his innocent children take the fall all those years!!! So, even when the kids are grown and gone, you will still have "ish."
You might as well know the whole truth!!! :)
Katy McKenna www.fallible.com
UGH! I feel your pain!
My pantry is half the size with twice the stuff.
Yesterday I finally told my boys (who are almost 14 and 17) that they have until Wednesday to get their room clean. After that I'm going to start charging them each $2 a day every day until it's clean.
I've tried many things, but with my kids, money talks.
Forget boot camp, try charging them a quarter every time you have to pick up something of theirs that has been left out. I bet they'll stop leaving out their stuff.
:o)
My life feels the same way...my husband is in France for two weeks, I am caring for his grandmother who is recovering from hip surgery, one child has baseball games and practice, one has started safety patrol training at school, and I am trying to work from home. I was able to get the house cleaned up over the weekend, but now I have to be the "meanest mom in the world" by asking them to keep it clean. My husband instituted the 25 cent rule for any wet towels he found on the floor, and they did pick those up for a while. I may need to try that again. :)
Geez, Kristin, you're like my long lost twin. If it makes you feel any better it's 9 am, the house/office is a disaster and I'm still in my jammies, but I have to write 2k today plus take on my kiddos to the ortho--in an hour. Calgon, take me away!
Let us know how that boot camp thing's workin' for you.
Okay, so this is NORMAL!!!??? Isn't that the worst part? That it's normal?? LOL I feel better, but at the same time, I feel worse. What if I'm one of those moms whose kids grow up to leave their underwear on the floor for their wives to pick up? No, it can't be!!!
At least it's quiet this morning. I can think in my disaster. LOL
I did what Tricia does--I charged them. Big time. For a while there, I was rich. I had one kid who kept leaving pens in his pants pockets. They'd go through the laundry, ruining the pants. He said it was easier for him to fork over the money than TO CHECK HIS POCKETS FOR PENS. I charged him $20 for every pair of pants he ruined. I think when he hit $100, he repented. Everyone has a price!!!!
Katy www.fallible.com
Yes!!! Empower those children!!! They have hands too. Mommy's on deadline. Mommy's not the maid. Old habits die hard, and sure, we can probably get some things done faster, but still... Yeah!!!! :) I have realized we are going on our beach vacation in July without kids for the first time--they both have brand-new jobs--and I am SO trying not to feel guilty. So don't feel guilty about corralling yours into pitching in... :)
Are we mothers born with that guilt? I thought it came from my Catholic upbringing. LOL
I think your pantry looks pretty good. Mine consists of large DEEP cabinets. I throw the food in and slam the door shut before everything can tumble out. Pretty crazy when you realize there are only two people in our home.
I think it's because the packaging is so much bigger than back then when they made this house, and so that's part of the problem. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Let me just say, I actually envy you all! I work away from home (non-writing) and have a husband who stays at home with the kiddos (he works evenings). So, not only do I have to work all day, I get to come home to a house that has been 'lived in' by my husband, 4year old and 2 year old all day. My dear hubby tries, but I sware, men's genes just were not made to be stay-at-home dad's. He is so excited when he has cleaned the kitchen for me, but doesn't realize the rest of the house being a mess kinda offsets the goodness of it! But I try to be encouraging. He will do good for a week, but then do nothing for a month. The worse part it, I am pretty pooped by the time I get home and between dinner, bathes for kids, homework, and my own writing.. yah, my house stays pretty messy:-) Priorities, I say, priorities! Do I vaccume the floor.... or bathe my child...
On a side note, my pantry is pretty ucky looking, however if there is one thing I am, is VERY frugal, so by the end of our 2 weeks, our pantry is looking pretty bare (besides the staples of course!). It helps that I have 3 girls vs boys, so they aren't huge eaters (except for chocolate though... I trained them right on that one!)
You all have pantries? I am so jealous. I have so little cupboard space in my kitchen. A pantry is just a hazy dream that's high up on our long list of "someday, when we build the house." Right now it's just my husband and me and we have a nice apartment with an adequate kitchen. I plan each week's menu and shop accordingly, but even still it's often a stretch to make it all fit. My fridge/freezer is my greatest nemesis. The thing has got to be old enough to collect Social Security. Actually, it's just old enough to look dated but not yet old enough to look retro. Maybe in another decade. The non-self-defrosting freezer has a good inch-think lining of stalactite-esq icy build-up which makes it look like the Abominable Smowman's wintry lair. I do defrost it when I can't put it off any longer, but it's generally a week until it's back to it's usual appearance of constant neglect. Bulk buying in the frozen food section is completely out of the question. The few times I've been seduced by the unit price on big bags of frozen veggies, I've come home to be faced with the conflicting dilemma that some items, not yet expired or covered in freezer burn, will have to be sacrificed for my new purchases to have their chance at survival in my tiny freezer of terror.
"Someday, when we build the house-" I'll have a pantry (I'm envisioning color-coordinated Tupperware for everything) and a freezer that is my ally. But for now, I'll just have to try to resist checking unit prices at the grocery store, and find a way to make it all fit.
Krista, I do feel for you. I have lived that life, too. And men just have different priorities than us, and different versions of "clean". Plus, poor me, I worked with him home. Tell me that wasn't annoying!!! Anyway, here's hoping you get to come home to a sparkling bathtub everyday! Kristin
I have always said, that there is a monster that lives in all our closets, desks and sock drawer.
He multiplys all our junk while we are sleeping. There is just no winning.
I think he's related to missing sock in the dryer thief monster.
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