I always feel like if I'm going to post, it's got to be this huge essay that runs through every little thing I've done since the last time I posted, thereby making up for the fact that I waited so long to post anything at all. The thought of writing what would basically be a "what I did for summer vacation" paper every time I log into this blog kind of turns me off from the task, yet I'M THE ONE WHO DECIDED THAT MY POSTS SHOULD BE THAT LONG.
So forget it. Maybe I'll write long posts every once in awhile, but my new goal is to try for short but frequent, rather than infrequent and ridiculouslylong. As a segue between the two styles, I bring you a brief list of a couple of things that have happened since my last post:
1) I'm dairy free. Maybe someday I'll try goat and/or sheep products, but for now the only "dairy" I'm taking in is of the vegan variety. No animal dairy protein what so ever, because apparently I'm allergic. It makes me SICK. When I wrote in my last post about how sick I felt, that was nothing - it actually got worse and worse over a few weeks' time until FINALLY we figured out it was dairy, I stopped consuming dairy, and I got better. Better than before even, because when I kicked dairy to the curb most of my long-standing digestive issues went with it. Sometimes I'll see a Taco Bell commercial or something and I'll be sad, but mostly I haven't even missed it. Luckily we live in an area with lots of vegan alternatives (we even have good vegan doughnuts!).
2) I've uploaded more photos to flickr. Since my last post, I've uploaded these sets:
On the Road
Sunriver 2007
Kwik-E-Mart
Spokane
Darci & Darren's Wedding
FB Quiz*
Kitty Photos
*"FB Quiz" as some of you may have guessed, was my clever code for "Facebook Quiz." They're photos I put together for a quiz on my facebook profile. I thought about listing the Q&A's on the Flickr images, but I didn't want facebook people to be able to cheat by looking at flickr, so I decided against it. If you aren't on facebook you'll just have to suffer the consequences and not take the quiz. If you ARE on facebook, please don't request to add me if you're not actually my friend. That kind of shit is why I left myspace. Well, that, and the fact that facebook is WAY more awesomed than myspace.
3) I have another blog. ish. thing. It's like, well...a planner. Is exactly what it is. For myself, and for Brett really, but you can look at it too if you want. Sometimes when I tell people I'm a homemaker they get all weird, and either challenge me about it (you wouldn't believe all the people who've asked, "so what do you DO all day?" or made bon bon jokes), or they just sort of stop talking to me, as if I couldn't possibly talk about anything but cookies and rainbows.
My mom and I spent a week together last month while taking an oil painting class at the Sitka Center in Oregon, and the whole time she kept trying to come up with ways for me to justify myself to people, which kind of made me think that before SHE realized what I did she must've thought I just stayed in bed all day.
She kept insisting that I tell people I'm an "Intentional Household Manager" so they'd understand what I REALLY do. I personally like the term "Homemaker" (because I make our house a home. Ghay I know, but I still like it), but she thinks that title "sounds like somebody who'd be on Oprah." I think she meant someone who WATCHES Oprah, which I do not. I don't watch any daytime tv, actually. But she does. She watches Oprah. :O
So...anyhoo, I'm totally ruining my short blog post idea, but what I'm trying to get at is that my Jackson Family Weekly Planner is just that - a planner for US, but I'd rather explain what I "DO all day" by sharing it publicly, than by calling myself an Intentional Household Manager. Which is a little r-tarded. And assholey in a defensive, anal kind of way.
I love you, mom! :D
10 comments:
BON BON JOKES!!!??? COOKIES AND RAINBOS!??!??!?
Hahahahaha!
Cat, I think it's awesome you are a homemaker and are loving it. I think of you as kind of the messiah to bring it back in fashion. Just the other day my cousin who just graduated school told me her dream job was to be a homemaker. I thought, awesome! That's a super duper tough and important job.
It's hilarious your mom was trying to come up with ways to JUSTIFY YOURSELF TO PEOPLE!!! OMG!! She's great. Well, regardless of who watches Oprah and who does not (I would if I could!), I think your planner is a great idea and you just got a new rss subscriber, Mrs Jackson!
It's funny that Brett is the one that looks like a cardboard cutout in that picture.
Also, that cake is beautiful.
Also -- welcome back, yo. :)
Ai - TOTALLY. I don't know how people would react in Japan, but so far in the PNW people seem to mostly react like I'm either stupid/lazy, or super conservative. Whatevs though. Like I told my mom: that's their problem, not mine.
"...kind of the messiah to bring it back in fashion." HA! Woohoo! That's awesome. I'd love it if people all over the place started becoming homemakers. With all the anti-consumerism stuff I've seen around lately (at least here), it seems like the perfect time. Being a homemaker is fun, but it's also a commitment to living with less. Because no matter how much money your partner makes, if BOTH of you worked, you could make more.
Sometimes it's tough to want something and know that if I were still working, we could easily afford it. Then I think: would I give this up for that? So far the answer has always been no.
I could work part-time though, or maybe sell things on Etsy or something, and still be a homemaker. I've been thinking about that a little, but I don't really have a plan.
Right now it just feels so nice to be working as a team like this; with one person making the money, and the other running the household. I don't think it necessarily has to be a woman running the house, nor do I even think it has to be a married couple (though it may help to at least love each other) - it's just nice to be able to work together to create a more balanced, nurturing lifestyle.
And for some people (like me, and perhaps your cousin), it may end up being their dream job.
It's not for everyone (my mom HATED being a homemaker), but I never really figured out what I wanted to do in life, until this. You were there when I wanted to be a doctor, and then I ended up studying art, and then became a business analyst. I've always felt like I had a wide range of talents and interests, but not quite *enough* talent or level of interest in any one thing to do only that for the rest of my life. But as a homemaker I've been able to use artistic skills, mathematical skills, database-creating skills, mechanical skills, culinary skills, time-management skills, chemistry, physics, etc.
I've learned that you can't JUST be a good cleaner or a good cook, or an organized person; you have to be all of those things (and more) to be a really good homemaker. (Which I am not. Yet.) Plus you have to keep the balance between being your sweet, loving self, and making sure you don't get trampled on by people (ah hem...Brett) who sometimes forget that just because it's not his job to clean the house, that doesn't mean he's free to leave a trail of dirty socks and crusty cereal bowls where ever he goes.
My first "day on the job," I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I think I was partly overwhelmed by how MUCH there was to do (when we were both working, our house was a wreck), but mostly I just didn't know much about taking care of a house. And pretty much the only thing I knew how to cook was pasta.
But slllowly things started to pull together, and now here we are. Still pulling things together, but much happier than we ever were when we were both working. :)
Damn. That was a ridiculously long comment I just wrote. And I'm not even finished...
Jon - Brett IS a cardboard cutout, didn't you know?
That cake was beautiful, but in my opinion the most impressive thing about it was how good it tasted. It was butter cream frosting, chocolate cake, and raspberry filling, and it was MOIST. How they managed to keep a wedding cake moist is beyond me.
Thanks! I'm going to try to write at least one post a day. We'll see how long I actually keep it up.
http://blue_moon.typepad.com/blue_lotus/
Definitely check out this blog. She's a Canadian woman married to a Japanese man, and as I understand it she is a housewife... she maybe teaches some English or does some other things, but I'm not sure.
Her cooking looks delicious, and as far as I can tell, often dairy-free (cheese not being common to Japanese food, and her often cooking that). Also does pasta and just generally makes beautiful foods.
AWESOME! This blog looks right up my alley; thanks for the great link!
Her food looks very tasty (and I love reading about Japanese food), and I enjoyed reading about her housewifeiness. AND I peeked in at her flickr profile and saw that she's tried doctor fish, which I've been dying to try but can't seem to find around here. :O
Aren't doctor fish (or Dr. Fish, as I like to type it) sorta like exfoliators? Like hydrogen peroxidey debriders? Like scrapey offy the grossy, but eaty offy the grossy instead of scrapey? Let me know if you find them, I'll totally do that with you.
Peps - that is EXACTLY what Dr. Fish are. I tried to buy them online (if there's a kind of fish I'd be willing to buy, it's the kind of fish that eat dead flesh), but couldn't even find a place that sells them, so I have no idea how much they cost. I searched citysearch for spas that use them in the Seattle area, but came up empty handed after that quest as well.
If there ever IS a spa here that does that, and it's not like $1,000,000, I'll TOTALLY to that with you. Eaty offy the grossy, indeed. :D
1) Courtney recommended Blue Lotus to me, too, and I love her blog
2) loved your reply! First, I should clarify that my cousin is a US cousin, she just graduated from a "good school" and is considering law and eventually homemaking. so just like you in a way with the doctor and business analyst sides. I think it is a TON of wok, being a homemaker. I can barely clean up after myself much less someone else. And since NIna and I both work, Basically one weekend day is devoted to cleaning up the house, every week. Stuff just... HAPPENS when you're living, and if you are working all the time, you start to turn away from it. I think with one half of the couple working and the other not, it must be exactly as you say: a partnership. So you go Cat. I think it's smart of you, cool of you, and something you kick ass at!!! YOu and Brett make a perfect team.
BTW not to imply the homemaking = cleaning up. (there are the bon bon breaks for god's sakes!)
Aivy: Thanks! Your words of encouragement really make me happy. :) That's exactly how Brett and I were living when we both worked: during the week (while we were busy/tired) we made messes, and we'd then dedicate a large chunk of our weekend to cleaning those messes up.
Now that I'm not working it's easier for me to keep things clean during the week, but it really does take a surprising amount of effort. I know there are people out there who work AND keep their house clean all the time, but I think they're probably pod people. Of the alien variety, not the Ninapod variety. :)
Also, your bon bon breaks joke was hilarious. I think that's the first time someone made a bon bon crack that I actually LOLed to. :)
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