Hey there!
Welcome to Cluttercafe! It’s my little space on the interweb that I can share all about home life. From recipes, keeping clutter under control, organization, parenting, date nights and all the work it takes to feel good in your forties.
My husband Dan and I have been married for something like 18 years and we haven’t killed each other yet! We share the same stupid sense of humor and he just gets me. I can’t imagine going through it all without him. By “going through it all” I mean all life’s bullshit, but mostly I mean dealing with the kids, who seemed like a good idea at the time. He makes me laugh and to be honest, I steal a lot of his material.
I’m Mom to hockey playing, video-gaming, always-wearing-headphones, Mom-ignoring fifteen year old Andrew. He’s at that age where he could care less about anything that does not affect him and his stomach. Life is all about food, friends and free time. I have different ideas and that is where the fun starts. By fun I mean arguing and threatening. But I’m pretty sure you got that.
I also have Nina. My 11-going-on-16 figure skating, totally dramatic, Punky Brewster reincarnate, hoarding, creative, Amazon-aholic, socialista. She has proven to me that quiet is dangerous and when you’re missing entire containers of lotion and glue and gel food coloring, it has probably been made into some sort of slime and stuffed in a drawer or stuck to the ceiling.
I adore my kids. They’re great. But damn they can really take it out of us. Parenting is not for the weak!
I am always trying to learn new ways to improve our lives. Eating better, being more organized, living simpler. All of which means being able to spend more time doing the things that make us truly happy. I find we don’t have a lot of family time having fun, our together time is more “chore” related. Which, as I have been told, is no fun.
Okay, full disclosure. I kinda suck at all of it!
I’m a forty-something, full-time working wife and mother. I drink too much coffee and too little water. I stress eat. I curse like a trucker. I don’t get enough sleep and I don’t exercise nearly enough. My jeans and lately my yoga pants, tell a sad tale of woe. Anti-anxiety medication is affectionately known as my “tic-tacs”. My hair is mess, I carry tweezers so I can pluck those stray, wiry chin hairs that were not there yesterday but somehow are now three inches long. You know what I’m talking about. Some days I don’t shower until bedtime, if I’m lucky. I am disorganized, I have no schedule, I miss appointments, I’m constantly late and sometimes it all makes me want to cry.
And sometimes I do.
Are you with me?
Did you think that when you hit your forties and the kids were older that things would get easier? Sure, the kids may not be living toddler life on the edge by eating soap or climbing dresser drawers, but now you have different worries and stresses. Drugs, bullies, academics, sports and the injuries that come with them. But now you can also throw aging parents and health issues into the mix.
Like looking in a mirror right?
Don’t worry, there is hope for us yet!
Cluttercafe is where you can find a whole bunch of helpful shit to help you deal with it all. I’ll share how I’m pulling it all together to keep my family healthy and happy, make sure everyone gets where they need to go, that clothes (and kids) don’t stink, and that the house doesn’t collapse under a mountain of clutter and dirty laundry. And if I fail at that, they’ll be some laughs, probably some alcohol and I’m guessing some tic-tacs.
Ready?
I know there are many of you who experience these very same struggles. My hope is that this little community can help you as well. We’re all in this together!
Thanks for stopping by and making my day better! I hope some helpful tips, a bit of reality and a little humor do the same for you.
Lisa♥
