Three Thought Thursday

There's another mom with a blog that I read from time to time that does a "Seven Quick Takes" every Friday. Just seven little ditties about whatever thoughts she's having at the moment. Countless other bloggers have picked up on this routine and added it to their blogs. It's pretty neat because you can go to her blog and check out many of the other women and their seven takes for the week.

While I love this idea (as I tend to always have lots of random thoughts running through my head throughout the day), I have felt a little intimidated by the number seven. While yes, I do think about more than seven things in any given week, I doubt I'd be able to make that many thoughts coherent on the blog. And Lord knows I'd never find the time to adequately articulate seven complete thoughts. Thus, I've decided for the new year I'll start my own little random thought routine and do a Three Thought Thursday once a week. Surely I can manage three complete thoughts, right? Here we go for Week One!

1. I LOVE Christmas decorations. Really. There's something so special about the way a Christmas tree, an Advent wreath, stockings, and a Nativity scene make my home feel once all the decorations are all in place. Despite the cold outside, they just seem to make the whole house warmer. And I don't know about you, but this year I felt more excited about Christmas than I had since I was about six years old. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a two-year-old was just SO exciting! A smile spreads across my face just thinking about next year! So yes, I decked my house out as much as my minimal budget would allow. And today I faced the daunting task of taking it all down. Buh. Love putting it up; hate taking it down. Seriously, the only part I like about taking it down is the smile on my face when I think about setting it all up next year!

2. Is it wrong to want something you already have? Depends on what it is, I'm sure you're saying. In my case, it's a diaper pail. I know, I know. Get real, right? But seriously! We've had the same diaper pail since Kolbe was born, and while it still works as intended, it's driving me crazy. No matter what I spray on it, sprinkle in it, wipe it down with, it still smells horrible. I took it in the backyard and got after it with the hose and some bleach cleaner. It still smells bad. I think the stink has been absorbed into the plastic. Heck, can you blame it? Considering it went through fifteen months of just Kolbe followed by eleven months with BOTH stinky boys, it's probably housed about five thousand dirty diapers thus far. The lever has been flipped over so many times that the rubber edging catches the rim and forces me to get aggressive on a daily basis. But for some reason I can't seem to justify buying a new one. Maybe I'm expecting it to spontaneously combust of stinky-ness or something.

3. In my world to date, the greatest cleaning tool in the world has got to be The Swiffer Vacuum. Prior to Reagan's birth I was completely blind to it's greatness. My mom and brother Dave used to rave about it and I just shrugged and assumed it was another cleaning gimmick that wasn't worth the investment. After all, I already owned the regular Swiffer Sweeper. You know, the stick that you attach the dusting cloth to that picks up all the nasty on the floor. While the Swiffer Sweeper is wonderful for picking up all the microscopic stuff that the broom can't get, it still requires the broom for all the big pieces, not to mention the dust pan. So you're making two complete trips around the floor. But alas, my beautiful mother bestowed upon me The Swiffer Vacuum as a mommy gift after Reagan was born. Sigh. I love that thing! It's literally like a DustBuster on a stick with the added bonus of the dusting cloth as well. It picks up all the big pieces AND all the microscopic pieces! Plus, it swivels around every piece of furniture and is much easier to use than the common broom. No dirt pile, no dust pan. It. Is. Awesome! Seriously, if you have $25 sitting around, buy yourself this. Or get someone else to buy it for you! I think you can even find coupons for it online. Totally worth the investment. I use mine constantly and every time I marvel at it's greatest.