It’s been oppressively hot the last few days, and really humid, the kind of humidity that usually leads to rain. But it hasn’t rained in a very long time. It’s been hard to tackle the many tasks on my list, project related or not. I don’t know why I felt going without air conditioning in most of the house was some kind of accomplishment. It’s really not.

And now for a game of “Who Said it?” These are comments and questions uttered by one resident in my household. I’ll let you guess who.

1. “That’s your space. I’m going to let you decide how you want to keep it.”
2. “Now here’s your stuff. Go put it away please.”
3. “Please keep this room clean. I worked very hard in here.”

Answers:

1. Emma, referring to the library, which is where I keep my laptop, and therefore where I sit when I write this blog and deal with other work-related tasks.
2. Emma, while handing me a stack of Girl Scout-related papers and notebooks. She reduced me to sheepishness, especially since I made folders for each of the tasks/events I’m overseeing, and yet the papers sat in a pile in a no clutter zone for a full day.
3. Emma, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve uttered this phrase to her, I could afford to have Peter Walsh AND Marie Kondo come to my house, yell at me, and help me organize.

Conclusion: My project has had more of an impact on the kid than on me.

In other news, here are my lamps. I still cannot find the glue gun so the trim isn’t done yet. But I am happy with them. In total, I spent $20 on the laps, $5 on spray paint and $15 on fabric. So I got these for $40 total and they are way cooler and less expensive than anything I could have gotten in the store.

Not quite done, but close enough.

On Sunday one of my good friends wanted to go flea marketing and wanted to know if I wanted to go too. I decided to conduct an experiment in “flea marketing as a social activity” in which I didn’t buy anything. It was a failure because I did buy a couple things, but it also led me to decide that I will never buy any home décor from Target or Pottery Barn or any other place that sells new things. I’m going to stick to things from flea markets.

A small improvement.

Despite the heat, I got a little work done in the playroom closet, which is where I keep my clothes and many of my things. There’s still a lot of sorting to be done, but it’s presentable now. It makes a difference.

Finally, we are nine days into this month and I have been sticking to the menu for the most part. But we did go out last night because I couldn’t bear the thought of turning on the oven and then being stuck in the hot house. So far, it’s gone well. The only problem I’ve run into involves my underestimation of Emma’s love of vegetables. I bought a head of broccoli for Monday’s meal, thinking it would be enough because Bob doesn’t eat it. I had two small pieces and she ate the rest. She also ate most of my carrots the day before. It’s not a true problem, but I do need to keep this in mind when shopping.