i love this cheesy movie.  i love the mom.  i love the talking stick. i love the house full of kids. i love this quote.

homes are for free expression, not for good impression.

and while i much prefer a tidy home…a home with clean floors and no dirty dishes, a home with a toilet that you’d feel comfortable hugging to throw up in (note:  this will probably never be the case), a home with a yard free of loose parts, a home whose smells don’t include animal, a home with smooth wood surfaces (though i quietly rejoice in the carved names my children have done over the years)…yes, while i prefer this, it is clearly not my priority all the time.

when people are here, including my own family, i want them to feel relaxed but not grossed out. and when we’ve invited people over, i do admit my desire to make a good impression.

i tweaked my back on a run a few days ago (when i was running extra far on a ditch slope skipping over occasional pop bottles and holes).  this limited my ability to bring our home to a good impression state.

side note: kudos and light and hope to all who live with chronic pain.

but jerry and the kids moved the last batch of chicks out yesterday.  their poop hit the stage of smelling like actual logs of human waste.  i accused my kids of not wiping adequately one day and then realized it was the chicks.

now there is one corner bleached down and clean. and just to it’s right, another corner expressing itself.

i like to think of it as tangible proof that life happens.