Cheers to the single parents out there

To all the single parents out there, just wanted to let you know…I get it. I get where you're coming from, I get the struggles and the trials. I get the standing on one foot, twirling 3 plates on sticks while holding a screaming toddler balancing act that you do every single day. I think I finally understand.

I was raised by a single mom (and a single dad every other weekend) and I think that after a few years, when I reached my teens I knew that it was difficult. I knew money was tight, I knew it was hard to balance a kid's life and extra curricular activities and maintain some sort of life of your own. I think I was pretty aware that it was much harder with one parent than two in the house, but I don't think I quite grasped the depth of it all

I've had a few recent stints where I've been single parenting for a week or so at a time due to Big C.'s recent travel for work.

I'm not for a minute suggesting that I even come close to one tenth of one percent of what an actual single parent goes through in one day. But I think I understand more fully, and I will defend anyone who either by choice or by unfortunate circumstance has to take on a parenting role by themselves. It ain't easy being mom/dad/nurse/teacher/disciplinarian/etc… all rolled into one body.

Last week was supposed to be a 4 day run to a northern city for Big C. He had to leave on the weekend to get there, but no big deal. We'd done it before. Except that changed on Monday, now he'd be coming home briefly one night and leaving the next, to return on the following weekend. Then he'd have to go away again the following week. OK I thought, bummer. But we'll manage, no big deal. 

I never sleep as well when he's gone, you always have to keep one ear open for the kid or fur kid and it raises up a notch when you know you're by yourself. So you just seem constantly tired when you're on your own. I imagine if you have to single parent full time you just resign yourself to sleeping when your kids finally go off to college.

So, Monday went pretty well at work, I thought all was good, Miss K had a good day at the sitter, so we headed for home. Got into the garage and was unloading the rugrat from the car when I can hear the dog howling from inside the house. She rarely barks and whining with excitement is common when she hears the car, but this seemed excessive. Whatever, I thought I will be in soon enough.

We're greeted at the door by the dog, which in itself is unusual since she's supposed to be in her kennel. OK, no big deal, we either didn't close the door quite right or she's learned how to get it open. She's been out before so I didn't really think much of it.

We weren't in the door 30 seconds when Miss K manages to tangle her feet and take her chin out on the coffee table that is downstairs. No blood or teeth through lips thank god, but tears of pain and surprise nonetheless. 

Then there is whiny/howling dog. What is going on with her I think to myself, she's commonly vocal when we get home, but this is excessive?

I've just about got the hysterics from Miss K. down to a dull roar when we head upstairs to see not one but two piles of dog vomit on the living room floor. (no wonder the dog had so much to say, if there is a dog with a guilty conscience, ours is it) Oh boy, I think, what in the hell happened today?

So, I get the dog out for  pee, give her a cookie, notice the food bin is ajar and put two and two together. Dammit she's had a seizure while we were gone. 

She's gotten out of her kennel, either with the violence of the seizure or out of desperation once it was all over with. Typically she's famished after she's had one so the poor dog managed to get her food bin open a little bit and gorged herself, threw up and then gorged herself again…I found another throw up in the bedroom. 

She drank her water dry, I'm sure drank out of one or both of the toilets in desperation for more water. (she never, ever, ever drinks out of a toilet, so I know the need for water must have been pretty dire)

So know I know why she was so upset when we came in, trying to tell us what happened and probably apologizing for barfing on the floor. 

I was glad in a way that I didn't have to see her seizing, but sad that I wasn't there for her. Pretty pathetic that you feel that way for a dog, but what can you do, she's like a family member.

By now Miss K. sitting mindlessly on the couch, no more tears, I flipped on the tv in the hopes it would actually keep her occupied for a few minutes while I cleaned up and got supper going.

Not a good start to a week with no back up…I kept telling myself it could have been so much worse. Miss K. could have really gashed her chin, there was no blood, no stitches, really not much of a bruise after all was said and done.

The mud puppy ended up being OK, I hate the seizures, but things could have been worse or she could have completely destroyed the house, which she didn't.

Mind blowing at the time, but you're thankful almost afterwards.

So, high fives, congrats, chest bumps, balloons and cake to all the single parents out there who do this day in and day out.

I can't imagine the toll on you after years of doing it alone. I hope you have a super support system of friends and family who can help you out. I hope you manage to have a life as well as give your kids one. I hope you can find a way to stay financially secure in all of the mess.

One good benefit is, when your kids do something truly spectacular, or simply silly, you get all the glory and laughter/love from it.

Keep on doing what you do so well, til next time….

Hockey - Too much of a good thing

Today's subject is hockey. Why hockey? Well, it's all anyone seems to talk about these days. Living where we do, it's pretty much talked about year round. A nationwide obsession if you will and personally I just really don't get it

I'm not a hockey hater, I just don't get the singular one-mindedness that obsesses people about this sport. I suppose it's similar to football or Nascar in the U.S. or perhaps soccer/football in the rest of the world, but I still don't get it.

I enjoy attending a higher level game, fast skating where you can hear the skate blades cutting through the ice, some great displays of hand-eye coordination, the electricity in the arena in a close game etc…It's good, I even grew up wanting to play (however in an era where girls were not really accepted in the hockey arena). Spent many a Friday night at the local rink watching/socializing while a game was going on so I understand the many sides of the game.

I like watching little kids playing organized hockey, skating in one big ball chasing the puck, tripping over one another and their own feet. Even the local street hockey games are fun to watch. Team building, good exercise, fair play and so on are all in there and the great aspects of the game. There are so many good things to this sport, but honestly some people need to get a grip on things.

We can start with the NHL lockout, it's now supposedly over, and my reaction is who cares? Millionaires fighting with millionaires about who gets paid what. It's about as riveting as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs fighting over computers. How does the general population relate, we're figuring out how to pay for groceries or if we can afford to go on vacation and they're talking numbers that the majority of us will never see.

And now after months of arguing they hope that the fans will come back? Really, I hope they lose some teams because of it. There are markets in the US that struggled for a fan base as is, I would hope that the ones that did actually go to games say "Screw you, I pay good money to go see you play as a source of entertainment and you can't even bother to show up for work." Of course this is a drop in the bucket, there are all the people who lost peripheral jobs because these guys couldn't get their crap together.

So enough about the pros, lets talk about the minor leagues. Not about the kids who love the game and go out there to have fun, or the Tuesday night rec league adults who go out and shoot the puck around and then go and have a few beers. No, we need to talk about the hockey parents/coaches/players who have the mindset that they or their kid is going to play in the pros. To them I say, "don't bet on it." I could probably look up the actual percentage of players that make it to the pros, or even semi pro level, and I would say your odds are better in winning your local dream home hospital lottery. Get over it people, yes, your kid may be good, but there are a whole lot of reasons that your kid is not going to be the next Crosby or Ovechkin. Let them play the game for the love of it, not because you picture yourself handing out his/her hockey card at the office.

Next, to the players out there who give the referees no credit for the work they do, I say lay off. Yes, I will say this is near and dear to my heart as Big C is an upper level referee, but I had this opinion long before he ever entered the picture. The refs are there to do a job and that is to make sure the game is played fairly. (I won't speak for those of you playing rec league hockey when your game is being officiated by Joe Schmo who just played in the game before you) An accredited referee is there on a nearly volunteer basis to make sure your kid is safe and the game gets played with some sense of fairness and decorum. Yes there are bad referees, but there are also bad players and bad games and we can't lump them all in to one. They get paid yes, but factor in travel, skates, equipment, helmets etc… and over the course of a season, might work out to a minimum wage part time job for your average referee.

I've seen referees spit at, hit, speared, sworn at, jumped after games and so on. Really people? Is this that important. Is your kids peewee game so vital that you need to scream at the referee from the stands because they called a penalty with 1 minute left in the game? Give your head a shake, it's a game, get over yourselves. And to the players out there, just suck it up and take the penalty, maybe it was and maybe it wasn't but honestly if it was something minor, it's 2 minutes in your life to sit out. (if you get 5 minutes for something, then you already know you probably shouldn't have done what you did). Hitting the referee, or calling them names or whatever isn't going to get you anywhere in the game or in life, just think about it.

Hockey is such a hot topic in our country, and I just don't know why. There are so many other great things out there in the world to talk about and do, why must our nation devote so much time and energy to this singular thing? Maybe years of cold and snowy winters did it to us and now that there is global warming and less extremes, we're coming to our senses?

We watch the local sports channel every morning at our house. Yes, I watch it too, from an early age, I enjoy all things sporting and am perfectly happy to catch up on the days scores and highlights. However, nothing pisses me off more than 3/4 of the show being taken up with hockey and hockey talk and speculation etc… There are other things going on in the world. Yes, you can give me the line about, "well that is what people want to see". Yes, of course it's what we want to see, because you don't show any other options, so we don't know that there is skiing, snowboarding, ringette, curling, lacrosse, bobsled, luge…I can't think of any more winter sports right now, but you get the picture. Maybe if kids saw something on TV or in the media other than hockey, they might be inclined to try it…just saying.

Anywho, that is my rant, it's a good game, but we really have to broaden our horizons as a nation and realize that breaking news is not the firing of a coach or manager of one of our hockey teams. It's reporting and saturation in our culture is too much of a good thing

Til next time…keep your stick on the ice :-)

#2, Stage 4 and Knock Knock Jokes

There it was and gone again, Christmas, New Years, whatever you may celebrate at the end of the year, its done, over, finito, in a blink of an eye, we're into the new year and all the hype and hubbub seems a distant memory.

Christmas stuff starts appearing before Halloween and before you can say jingle bells they've removed it all from the shelves and put out the Valentines day stuff. Good lord, how am I supposed to shop for wrapping paper and bows, when you've removed all the Christmas goodies by the 27th of December. Our retail sector has gone crazy I tell you.

All in all though, it was a good time had by all. There was visiting, presents, drinks and more food than you could possibly imagine. 

Miss K. surprised us all and had all of her gifts open by about 11 am Christmas morning. Her habit of playing with each and every thing that she opened was lessened somewhat and she got through a few gifts before choosing something that needed to be opened and played with.

I dealt with the chaos quite well, I'm not one for "stuff" We always seem to have too much of "stuff" and I seem to always be cleaning it up and putting it away or giving it away or whatever. Big C insists we need a bigger place to put our stuff, I say we just need less stuff. But I digress and that is a whole other entry on "stuff". Let's just say that I dealt with the paper/boxes/gifts/overall clutter pretty well for a couple of days, then I needed to start putting stuff away. Disorder can only be tolerated for so long!

On the very day that Miss K turned 2 and a half, she decided that pooping on the potty was OK to do now. She'd done it sporadically before and has been in big girl underwear (other than to poop) for months now, but I think we might actually be done with this whole process. Not that we really did anything, our approach to it was nonchalant to say the least, and for some reason its worked like a charm. Except for the #2 part.

For about the last year, we know exactly when Miss K is pooping, if not from the look on her face, then from her telling us. She's just been resistant to pooping on the potty, common I hear among kids, but frustrating because it was pretty much only a control issue on her part. As in, I can control when/where I poop and you big people cannot, and I'm going to do just as I please, when I please.

Oh well, think we're past that now, she appears to be pretty impressed with herself, so I think any sort of pull-up or diaper in our house will be a thing of the past. She's been dry at night for months too, which I hear is a huge hurdle to cross too. Onto whatever the next challenge is that she will throw at us.

So, that's all the good stuff. Of course it can't all be good, a couple deaths of people not super close to us, but close enough that you really feel for the folks suffering that sort of loss during the holidays.

Also, a close friends mom has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Been fighting with the doctors about a sore back for almost a year, they kept passing it off as an assortment of maladies. When in fact it looks like cancer in the spine, lungs and countless other places. Not a sunny outlook and frustrating when you think that it could have perhaps been caught sooner. Not a lot of details and some shell shocked kids and grandkids dealing with the news. Hurts us too, as she's been like a mom to me at times, so you feel for what they're experiencing. Plus my hubby lost his mom in a similar situation 5 years ago, sucks the big one let me tell you.

Hmm, don't want to leave this on a depressing note, so will sign off with a knock knock joke. Yes, lame, but it took my kid part of a day to learn it at the sitter's so I think its kinda cute

Knock Knock,

Who's there?

Barbie

Barbie who?

Bar B Q Chicken

Til next time….

Officially Winter

It's wintertime, officially it started today. And we've even got some snow on the ground to make it actually feel like winter. Not sure if it will stick around for Christmas or not, but we can hope for that Norman Rockwell type winter scene on the 25th. Not going to hold my breath as we've had our fair share of rain this year, but maybe.

Winter is kind of a confusing season for me. I love it and hate it all at the same time. Split personality disorder for a season is that possible?

On the good side, there's skiing, tobogganing, snowball fights and walks with the family in the gently falling snow looking at the Christmas lights.

On the oh geez I hate this time of year, there's the ice, the cold, the awful driving conditions, the cold, the slush and dirt everywhere in your house, and oh did I mention the cold?

As you may have guessed I hate being cold. No amount of flannel sheets/blankets, -200 degree winter wear, mukluks, warm snuggly animals or people will make it better. Somehow, some way, I am always going to end up being cold.

Not that it stops me from going outside or participating in all the fun stuff winter has to offer. I remember being a kid and going inside for like 2 minutes, long enough to change into dry mitts and then head back out to build a fort or tunnel in the snow, toboggan, what have you. I still to this day have frostbite markings on my cheeks from the hours and hours spent outside.

It's just I hate the cold. It seeps in somehow, no matter how hard you try to stop it. I know some people are the same way with the heat, they just can't hack it, but for me its the cold.

My frame is slight at best and that is part of the problem I'm sure, lack of insulation, but that chill you get, the frost on your scarf that is wrapped up to your eyes, the numb feeling in your toes after too long a time in your ski boots. That's what I would like to get rid of.

I know it's not going to happen, that the chill will last no matter how long I leave the car to warm up. (Though I am back in our garage, so that should be better). Fingers that are burning red when you come inside from being too cold. Eyelids that feel like they're going to freeze open when the mercury really plummets. That's the part of winter that I would like to leave behind.

But unless I want to leave this beautiful country that I call home, that isn't going to happen. I just have to be thankful that I live where I do, in about one of the warmest parts of the country and that its winter only about 4 months of the year, not 7 or 8 like in other parts.

So, get out there, enjoy the snow, make snow angels, build a fort, try skiing or snowboarding and really really savour the fire, blankets and hot chocolate when you come in

Til next time…keep warm!

Bad Bookends

Just finished a 3 day weekend with the family. Was nice to have that extra day off ahead of the Christmas break. 

We headed off on Saturday for our annual stay over visit with our friends who live about 150km away. My husband's godson is our daughter's godfather, so it makes for some nice almost "family" time. The godson/godfather's parents are close family friends of my husband, and over the years have become friends of mine as well.

One of those places that you go, where you hug one another, take off your shoes, put what you need in their fridge and kick your feet up on the couch and make yourself at home. No formalities, no should I say or not say this, what do I need to bring blah, blah, blah. Just good old fashioned, down to earth people who welcome you wholeheartedly to their home with no strings or pretence attached.

It was nice, a pain in the ass to get everything caught up at home prior to being away, but like a mini vacation. No meals to plan, no laundry/cleaning, just kicking back and getting caught up with one another. 

Miss K is 2 and a half and her godfather is 16, she's a little wary of him, but they seem to have fun together despite the age difference. Lots of food was eaten and a few bottles of wine finished, a nice way to spend your time.

We left there on the Sunday, so that my husband could get his infant fix. Infant fix you ask? Yes, my hubby, the big C, loves and I mean loves infants. 3 months or less and he's all over it. 

A little odd perhaps, but he thinks they're the greatest, all snuggly and helpless, he glows all over when he's got a little one in his arms.

A good friend of mine had her second child just a month ago, so we took the opportunity Sunday to visit. 

Big C in his glory, Miss K a little apprehensive of the little fellow. Took some getting used to for her. Me, well, I'm first to admit I don't care for the infant stage. Yes, I miss that baby smell and the downy soft hair, but I wouldn't trade that for 2 and a half year old any day of the week.

Off to dinner out afterwards, the highlight of which was my kid seeing Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and 2 helpers eating at the same restaurant as her. She honestly hasn't really caught on to the whole Santa thing just yet, but she did know that it was cool that he was eating at the same restaurant as her.

Then off to stay in a hotel. Some will think oh how nice, others who know me would wonder why we're staying in a hotel when we live about 35 minutes away.

Well, Miss K. has an obsession for hotels. Loves 'em. We got a one night stay at a silent auction we were at in the summer for a very reasonable price. We briefly contemplated an adults only, nice dinner, some drinks etc… but when you see the look on her face you don't even think about date night.

Being a Sunday night it was not that busy and we were lucky enough to get a room that had a view of the city's Christmas display, and a giant king bed for her to watch TV in. Not that we watched tv, we looked at the lights, did colours, had snacks etc…

The room was a suite, so we stashed her bed in the living area of the room, she was a little miffed that she couldn't see the TV from her bed (we'd never let her watch TV b4 bed anyway) and was asleep in about 30 seconds from all the activity.

Bless her little heart, after we picked up the dog from my mom's on Monday she asked if we were going back to the room. Lord, she'll put us in the poor house if this addiction to  staying away from home continues.

So, good weekend you say, on a scale of one to 10, yes, I'd give it a 9 or better. And you ask where the bookends come in. Well that's the not so nice part.

Of course Friday was that horrific shooting in Connecticut. Really nothing I can say on that. Everyone has probably already said it, just so horribly horribly sad. Could not watch or read much on it, or look at any school age kids for too long, just hurt too much.

So that was the first bad bookend to an otherwise fantastic weekend. The second was our dog's seizure Monday night.

She's been prone to them in the last few years. The best we can figure is it's somehow stress related. Not obvious stress, like thunderstorms or loud noises etc… but rather something more intangible. Some little things seem to kick her into an unstoppable chain of events resulting in a seizure. 

Fortunately or unfortunately my hubby was home last night. Fortunately, because it meant i didn't have to deal with her alone for those agonizing couple of minutes. Unfortunately, because she's his hunting buddy and he's got such a big heart it hurts to see her that way. (as if the 5 year anniversary of his mother's death wasn't enough to deal with yesterday).

It will take her a day or 2 to be fully back to her old self. Perhaps we'll get another 2 or 3 months before the next one, perhaps not. 

So it was 3 days of mostly awesomeness, started and finished with reality checks that not everything can be sunshine and buttercups. 

Life is hard, enjoy the moment as you never know what is around the corner I guess is the lesson learned

Til next time...

Tis the Mom Season

Oh boy it's sneaking up fast, Christmas is 11 days away. The time of year when everything goes crazy and when time seems to stand still all at the same time. When you're rushing to get everything done and also having moments that are so great that you wish you could stop the clock and bottle that time up to preserve it forever.

Weird how it goes, I'm not a big Christmas nut. Sure we decorate, do the tree thing, presents and such. I enjoy the visiting, family times, moments in the snow with all the twinkling lights (c'mon white Christmas), that's fun. You try to keep perspective and remember that this is really a religious holiday and not all about Santa and reindeer. I can do without the commercialism being rammed down your throat for 2 months, and everyone being all happy crappy telling you how to feel and such. Invite everyone over, love everyone, be happy and so on.

That's great but not everyone can be happy over the holidays, so I don't know why we push it so much. Job loss, sickness, death, these all happen year round, Christmas is no exception, so I don't think we should really be telling anyone how they should feel.

A bit off topic, but a segue into how Christmas time really makes me feel like a mom. Not sure why but it just drives motherhood home.

Perhaps its the baking with Miss K, her all excited to stir and make a mess in the kitchen with me. Using our cookie shooter was like play-doh on steroids for her, so much fun, a lot of mess and you got to eat the end result.

Maybe its the presents under the tree that all say "To: Mom" even the ones from my hubby. 

Or the countless extra things to do that seem to fall in a mom's lap for the holidays. Not super huge chores, just things like making sure the rugrat has her Christmas dress and the tights I only just remembered she needs as she's grown so much this year.  Getting our sitter a card and something extra for treating our daughter like one of her own kids. Watering the tree regularly so it doesn't drop anymore needles, thus adding another chore of sweeping/sucking them up. And as I'm writing this, maybe some cards for our good neighbours should be delivered?

Lots of mom things going on, even checking with your own mom and making sure things are good with her. Thinking about your mother in law who passed away 5 years ago at this time of year. It's a lot of "momness" following you around.

I still struggle from time to time with my role as mom/mommy/m-o-o-o-om. It's great,  don't get me wrong, but I still miss the old me, the carefree single, or the double income no kids or fur kids couple. Some days its hard to let all that go, not that I want it back, I love where we are right now, but just the understanding that sometimes you long for that other place in your life.

I read somewhere not too long ago that becoming a parent is like jumping off a cliff into the ocean. You end up on a different beach after coming out of the water, different people, different activities etc… It's not that you can't go back and visit the folks at the top of the cliff, its just that you're in a different place that they don't understand and you will never be one of them again. Some people take the plunge repeatedly and increase the distance away from that original cliff by having multiple children. 

Both places are still there, you just have to "be" in the one you are meant to be in. 

So, embrace the "momness" or "dadness" of the season, enjoy what traditions/activities are special to you. Give an extra hug to everyone, thank them for supporting you, or not harassing you too much however you want to look at it.

Til next time…have a shortbread cookie for me

My Kitchen Floor

It's been longer than I would like since I last wrote here, but I've been mulling over some design improvements to the blog view already and that kind of tied up my thoughts and time. I'm not any closer to upgrading the look, just exploring some ideas. We'll keep plain and simple for now, pictures and fun stuff can come later.

I think from time to time I will use this space to rant a little about something. Probably not anything too deep or political, that's just not my style. But some topics may be thought provoking and insightful, others not so much. I think I will start with the more trivial side of life and discuss my kitchen floor.

Yes, I know, not a really riveting read right? Well, think again, I don't want to replace it, I just want it to be less dirty all the time.

Now, before you get to thinking that its a filth encrusted expanse that would qualify for the reality series "Looking for my Linoleum", we're not really at that stage. It's just that even if I completely clear out the room, scrub every inch on my hands and knees it's dirty again in about 2 hours. Drives me nuts, I'm not super mom or super clean freak, it just really gets on my nerves. Admit it, we all have something around the house that we just can't stand to see dirty/cluttered/messy.

Mine is my kitchen floor. Yes, its light in colour so the dirt shows more readily, but can the cleaning fairies or elves just make the dirt disappear?

Admittedly, Big C does his part to keep things on the tidy side, I've been known to see him with a broom or one of those static cloths trying to control the chaos.

And honestly, Miss K. really isn't a huge contributing factor to the mess either. For someone who it 2 she is pretty darn awesome at not spilling or otherwise having food on the floor. (Her magnetic letters and the clothespins are another story altogether).

I think my number one problem is the dog. I love her to death, but as the title of this blog suggests, she's a mud puppy. She's a black lab, so there's no danger of any type of food being on the floor for any longer than about 2.3 seconds. Her water is a  different story. The dog drinks like some sort of animal that has been deprived of water in the desert for days. Dainty she is not, water is everywhere and typically there is some sort of small body of water near her bowl. We've got a large bath towel under her food and water dish but there are always small ponds in the vicinity.

Then, there is the hair. Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is look around y'all and there is dog hair somewhere. I think she invites dog friends over when we're away and they just shed all over. She's a short haired dog, & the shedding is worse in the spring of course, but my god, we could have made ourselves 3 or 4 more puppies out the hair we've collected.

And, right now to top it all off, we're having a unusually mild late fall, early winter season. Lots of rain, not much snow and cold. So what does rain make…you guessed it, mud.

Some background here, we originally got our fur kid for both companionship and to do what she is born to do and that is retrieve waterfowl for my husband. I love the labrador breed, social, smart, easygoing and so on, nobody mentioned they are mud lovers. Or at least ours is. The dirtier, the better in her books.

I'm not saying that she goes out deliberately and looks to roll in the mud, its more like a little kid with the temptation of a puddle or fresh cookies before them. Before long they've just taken the plunge and gone for it.

The last 2 duck hunting adventures have resulted in a bath before she's even allowed to step foot on the porch, let alone in the house. The sad part is she looks so dejected when we clean her up that you'd think we were stripping her of some mud trophy she earned in battle.

And, if you've ever owned a lab, you know that you cannot possibly wash, towel off, dry or remove every last piece of dirt/mud on them. It hides, waiting till they are on your clean floor or beige carpet before ejecting itself from their body onto your belongings/floor coverings. I had caked mud on the bottom of my jeans after the last hunting day, and I didn't even go hunting??!

So, I digress a little, but all this goes to create the perfect storm on the kitchen floor. No matter how dutifully we wipe the dog's feet when she comes inside, the dirt, combined with the hair and the aforementioned bodies of water residing near the water bowl, result in the bane of my existence, a kitchen floor that no one would want to eat off of.

I try to keep it presentable, but have learned in the past few years to just get as much of the surface dirt as I can and deal with whatever else happens when I can.

Anything around your place that just drives you nuts but you've learned to live with it?