When did being a woman mean you had to do it all?!

So, I'm not usually one to complain very often, but I do need to vent a little bit. As a woman, I was raised to be confident, loving, compassionate, nurturing, yada, freaking-yada... But damn, I never knew how much I'd be responsible for.  I totally take the blame for getting involved with a grown man who had three young girls from a previous marriage with a deranged,  "I am the Queen of Denial" chick (I promise,  I'll post more on this subject soon) but what I didn't expect was that I would instantaneously become an insta-mom and wife. It's one thing to go through the normal series of events: Boy meets girl. Girl talks boy into living together. Girl envisions marriage and plans ultimate dream wedding. Girl wants a family and plans pregnancy right down to post-labor photo shoot. Boy learns to be a "yes ma'am" kind of guy and does whatever he can to get alone time in his man cave... OK,  so that's not how things turned out for me.

I met Jason,  at the time father to three young girls, a 9 year old, 7 year old, and 16-month old (Seriously,  what the hell was I thinking!?) Jason had been recently separated from his then wife so he had the girls over every other weekend.  At the time, he had been living with his sister and her family and the girls would only spend Saturday nights.  As a woman in her late 20's, 28 to be exact,  I somehow thought it wise to have Jason live with me and have the girls come to "our" place,  now 2 nights every other weekend.  This literally snowballed over the next year and a half (due to extremely poor choices made on behalf of their mother) and the girls now live with us 85% of the time.  So in 2 year's time I went from being single,  doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted,  with whomever I wanted, to being a full-blown mom and wife (somehow without ever getting married...trust me,  that's another post of its own).

So here I am,  thrust into the world of heaps of laundry, stacks of dirty dishes, constantly picking up items off the floor, clogged sinks, toilet bowls growing possibly new science discoveries, and that's just with Jason! Besides  homework,  bedtimes,  puberty,  attitudes, paperwork,  etc., the girls require SO much time and attention,  especially since two of them have been diagnosed with diseases (the now 13 year old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes early in 2013 and the now 11 year old had been diagnosed with Juvenile dermatomyositis a few years back and they both require more medical attention.  I've had to learn to see all and hear all.  I know when someone isn't really brushing their teeth behind the closed door.  I can sense when someone is opening the 2 liter of soda from across the house.  I swear I have eyes on the back of my head and Superhero hearing powers! The girls must think I'm a freak of nature and Jason just assumes I'm like any normal woman falling into her "destined role," but I think I'm going insane!  I swear to God if I find one more juice box straw wrapper NOT in the garbage I'm going to scream! And if I walk past the bathroom and see an empty toilet paper role I might hurt someone.  I never thought that at the age of 32 I'd be saying things like "no one's allowed to eat peanut butter since no one can clean off the counter, " just to regret saying that because now the sponge is chalk full of of an oily,  brown buttery substance.  Ughhhhhhh.

And Jason. Sweet,  always-makes-my-plate-first, Jason.  I swear to all that's Holy, if he doesn't start putting his dirty clothes into the hamper (which is usually only a foot and a half away) I'm literally going to strangle him in his sleep. Or ban him from our bed.  Or hide his Playstation 3. Yes,  I am THAT serious. So I promise from here on out that I will do my best but that I will not do it all.  I won't be the only one to clean toilets or make phone calls about incorrect charges on a utility bill.  I will not be the only one to nag about messy rooms or laundry bags overflowing with clean clothes that should have been put away 3 days ago.  I promise to ask for help with more chores around the house instead of doing them myself while gritting my teeth with bitterness.  Ahhh hell! Who am I kidding?!  Let's keep it real and admit that I'm just going to continue to act like a psycho from time to time in hopes that I'll just scare these kids (Jason included) into helping out.  Now THAT I can do.

It's about damn time!

Okay, here goes nothing. For years I've had friends and family tell me that I should write a blog. I've always thought about doing it,  even thought up names at one point, but I never got around it making it a reality. It's funny how that seems to happen all too often. So many things I've wanted to do, or wanted to say, but I just can't find the time.  I have plenty of passion in my life, and some great stories, so today is the day.  It's the last day of 2013, a year filled with some absolutely happy "I'll never forget"  moments, along with some utterly disappointing and heartbreaking moments.  Being as tomorrow is the first day of a new year,  I think it's appropriate timing that I start chronicling my life.   I plan to use humor,  wit,  sarcasm, foul language and honesty in all my posts. For those of you who know me well,  I know you wouldn't expect anything less.  And a special shout out to +Nicole Carter for being my recent inspiration!  Please check out her new blog, "2 Spoiled Naughty Dogs and a Manchild: An informal documentation into forever,"for some seriously funny and honest writing.