During my last Keepin’ It Real Home Tour, someone couldn’t believe that my family and I were actually living in our home given the condition it was in – they even said our house and yard should be condemned.
Now, I know there was a toilet in the yard during that tour, but really, that’s grounds for condemnation? I wasn’t aware.
Well, here I am again today, rocking a should-be condemned house and I guess providing more reasons for people to call The Department of Human Services on me. 😉
The Keepin’ It Real Home Tour Holiday Edition
For a while during the first part of this month, the dining room table was sporting all sorts of holiday paraphernalia. I leisurely worked my way through it.
Also, that random table in front of the chairs lost it’s place in the living room, so it just kind of floated in the area between the living room and dining room for a while.
The stacks of holiday Rubbermaids generally stay in the living room for weeks until they are all emptied out. That bag full of garbage stayed there for about a week. Don’t worry though, it was only paper products, nothing icky. I don’t think so anyways….
I think the WTF pillow best describes the general theme of my current office situation.
Cheap beer and Slim Jims keep me going during this time of the year.
I also don’t turn my head up at bacon bits, imitation only please though.
And finally, just to make sure I can keep my “living in a should-be condemned home” status, here’s what my kid’s room looked like after our annual Christmas party.
It’s actually a bit deceiving as you first walk in.
You turn and it’s not too bad.
But then you hit that playroom and it’s like BOOM.
One is left wondering where everyone took shelter when the bomb went off.
Her friends did say it was an awesome party and she even told me that “it rocked her out.” Given this mess, neither of them was lying. I guess even Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and the Wise Men got tore up from floor up, because there’s the manger laying there in the middle of it all and we still haven’t found one wise man and Mary. The Circus has been using Smurfs to stand-in during their absence.
I’m going to go get a pot of coffee ready for the DHS worker.
There are five other bloggers showing off their real life tours today too. Click the links below to visit them and then let me know if their house is more condemnedesque than mine. Because if so, I’m going to go pull that toilet out of the shed and stick it in the front yard. 😉
Chelsea from Two Twenty One
Jenna from Rain on a Tin Roof
Chelsea from Making Home Base
Charlotte from Ciburbanity
Taryn from Design, Dining, & Diapers
Katie from Bower Power
Ashley ~ 3 Little Greenwoods says
And this is why we love you. Because our houses look *justlike* this. Seriously my dining room table that is supposed to be set with our beautiful Christmas china is covered with Christmas crap.
Oh well. I’ve got a few more days to straighten up, right?
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
Heck, girl, make those guests help you straighten up when they arrive! haha!
Deborah says
Sweet Mother of All that’s right – you rock Jenna!! Thanks for the honesty, I’m feeling a little better about myself and the current state of affairs at my place!
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
Oh girl, anytime you need to feel better about the state of your affairs, just email me and I’ll send you a snapshot of what my house looks like. I promise it will probably always be worse!
Beth says
this post is a great start to my Monday morning….Thanks for the smiles!
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
You are so welcome, Beth! Thanks for stopping by!
Kari Wagner Hoban says
THANK YOU BABY JESUS.
I nominate you best blog ever.
There’s no prize so……
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
hahahahahaha!! So, can I get a cheap beer in lieu of the trophy? 😉
KC F says
Thank you for the laughs, your hilarious commentary never fails!! I love the Smurf stand-in idea your daughter came up with!!!
Condemn baby condemn
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
I’ll own it, KC! hahah!! I know – I thought the Smurf thing was pretty funny too!
Regina says
Some people don’t do real life? Sucks for them and I love that you are keepin it real! Merry Christmas!
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says
True that, Regina!!! Merry Christmas to you as well!
Rebecca says
My favorite lines besides all the obvious crackups. “I leisurely worked my way through it”. and “The stacks of holiday Rubbermaids generally stay in the living room for weeks until they are all emptied out.” I’m going to send this post to my husband as proof I’m not the only person who decorates with the containers holding the decorating materials for weeks…….I don’t think my tree is finished yet 🙂
Jenna says
Oh girl, if I did it all at once, I’d lose my mind!!
Karen Jerread says
MWB is so darn proud! I see real life but I don’t see dirt, nasty or deplorable. Rock it girl! Love you.
Jenna says
We’re just really cluttered around here, which probably means we’re lazy because we don’t put things where they are supposed to go when they should go there. haha!
Deirdre says
Condemned?? Anyone whose house doesn’t look like this as they decorate for the holidays is either fibbing or has hired a professional crew come in. As for the toilet in the front yard. I think I can do you one better. For a gazillion years, we lived in the most fun and infamous neighborhood in our New England town. Wepartied together and had all kinds of crazy contests with equally crazy “trophies”. The most prestigious was the toilet awarded to the “yard of the month”! It was spray painted gold and bedecked with ribbon! Never change, you are sunshine!
Jenna says
bahahhahahahahahahaha!!!! Oh man, I want to have those kind of contests in our neighborhood! How fun is that?!
June says
You crack me up, I think everyone is feeling a bit stressed this week. How many children do you have, lol.
I remember the days of beer and snacks, very good memories.
My boys are 20 and 16 and this is the first year my dining room is presentable. I’m thankful for that.
God sees something great in all of us!
MERRY CHRISTMAS ~
Jenna says
Well, June, I hope God is going to see something great in my humor, cause that might be all that I’ve got for the rest of the holiday season! haha! Thanks! Merry Christmas to you!
Sue says
Roaring with laughter, especially about your home needing to be condemned. Yours looked like a palace compared to the house we moved into last February. Rain pouring in everywhere, the old fashioned plaster coating on the walls falling off, no heating, no hot water except from one very temperamental electric shower and a kitchen with inches of filthy grease everywhere. It was close to needing to condemned but after 10 months hard work we have some comforts and can see how glorious it will be when we’ve finished.
Merry Christmas to everyone
Jenna says
Oh wow, Sue – now that house sounds like my first one where, I kid not, chickens were running through the house when I got it! Merry Christmas to you too!
Debbie says
O…..M……G…..too funny. It’s a shit show here at my house and I really don’t give a damn. It will all get done and no two years are alike in prepping for this monster of a holiday. Your blog rocks.
Jenna says
Ya know, Debbie, I think that shit shows tend to be the most fun. 😉
Jennifer says
You win most real blog, no contest. My house could beat you out at any time however and my yard as well. I have a toilet and two metal jailhouse urinal/sinks! Life is too short to spend all your time cleaning. The love and laughter in the house is the important thing. Merry Christmas to your whole family! Thanks for the laughs.
Jenna says
hahahahahaha!!! I am laughing my butt off over the metal jailhouse sinks and urinals, Jennifer!!! That’s too funny! Merry Christmas to you as well!
Lisa says
Love the real life moments…this is what life is like for most of us. I love a LIVED-IN house look. No museum-looking house in my life. LOL! Happy holidays!
Jenna says
Hey, lived-in houses are the best! Happy Holidays to you as well!
Laura says
That so looks like real life to me. New here – followed the link from Bower Power. I’ll be back – you are so funny!
Merry Christmas from TX
Jenna says
Hi Laura! Thanks! So glad to have you around!
Erin, Attention to Darling says
Love this post, it cracked me up! Mad props for showing real life, I think we could all use a little more of this in our lives.
Erin, Attention to Darling
http://www.attentiontodarling.com
Jenna says
Thanks, Erin!
Susan the Farm Quilter says
First off, a toilet in the yard is just a flower pot waiting to be planted…what is their problem?? Now I’ll be looking for toilets to put out in front of the farm house…or maybe even in the garden – tomatoes will grow in a toilet, right? Daughter #2 would steal those WWII era calendars if she could – she has a pin-up girl tattooed to her upper-inner arm and adores that era! She is even rockin’ the retro 50s era swimsuits on the beaches of Hawaii! Now, to your house…I’m so glad you explained that there was a party in the room and Circus didn’t do all that damage herself!! I would worry about you if she could do that alone…well, maybe not cuz daughters #2 and #3 could probably give her a run for her money!! Decorating for Christmas only took me a couple of days…not sure where all the stuff my mom used to put out went, but I used everything I could find and even bought a real tree!!! I think it has been 7 years since I decorated for Christmas and I think I missed it! Love you keeping it real…makes the rest of us feel much better about our chaos!
Jenna says
hahahaha!!! I know, right?! I thought the same thing about the toilet! haha! I love my calendars!! They were actually left in the garage here when we got the house – I was SO excited the old owner didn’t take them! I’m glad you decorated for Christmas this year, Susan! I know it can be a pain, but after it’s done, it always make me feel a little more warm and cozy inside.
Charlotte Smith says
Are there really and truly people who bring down the tupperwares of decorations and then actually bring them back up to storage? Isn’t that why they’re colored red so they’ll blend right in with the rest of the other decorations? One of our wise men has been hanging out with Elsa. Just an idea if he never turns up. xx
Jenna says
Ahhhh, Elsa, eh? Interesting…. Wouldn’t have pegged the Wise Man for an Elsa kinda guy. hahaha
Pat Gaudreau says
I love your sense of humor….
Looks just like my granddaughters room????
Merry Christmas
Jenna says
Thanks, Pat! Merry Christmas to you too!
Megan says
Our TV room looks like your daughter’s area – totally toys everywhere. My thought this weekend (while watching my kids for almost 72 hours by myself while hubby was off coaching) was “why bother” but then I was like wait… I need to vacuum… and then the tired, worn out, end of semester teacher (who btw is trying to teach up to last minute but is about to give up) and physically and mentally exhausted mom … decided nope, not vacuuming. I’m bad. And tired. And it’s almost Christmas and I’m eating my feelings so my whole house must be about to be condemned too, so we can have a party together… ok? I once had a toilet in our front yard too. Then we decided it was better than our basement toilet, switched them out, and then put the basement toilet out on the curb. Yep. 🙂
Jenna says
I’m totally up for the party and eating our feelings together. 🙂 I’m over all the perfection! And the switching of the toilets – PRICELESS!
Shirley says
Jenna your posts never fail to brighten my day!
Your Daughter will remember what fun she had growing up not how tidy the house was.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas & keep on being fearless in 2017.
Jenna says
Thanks, Shirley – I think that’s more important for her than a clean house! Merry Christmas to you as well!!
Patty says
Oh girl! that must have been some party. As far as your house goes, I just don’t see what is wrong with it, it looks perfectly normal to me, of course it is after six pm and I have had a few cheap beers, haha and I’m getting ready to bake my famous pecan cream cheese pies, maybe I will have one more beer before I start just to make sure they are really good.
I love that you keep it real and we can relate to your lifestyle and things that come up that are unexpected, it’s not perfect in a not so perfect world, it is real and your writing is so much fun.
Merry Christmas Jenna to you and your family.
Jenna says
Oh, it was a party all right! haha! Kids and parents both had a ball! I’m betting those pecan cream cheese pies turned out magnificently. 😉
Lisa A. says
Jenna….Best Blog EVER!!! Ha ha – my place is not much better and I do not have a “circus” living with me! Those Christmas tubs sat in the middle of the dining room for two weeks and if my husband asked me one more time – “when are you going to be done with those so I can put them back in storage?” I was going to put him in one of them and put them back in storage! They were put away just to pacify him – oh – and because we had a few folks over Sunday and now yesterday – they came back in the house because I needed to get one more thing I could not find. Have a wonderful holiday with your family and I will look forward to more laughs in the New Year! You Rock Me Out!
Jenna says
Glad I’m not the only one who keeps those Christmas tubs out for quite a while!! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your family as well and that those tubs stay out for quite some time as you leisurely put away all those decorations. haha! 😉