On Friday evening, I went to the grocery store without a list.

I know. The world has come to an end. It really has.

I can think of two times in my married life that I’ve gone grocery shopping without a list. And, as both of those times were, this time was a complete disaster. I came home with more food than usual, less money than usual, fewer meals able to be made from what I bought, and a fried brain from the stress of it all.

The other Very Shocking Thing was my laundry.

I haven’t done laundry in… about a week and a half. John agreed that this is the longest we’ve ever gone without running the ol’ washer, and that the growing pile has never been as big as it is at the moment. I usually try to do it on my one “laundry day”, but I always find things I want to wash… rugs, more towels, a large blanket that hasn’t been washed, and every other day I have a load of diapers in there, so my washer and dryer don’t usually get that long of a break. This is virtually unheard of.

Thankfully, this is where the Excuses can be put into good use, and even more thankfully, the Excuses actually sound valid enough to perhaps convince you to momentarily excuse my um, severe LACK in the homemaking department. I’m blaming the whole deal on this little adventure we’re in the midst of (moving?!) and the fact that there’s a lot to do in a short time (pack?!) . The grocery store thing kinda happened because we were planning on making a grocery trip that afternoon, and then it turned out that our good friend–a new Marine who happens to be stationed here for six months–and his friend, who were going to come “hang out”– yes, in the middle of our tornado of a house–needed to go to the commissary also. When he called to say they were ready… I wasn’t. So we went to the store. With no list. I almost had a panic attack in the produce section.

And then, when we got home and they were “hanging out” with Zach, I thought about starting the laundry. But there was just something about carrying a huge pile (or two, or three) of laundry, with who knows what kind of unmentionables hanging out, through the living room, past a group of three young guys, and then washing all of it with them here. So, I pushed it to the back of my mind, where it promptly stayed until yesterday, when we weren’t home. Then until today, while we were at church… and then now. So I guess I should take my leave to go put a load of laundry in the washer and figure out how many meals I’ll be able to make from the supply of unrelated food I threw in the cart.

What craziness.