Pay No Attention to the Woman Behind the Curtain!

I realized last Wednesday that 95% of the work that I do in a day will never be noticed. I came to this revelation while cleaning out the pantry. I try to keep it organized so I can "shop" from my pantry to keep our grocery bills down. I know it's time to reorganize when I have four cans of kidney beans and 3 packs of cranberry Jell-O but do not have the most important ingredient for dinner. So today I pulled it all out, categorized and purged and put it all back in order. But first....

I also cleaned out our hutch. Which previously contained flour, corn meal, confectioner's sugar, and a million cookie cutters. You know -- those things I use once a year but keep buying more of because I forget how much I have. See "cranberry Jell-O" above. Cleaning out the hutch led to cleaning out the appliance closet....

What's an appliance closet, you ask? (Go ahead...ask) When we got married, our registry was a Who's Who of appliances. I am a gadget-lover at heart. From our ice cream maker to our waffle iron, from our dehydrator to our blessed rice steamer. I love them all. And, more importantly, I use them all frequently. What I don't love it having 8,929 appliances on my counter. So Brian built me an appliance closet when we moved here. It's right beside the kitchen and used to be a coat closet. After two years, the appliance closet needed help, too.

So at nap time (O blessed, sweet nap time) I put small appliances in the bottom of the hutch, moved flours, sugars, rice, and various nuts to the closet, and purged the pantry. It took me and hour and a half, and no one will ever see it but me. Sure, Brian will open the pantry and maybe notice that nothing falls on his head. But by and large this is one of those things I do in my day that are strictly behind-the-scenes.

A lot of my day is filled with behind-the-scenes. For some reason, we have four bathrooms. Seriously pass on this if you ever get the opportunity to have four bathrooms. That's a lot of toilets and tubs to clean! And somehow two people manage to generate 6-8 loads of laundry each week. Each spring, flowers get planted, a grill and patio set get cleaned, windows get washed, a Christmas tree and decorations go up and down, and various gatherings get planned. This is all in addition to the general housework, cooking, caring for other peoples' munchkins, and teaching 15 piano lessons weekly. Do I want a medal? No (well, sometimes I do). My point is this: We all do things every day that no one is going to notice, no matter how rockin' a job you do. The only way someone will notice is if you stop doing those behind-the-scenes things. I have to wonder how much happier would we all be if someone noticed those little (or big!) jobs we do?

Here's your chance -- what are your behind-the-scene jobs you need recognition for?