14 Lip Glosses and Packing for the Coast

Sometimes the fourth part of the day occurs when the trade-off self talk takes place. Make sense? Maybe you have named the practice of 'if I do this then I can do that' chatter something else. Yeah, I do trade offs.

I would never, ever unload the dishwasher or put away laundry if not for trade-off self talk. The script usually goes something like the following.

Out-loud Jill: 'I hate unloading the dishwasher.'

Trade-off self-talk Jill: 'Unload the dang dishwasher and then you can sit and watch the DVRed RHO the OC. I mean, you already are a day behind watching the show so you couldn't listen to Heather Dubrow's podcast today.'

Out-loud Jill to the house full of four other people: 'I'm unloading the dishwasher.'

And, then, I sit down and watch shows on the DVR for my fourth part.

So that works, right?

What if you have a beach vacation upcoming and there is a family to pack -- clothes, beach gear, food, snacks, magazines, booze, styrofoam cups. There is a load of trade-off talking going on around here.

Here's what I decided to do because I need to pack and I want a fourth part every day. I mean the DVR and Bravo stop for no one.

I am going room by room each evening to clean out, sort and organize. The two bathrooms, the hall closet and the laundry room are the spots I'm working so that I can have a fourth part. I am packing during commercial breaks and making assignments for the folks in this family who stay home during the day during the summer.

If you read the above, yes, I'm doing two un-fun, yet gratifying chores so that I can have a joy-filled, TV-watching fourth part.

Tonight, I went through the girls' (and Chris') bathroom. With the first drawer, I threw out four toothbrushes and put all the hair trimmer equipment in one container (there are quite a few attachments for someone who simply trims his beard and does nothing to the mop on his head -- trying to ignore the hair, trying to ignore the hair). Don't judge because the oral healthcare is in the same drawer as the beard trimmer. There are two plastic bins corralling the contents -- no blending within a container.

In the cabinet above the toilet, we found some old play make up to toss and got rid of about 10 nail polishes. We still have about 20. Two seven-year-old girls can never have enough sparkly, glow-in-the-dark, hot pink polish. Right?

Under the sink, we found some expired medicine to throw in the trash and store all the hair products in their rightful containers. By the way, we have three bottles of olive oil hair cream. I don't need to buy those for some time now. (I also moved three boxes of tissue from th laundry room to the bathroom under the sink cabinet -- where it belongs!)

A basket on the counter with too many to count headbands was examined and we tossed a few broken ones. OK, they weren't all broken, but I had to convince the headband-wearing twosome some of the Frozen-themed headbands were just no longer wearable. Due to,them being broken. Or, just not so cute anymore. Or, just let's get rid of something you have not worn ever.

(G made dinner tonight so I didn't need to take care of that while I was working on the bathroom. Trader Joe's mandarin orange chicken saved the day.)

Then, the ponytail holder and barrette drawer. It is a full one. We have many, many ponytail holders because there is a lot of ponytail wearing going on here. The three-sectioned plastic container contains stretchy, elastic headbands, barrettes and clips, and ponytail holders. Oh, but there is another little plastic bin in the drawer that holds lip glosses, lip balms and flavored chap sticks. We have many, many flavors and colors. Some sparkle, some taste like soda and some really do moisturize and keep lips from being chapped.

We threw out 14 lip glosses and have 18 remaining. I like a Dr. Pepper-flavored gloss more than anyone, but we don't need a Mountain Dew flavor, Sprite flavor, Orange Crush flavor, Coke flavor, Hawaiian Punch flavor . . . and you get the picture.

So, we tossed them. Bonus, the girls thought the sorting and cleaning out of hair goods and glosses was a game. What fun.

And, I have a fourth part. Two grocery bags full of Styrofoam cups, snacks and paper plates also done. The girls' clothes for the beach trip stacked in a pile.

Tomorrow, the hall closet and beach gear.

And, a fourth part. I'm thinking there is a Bravo show or a Twitter feed to fall into . . .