HAPPINESS IS: Finding a chocolate bar in your purse that you purchased a few days ago. Every choco-holic woman out there is asking “how do you forget you have chocolate??” I know, I know!! It was because I bought it at the vet’s office Saturday when I had Pixel there for her first visit. Someone was selling them for a fund raiser and I’m a push over for chocolate so I bought it. Then I had to put some paper work in my purse, was juggling the kitten and it slipped down inside my purse, forgotten. I just found it and it is SO good!
All of us in the Diva Den have experienced questionable reactions when telling someone about our living arrangements. Few seem to understand how 5 women can live under one roof peacefully. My guess is they know of young ladies that go off to college as bosom buddies, share a dorm room or apartment, and end up unable to stand each other. No one seems to believe that we actually have a very harmonious household with the pool of hormones we’re currently swimming in. It is something I call Diva Dynamics.
While there are some that have referred to it as a Princess Palace, and don’t we all have an inner princess, there is no room for anyone to have a Princess complex, no one in the house has staff (except the cats). And no one within the house is a Cinderella, we are all responsible for keeping the house clean and in order. If you make a mess you clean it up. If someone does leave behind a mess we give the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were in a hurry or got side tracked, and the finder steps up and handles it. We all accept that in order to live in a house this large it takes all 5 of us to keep things in order and it isn’t fair for it to fall on any one persons shoulders. Everyone takes responsibility for keeping their own room clean, and we’re all obligated to maintain the bathrooms, living and dining rooms, family room and kitchen. If you cook dinner one night, everyone else cleans up and handles dishes.
We keep a grocery list on the refrigerator and anytime someone uses the last of something, or notes supplies are low they add those items to the list. Everyone knows where to find the toilet paper, paper towels, shower supplies etc and no one believes in the restock fairy in our Den, we’re ALL fairies and we all know how to replenish where needed. We all look pretty adorable in our wings and tiaras too! We keep a pitcher that filters water in the refrigerator and when you use it to fill your water bottle, you fill the pitcher, very simple. It is not uncommon for one of us to ask the others if they have laundry that needs to be done, so that when the washer gets ran it is for a full load. Or if, while doing laundry, we notice enough there in the laundry room for another load, we just do it. We all know how to fold clothes once the dryer stops, and everyone puts the clean towels away. At night before going to bed every Diva knows to scan the common areas for her own things and take them to her room as she heads up. Even the coffee pot is loaded and ready when we go to bed because those of us that drink it make sure it is set up each night.
We all respect each others private spaces, our bedrooms, and each others personal property. You don’t use it without asking the owner. Since we are all connected via our BlackBerry phones, we’ll message each other for permission before using or borrowing anything from one another. Number one rule, if it isn’t yours you don’t use it or eat it or wear it without permission from the person that claims ownership.
We Divas haven’t gone completely green but we do try to do our part. We all use a water bottle for a few weeks rather than going through cases of bottled water. We found a good way to individualize our bottles was to buy hair holders/elastic bands and each use a different color. We found some with plastic jewelry so each bottle has bling, very Diva like! We fill up from the filtered pitcher and no spread of colds etc. We reuse anything we can, save our aluminum can tabs for charity and try not to waste. There are no tree huggers in the group but we do try to make good use of what we have.
My bottle bling
I think part of the reason this all works so well is because we are all family first, then friends. Family has each others backs, loves each other no matter what. We all allow for each other to have faults and make mistakes and we don’t hold that against each other. We talk out problems when they do arise and try to find a solution or compromise that leaves everyone happy. We’re all very protective of each other and if one of us hurts, we all hurt with them. If someone hurts one of us from outside they just raised the wrath of the entire Den, heaven help them. We also are all supportive of each other in everything from weight loss to trying to break habits like biting nails or cursing. We can tease each other, all of us are able to dish it out and take it well, but we also know not to get to carried away to where someone gets their feelings hurt with it.
When it comes to matters that will impact the whole household, we have a pow-wow. We had one when we first moved in to discuss any and all home improvement projects anyone noticed needed addressing. We talked about solutions, and got those prioritized by weighing in pros and cons until we all agreed on what needs fixing first. A pow-wow can be called to address any issues that arise if someone thinks it is needed. We all know that if it will impact the household, the Divas all have a say and if we cannot reach a compromise or agreement then whatever it is cannot happen.
We all understand that we are family, friends, and a team and there is no ‘I’ in the word team. Someone said we are like a mini sorority. While we are all individuals, we also have to function as a unit in order for this to work, and so far I think the Diva Dynamics are working very well.
