Such a good "fly" weekend
I had, by far, one of the most relaxing and enjoyable AND PRODUCTIVE weekends I've had in a very long time this past weekend. I had a production meeting for my documentary, I shopped, I cleaned, I cooked, I did tons of laundry, and yet a watched TV, surfed the net, spent time with Anya, and took a nap or two. It was wonderful.
I did my Saturday morning routine, or at least part of it, which consists of tidying up the living room, getting out any dirty dishes, putting toys away, random clothes into the laundry, cleaning the coffee tables and vacuuming. When I'm on the ball it also includes putting all of the pillows on the sofa, cleaing the downstairs bathroom and sweeping and mopping the kitchen, but I was focused on some other projects and just did the "sanity check" version. I also unloaded the rest of the dishwasher and started in on some of the disaster that is our kitchen...it's amazing how filthy this place can get when it isn't kept on top of. But again, I had other projects besides the kitchen, things that Hubby usually won't attend to, whereas he does do dishes (finally, after all these years!!!!), so I just did what I needed to at the time to clear space and be productive.
A couple of things just caught my eye and I said to myself, "I am just going to take care of that right now!" So the two trees masquerading as ungroomed shrubs in the backyard got a very preliminary pruning - at least I can see the ground under them now. I managed to get one side of the sliding glass door which has become "doggified". Perhaps I'll get to the other side of the window today - but I'm not sweating it....little steps.
This grosses me out, but as I was cleaning the bedroom, I came across tell tale clues that reminded me of when this place was actually last cleaned....and it has been far too long. Not that it hasn't had spot cleaning here and there, but there were spots that had clearly been neglected since the last big overhaul, oh, I dunno, a year ago! That's what happens when a girl's in school, working full time and being a mommy. I just never had the time or energy, but man, am I ever motivated now. I purged a bag of garbage, five loads of laundry that weren't even near the clothes "hampers", receipts, clothing tags, spare change, odds and ends. I found baby clothes Anya has well outgrown, clothes that I was saving to repair or specially clean that I decided are just not worth the time and effort - and I pitched them. I just kept reminding myself that even the areas I didn't want to bother with right then still needed to be handled and I picked a few that I could readily go through and clear. I sorted through things on my nightstand, a notorious place for dust, glasses, toys, nail clippers and rubberbands, change, receipts, lotions, all kinds of papers and pens and of course my alarm clock and a goodly amount of dust. I don't know how many nights my pillows have slid off the bed hitting it or I've knocked things over trying to hit the snooze button. It is now not quite uncluttered, but more manageable with visible toys and books, a few papers I've yet to take action on and a few miscellaneous items.
I finally got to vacuum, which, for me, is THE thing that can make a room breathable. When the floor is clean, the room seems to have a greater sense of peace to it. So, for the first time in ages, I can get up and get Anya in the middle of the night, make a trek to the bathroom or whatever without stepping on things, dodging things, losing my balance and nearly killing myself. It's nearly done. Done, of course, means that I can let Anya loose in there and not much harm can be caused to her or anything else. Still have some things to do, particularly decluttering the bathroom counter so that Anya can't reach up and grab things.
What's next on the agenda? Finish the upstairs bathroom, reclaim the kitchen and start making some decisions about some of the older furniture in the living room that is cluttering up space since we moved it out of the guestroom last year. Unless it goes in the garage (which is another project altogether since it is only half useable anymore due to junk) it may have to be donated or sold or something.
And then, I think, the back yard - Anya needs an outdoor place to play but the yard hasn't been landscaped since we moved in. We've planted a few things here or there and some have taken root by neglect (a tree and lots of weeds). The dog needs a distinct place to do his business too, out of the way of kids. I want a garden or two. And I want the whole thing to be fun and hospitible and magickal. Maybe a pergola (sp?) with grapes and lights, a table underneath...a small water feature somewhere, little surprises around corners...
I had so much energy this weekend I could barely contain myself. Sitting on the couch was just unreasonable to me for most of it...it wasn't that there was anything that riveting, I just had it on in the background and to watch as I wanted a break here or there. In the end I was in this sort of restless place where I didn't want to sit idle but was intermittantly running out of things to work on; the dishwasher was loaded but couldn't be run until after 9, same with the dryer, and the wash I had continued to run was hung on the line. I'm sure I could have found something to do if I had really been that concerned, but at the end of the weekend, I felt good about what I accomplished, knowing I'd "blessed my family".
I did my Saturday morning routine, or at least part of it, which consists of tidying up the living room, getting out any dirty dishes, putting toys away, random clothes into the laundry, cleaning the coffee tables and vacuuming. When I'm on the ball it also includes putting all of the pillows on the sofa, cleaing the downstairs bathroom and sweeping and mopping the kitchen, but I was focused on some other projects and just did the "sanity check" version. I also unloaded the rest of the dishwasher and started in on some of the disaster that is our kitchen...it's amazing how filthy this place can get when it isn't kept on top of. But again, I had other projects besides the kitchen, things that Hubby usually won't attend to, whereas he does do dishes (finally, after all these years!!!!), so I just did what I needed to at the time to clear space and be productive.
A couple of things just caught my eye and I said to myself, "I am just going to take care of that right now!" So the two trees masquerading as ungroomed shrubs in the backyard got a very preliminary pruning - at least I can see the ground under them now. I managed to get one side of the sliding glass door which has become "doggified". Perhaps I'll get to the other side of the window today - but I'm not sweating it....little steps.
This grosses me out, but as I was cleaning the bedroom, I came across tell tale clues that reminded me of when this place was actually last cleaned....and it has been far too long. Not that it hasn't had spot cleaning here and there, but there were spots that had clearly been neglected since the last big overhaul, oh, I dunno, a year ago! That's what happens when a girl's in school, working full time and being a mommy. I just never had the time or energy, but man, am I ever motivated now. I purged a bag of garbage, five loads of laundry that weren't even near the clothes "hampers", receipts, clothing tags, spare change, odds and ends. I found baby clothes Anya has well outgrown, clothes that I was saving to repair or specially clean that I decided are just not worth the time and effort - and I pitched them. I just kept reminding myself that even the areas I didn't want to bother with right then still needed to be handled and I picked a few that I could readily go through and clear. I sorted through things on my nightstand, a notorious place for dust, glasses, toys, nail clippers and rubberbands, change, receipts, lotions, all kinds of papers and pens and of course my alarm clock and a goodly amount of dust. I don't know how many nights my pillows have slid off the bed hitting it or I've knocked things over trying to hit the snooze button. It is now not quite uncluttered, but more manageable with visible toys and books, a few papers I've yet to take action on and a few miscellaneous items.
I finally got to vacuum, which, for me, is THE thing that can make a room breathable. When the floor is clean, the room seems to have a greater sense of peace to it. So, for the first time in ages, I can get up and get Anya in the middle of the night, make a trek to the bathroom or whatever without stepping on things, dodging things, losing my balance and nearly killing myself. It's nearly done. Done, of course, means that I can let Anya loose in there and not much harm can be caused to her or anything else. Still have some things to do, particularly decluttering the bathroom counter so that Anya can't reach up and grab things.
What's next on the agenda? Finish the upstairs bathroom, reclaim the kitchen and start making some decisions about some of the older furniture in the living room that is cluttering up space since we moved it out of the guestroom last year. Unless it goes in the garage (which is another project altogether since it is only half useable anymore due to junk) it may have to be donated or sold or something.
And then, I think, the back yard - Anya needs an outdoor place to play but the yard hasn't been landscaped since we moved in. We've planted a few things here or there and some have taken root by neglect (a tree and lots of weeds). The dog needs a distinct place to do his business too, out of the way of kids. I want a garden or two. And I want the whole thing to be fun and hospitible and magickal. Maybe a pergola (sp?) with grapes and lights, a table underneath...a small water feature somewhere, little surprises around corners...
I had so much energy this weekend I could barely contain myself. Sitting on the couch was just unreasonable to me for most of it...it wasn't that there was anything that riveting, I just had it on in the background and to watch as I wanted a break here or there. In the end I was in this sort of restless place where I didn't want to sit idle but was intermittantly running out of things to work on; the dishwasher was loaded but couldn't be run until after 9, same with the dryer, and the wash I had continued to run was hung on the line. I'm sure I could have found something to do if I had really been that concerned, but at the end of the weekend, I felt good about what I accomplished, knowing I'd "blessed my family".