Get in My Way and I'll Dust You, Too

I have been working on my house since about nine this morning.  If I keep working on it until about nine tonight, it might be a place that doesn't shame me for others to see once more.

Housekeeping is not my forte.  If I could have extra money in my budget to spend on anything (and understand that travel is not extra for me), I would spend it on somebody to come in and take care of the heavy cleaning for me on a regular basis.  That is my idea of pure luxury.  I spend ten hours or so at school, come home, and I cannot make myself think that hauling out the vacuum is a worthy thing to do.  That neglect catches up, though....

Today, so far, I have repaired the vacuum (thank God Daddy taught me how to use basic tools and not to be afraid to take things apart when the need arises); vacuumed all the floors (no easy task in this house with its endless carpets); steam cleaned them; bucket mopped the vast expanses of linoleum with ammonia (I don't play); cleaned out my closets and put away some things I bought yesterday and the massive piles of laundry that have just lived (folded, mind you) on the dryer; cleaned up the kitchen; washed all the odd loads of laundry:  sheets, rugs, shower curtain, bedspread, dog blankets, and so forth; taken my feather mattress outside for a day of hot sun; hauled all my potted plants outside again and wept over their sad state here at the end of winter; and now I'm taking a bit of a break.

I still have about five things on my list, including the rearrangement of some furniture and massive amounts of clutter removal.  It's so easy for things to pile up in the space near my door.  There are about six scarves draped across one chair alone.  I cannot see my kitchen table top at all.  If I can get that area reclaimed and orderly, I will feel like I have accomplished a major victory.

It will be a nice thing to have a clean house.  I can drag in at whatever hour I manage to come home and not have to feel guilty for being a bad Southern Woman on top of whatever other crap I have going.  That will be worth all this effort now.