For my third day of summer vacation, I cleaned.
K moved back home and therefore, we had stuff to put away. It takes a long time to decide where all the stuff should go (what to store, what to use, what to donate). So perhaps we could say we moved in and then cleaned. Makes for a long, tiring day.
We cleaned like anything as his family is arriving from across the plains today. Because we are "never" home, we really cleaned. We did a lot of laundry. Not just our usual laundry, but we had to launder all the stuff from Kamp Kyburz: towels, sheets, blankets, comforters, ranger uniforms, etc before storing it all away. Because we kept cleaning, we had extra loads of just rags that needed to be bleached and washed. We kept that washing machine busy and man, are we so glad we have a washer and dryer. We scrubbed. We washed the kitchen and bathroom floors on hands and knees. We scrubbed the tub, the toilet, the sinks. We scrubbed the stove and all those metal burner "pans" or whatever the term is (escapes me). We washed the garbage can itself. We dusted. Man. We hadn't dusted for a while. We vacuumed. First, with the attachments. All the baseboards, nooks, corners, and so forth. Then we really vacuumed. Then we emptied the collection canister on the vacuum cleaner, washed it out with soap and water and changed the vacuum filter. We shredded papers. We ironed. We washed mirrors. We swept the patio and watered the plants, the flowers, the garden, and wiped away the cobwebs that were starting back on the front door. We shopped for food at Costco and Smith's.
And you know what? It's still not how I want it. There's more sorting and organizing to do. But K thinks, "It looks pretty good!"
I'm sure his family understands that after four years of racing up and down I-15 to nurture our marriage while maintaining three jobs between the two of us and other responsibilities, we're doing okay. I guess I've made it sound like our home has been a pig sty. It hasn't. It's just been a little dusty and overlooked. It's tough to clean a place when you're not physically there to clean it. But now I'm home. We're home. And thus, the priority for Day 3 of "getting the whole summer off" was to clean, Clean, CLEAN! And my Man was right there with me every step of the way--he's incredible.
2 weeks ago
Sounds like a fun day- did you know that I LOVE cleaning? Really- my favorite job (before my real one as a teacher) : housekeeper. There is just something so rewarding about walking into a place and leaving it better. Not to mention, the smell of clean sheets- nothing else comes close. Glad you enjoyed your day.
ReplyDeleteYou know Kristen, I've always enjoyed cleaning too, but I also remember that little statement about "in a hundred years it won't matter what clothes you wore, etc., just that you made a difference in the life of a child, etc.". My question is, if it doesn't matter in a hundred years, why is it SO satisfying to look at that clean, shiny stove with shiny burners and SMILE? I guess it's that satisfaction we find in WORK. Work is perhaps sacred?
ReplyDeleteyay for deep cleaning! :) and it is always interesting that even when you clean every week, how much you can still need deep cleaning! The nice part about cleaning is there is a finish line. You know when you're done and there is a definite product!
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