shouldn't it be obvious?
We were blessed with a (mostly) kid-free weekend and absolutely no spending cash. This meant one thing of course: CLEANING. And clean we did.
The yard: The birch (my favorite) sacrificed its life for the sake of a concrete landing pad for the soon to be hooked-up hot tub. The ugly metal clotheslines (and 6' of concrete blocks they stood on) were removed and filled. Dirt was placed around the house and graded in an effort to eliminate water in the basement. The burn pile stacked higher than the house itself.
The main level: I found all my counter space. Yep. ALL of it. The fridge shed more than half of the papers attached to it via magnetic force. The rooms were dusted, swept, vacuumed, organized.
The basement (and most dramatic transformation): The pool table moved to its new location. Carpet was installed, a couch, chairs, entertainment center & television were introduced, and a cozy family room was magically formed. One of the bedrooms was organized and cleaned to form a much needed child's sanctuary (a.k.a. "play room") complete with craft table, cd player, and art work on the walls. The other bedroom that had until this weekend been nothing more than a stoarge room, was stripped of its boxes & cobwebs, cleaned, aired, and sanitized. Carpet was installed, bunkbeds erected, cable run (yes, another television here, too), and voila! Instant "Guest Room." The laundry was washed, folded and put away (all except for that darn last pile of delicates; sweaters that require a drying rack that I don't have).
My body ached. My head ached. My fingers hurt. But, damn, did it look GOOD! I couldn't wait for the girls to see it.
Dotter was the first - it was like seeing her open the perfect Christmas gift. So shocked and surprised was her reaction! We were all downstairs when the Jellybean came in. She came tramping down the stairs and flopped herself onto the couch like it had always been there. Oblivious to the improvements she began talking about her weekend: where she went, funny things her cousins said, who she met, etc. I couldn't take it anymore: "Bean - don't you see anything different down here?" I asked. She stopped, looked around, and after a beat (and in perfect teen fashion) replied, "oh, yeah - looks good" and continued with her conversation. So much for "great job, mom! you did good!"
The yard: The birch (my favorite) sacrificed its life for the sake of a concrete landing pad for the soon to be hooked-up hot tub. The ugly metal clotheslines (and 6' of concrete blocks they stood on) were removed and filled. Dirt was placed around the house and graded in an effort to eliminate water in the basement. The burn pile stacked higher than the house itself.
The main level: I found all my counter space. Yep. ALL of it. The fridge shed more than half of the papers attached to it via magnetic force. The rooms were dusted, swept, vacuumed, organized.
The basement (and most dramatic transformation): The pool table moved to its new location. Carpet was installed, a couch, chairs, entertainment center & television were introduced, and a cozy family room was magically formed. One of the bedrooms was organized and cleaned to form a much needed child's sanctuary (a.k.a. "play room") complete with craft table, cd player, and art work on the walls. The other bedroom that had until this weekend been nothing more than a stoarge room, was stripped of its boxes & cobwebs, cleaned, aired, and sanitized. Carpet was installed, bunkbeds erected, cable run (yes, another television here, too), and voila! Instant "Guest Room." The laundry was washed, folded and put away (all except for that darn last pile of delicates; sweaters that require a drying rack that I don't have).
My body ached. My head ached. My fingers hurt. But, damn, did it look GOOD! I couldn't wait for the girls to see it.
Dotter was the first - it was like seeing her open the perfect Christmas gift. So shocked and surprised was her reaction! We were all downstairs when the Jellybean came in. She came tramping down the stairs and flopped herself onto the couch like it had always been there. Oblivious to the improvements she began talking about her weekend: where she went, funny things her cousins said, who she met, etc. I couldn't take it anymore: "Bean - don't you see anything different down here?" I asked. She stopped, looked around, and after a beat (and in perfect teen fashion) replied, "oh, yeah - looks good" and continued with her conversation. So much for "great job, mom! you did good!"
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