Desperate Times

In retrospect, I should really have taken some "Before" and "After" photos of my darling BB's office, my Mary Kay office/makeover room, and the rest of the basement, along with the guest bedroom.

In case that doesn't clue you in, I've been doing some major purging and cleaning...nothing like Spring Cleaning in-depth almost 2/3 of the way through Spring right?!?!?!? There's no rule that says Spring Cleaning must occur in the first hours, days or even weeks of the season is there!?!??!

OK...enough joking about this...for the past 15 months of so, I've fallen into this really awful (in my mind) habit of putting things out of sight, telling myself "I'll get to it tomorrow while the kids are napping"...and then I never go back to finish, but keep adding to the piles...

BB's office had every available nook and cranny stuffed with our personal papers, bills that had been paid, contracts, bids, receipts, CDs, stamps, pens, pencils, staplers, paper, envelopes, coupon fliers...all things that would be laying around on various other surfaces in the kitchen, or dining room that I would, in frustration at BB's lack of picking up after himself and pity for myself at having to clean up after him, scoop up, shove into a box, bag, drawer, or cabinet.

As Tiny Princess has outgrown the last 4 sizes (that means 3 - 6 months and up folks!) of clothing, I've been pulling it out of her closet and dresser and laying it on the guest bed to be folded and packed away, nicely, in a box, with bug/critter/rodent deterring materials, labeled with "GIRL - SIZE __" on the outside. As Captain Chaos' clothing also began overtaking the drawers of his dresser and the shelf space in his closet, I did the same thing, leaving me with a queen-sized bed that is now heaped with random boxes stuffed with clothes, that are topped with precariously perched piles of blankets, hats, shoes, clothing, socks, hair accessories, infant goodies like a "travel bassinet", mobiles, bath seats, and the like.

My Mary Kay office, not having been utilized as more than a holding area for product for almost 3 years has been overrun by boxes of paperwork, outdated product that was supposed to be donated, samples of products no longer available, old handouts and fliers, and old office supplies, along with boxes of new product, all jumbled into the space, making it dangerous to walk through, as you have to wind your way over, around and through the various heaps and piles...

I've worked really hard on the Master Bedroom closet and our dressers, and am trying really hard to keep on top of not letting recycling and garbage items pile up on my kitchen counters...trying to keep the dirty dishes from piling up, the old newspapers, the mail, the receipts, the things BB brings home...trying to keep up with all the things the kids leave around, the pet hair that is shed by the animals, the cat litter tracked through the house by the cats...all the signs that people live in this house...and am making progress in my own habits, self-discipline, in the sorting, purging, routines...

Today, we got up, had a rare treat of breakfast out "just because", and after we came home, and I put Tiny Princess down for her morning nap, BB left to go to an auction which had home renovation type items listed, hoping that we could pick up things like doors, cabinets, tile and the like for our basement finishing project, as well as to lay in store for our scheduled master bath remodel. After BB left, I threw in a load of towels, folded and put away the clothes that had dried while we were at breakfast, and popped in a DVD for Captain Chaos to watch, and headed into BB's office.

I am proud of myself, because, in 90 minutes I:

• cleaned out all the shelves, cabinets, drawers, hidey-holes, nooks and crannies of all paperwork
• sorted said paperwork into keep/shred/recycle piles
  
• shredded 2 45-gallon trash bags worth of old papers that had personal information and therefore were not "eligible" for us to recycle (our own rule)
• sorted the "keep" pile into "current" and "previous" year piles
• dumped the "previous" pile into a box to be filed in long-term storage until BB says we can shred it (really, do you need the phone bills for the last 9 years?)
• sorted the "current" pile into account piles, and filed them, in date order, with newest at the back
• dusted the newly cleared tops of desk and book cases
• cleaned, with glass cleaner, the doors of the book cases (BB has gorgeous Barrister-style ones)
• carried the box of "previous" to the basement (and put it in my office, of course!)
• vacuumed the floor
• washed the inside of the windows, including the cases, sills, and blind hardware
• vacuumed the blinds
• washed the ceiling fan blades with hot water, and then a Magic Eraser
• washed the globes on the light fixture of the ceiling fan
• wiped the light bulbs themselves
• used my Swiffer duster to remove all dust bunnies, webs, crumbs, cat and dog hair accumulated from the ceiling to the floor
• washed the baseboard molding, switch plate covers, and cold air return cover

When I put my mind to it, and have the gumption to get my jiggly rear off the couch or away from my good old lappy (Strongbad anyone?), I can accomplish great things...

I will next tackle the guest room, as I have guests coming to stay this month for like 10 days. I therefore, must, in the next week (prior to the 9th folks):

• sort, fold and pack away all the outgrown clothing and store it in the basement storage room
• wash the windows
• wash the bedding
• wash the ceiling fan including light fixture
• clear out the closet
• clean the dust from the ceiling, walls, floors, nooks and crannies
• make the bed
• vacuum the snot out of the carpet (figurative snot, people...I just mean really well)
• scrub the kids' bathroom with disinfectant
• disinfect the trash cans
• move the diaper pail into Tiny Princess' room
• find a way to keep guest-bathroom items in the bathroom, where they can be used, but only by the guests and not the children
• clean the upholstery in the living and family rooms, clean the carpets in the guest room, living, dining, and family rooms without having a professional come in (unless I can sweet talk BB into it being for my benefit and CHEAP)
• clean my kitchen from top to bottom and all points in between (as in, take stuff off counters and cabinets, wash stuff, wash surfaces, put stuff back, etc, etc, etc)
  
• clean out the freezers and fridge

Those are all items that must be done this week in addition to the normal bathroom cleaning, laundry, cooking, vacuuming, dusting and the like...

Of course, there is every chance that my guests will be here the week of the 18th, but I'm so not holding my breath...

Well, I'd better get cracking, or, my guests will be here before I know it, and I'll be up for 72 hours straight cleaning and scrubbing...

All I know is that this should teach me not to procrastinate, or put things out of sight!!!!!!!