Weather and Work

I'm not sure how it got to be Tuesday.  I'm beginning to wonder if I live in a parallel universe where time has no meaning...

On Saturday I spent part of the day contemplating a safe place to hide when either the roof blew off or one of the birch trees in my front yard ended up in the living room. It's been storm after storm, with the added thrill of very high winds.  I spent an hour or so in the early evening without electricity, but since I grew up reading far into the night under the covers with a flashlight, it was no big deal to light some candles and dig out the high beam Eveready.  And actually, it was pretty cozy though I had a moment or two when the wind gusts actually shook the house where I thought about maybe moving myself and the dogs to the bathtub.

Sunday morning I had a great walk with the dogs, the air fresh and clean.  It turned out to be just a lull in the endless procession of storms however and we barely made it home before the deluge returned.  So far there's been over 6" of rain, the rivers are cresting their banks, highways are flooded, people have been evacuated...and it just keeps coming down.  Except for the human factor, I really don't mind.  I like the turbulence and the chaos of nature, the dark gloom of the clouds, the rain pounding on the roof.

I talked to the BFF as usual, then watched the Olympics, read my book, and forgot to blog. Another day slipped from my grasp, though I had the great good fortune to read not one, but two most excellent books between the raging storms and the threat of imminent catastrophe over the long weekend.

Yesterday, I began the Great Housecleaning Extravaganza because my sister is coming on Friday. I hate house work.  So, so much.  Today I talked to my sister and practically the first thing she said was: "And don't clean the house! Just leave things as they are."  I laughed.  Hard.  Then I told her she was my excuse to actually do the cleaning.  I keep things neat and tidy, but I don't fret or freak out if there's a cobweb in the corner or a speck of lint on the carpet.

So, I had to make a list.  A very long list, as it turned out--and just what I deserve for being a housekeeping procrastinator. I've divided the loathsome wretched chores into daily tasks. Yesterday it was the bathrooms, washing the dog blankets/beds, and watering/feeding the 14 plants.  Today it was vacuuming the whole bloody house including two flights of stairs and the laundry room, sweeping the garage, cleaning the oven, and washing the kitchen floor. It makes me tired to think of Wednesday and Thursday, though really, the hardest parts are done now...mostly.

And honestly, once everything is sparkling clean, I will feel really good.  I will tell myself that I need to get a regime going where I do these chores weekly.  And I will mean it...until next week when I find something--anything--infinitely more exciting, rewarding, stimulating, meaningful than housework.

Maybe I should just have my sister come more often...