No Fooling Around This Weekend-I Mean It

There is nothing on my calendar today and tomorrow short of a little carpooling DD#2, church tomorrow morning, and some light shopping to finalize preparations for her trip to Spain.  She leaves Thursday night. It's the lenten season, and it is unheard of to not partake in at least one fish fry on a Friday night, so that was dinner last night, complete with all the trimmings. I am still stuffed this morning. Coffee, then water, then a pick me up later afternoon with some tea, and perhaps some light lunch should be all I need to keep up my energy.

I am going to get cracking on the deep cleaning and organizing of my daughter's old room, turning it by end of the month into a proper guest room. I also have the regular chores of life to accomplish as well, with DD pulling her share of the load. No marathoning programs on  Netflix. No getting lost in each of your blogs, so apologies in advance if I am not the chatty Cathy I usually am jumping in on every topic. I've serious work to accomplish, and two good days to make progress. No fooling around, and I mean it. Cheers to you all and may you send me good thoughts on a productive weekend. 

Panic Inducing Massive Party Clean

Those of you who are organized and keep a pristine house  the majority of the time, look away and stop reading.You'll get nothing out of this post but possibly a self congratulatory pat on the back for your domestic skills, and an opportunity to shake your head at me. DD#2 turns 15 next week. She has a pretty humble request for a celebration-host a few of her closest friends for a movie marathon, smoothie  and pizza making, binge fest. Sounds simple enough, but I have been in the throws of a six month declutter and purge and honestly can say the house looks more a train wreck that it did before. While opening a closet door was a daring feat, and I had used my older two kids rooms for additional storage, most of the clutter was hidden from sight safely behind a door of some kind. 

Now, as DD#1 has moved home and is finally doing some purging of her own and we have transitioned my son's bedroom for the youngest, we are at the stage like in Clean Sweep where all the items of the cluttered spaces is moved out to the front lawn. In our case, the upstairs hallway and entire family room downstairs, and Kitchen table have become the front lawn. Winter in Minnesota is not the best time to have this sort of clutter display.There is no opportunity for a garage sale, loading and moving items like small appliances is a challenge in the ice and snow. The truly sad addition to this is the lack of deep housecleaning that has been done during this declutter as well. While a few loving spaces are kept sane-the entry, the dining room, the living room, as well as the kitchen, apart from the table, I could spend two days dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing floors and walls alone to get the house where it should be. 

While this is the worst it has been in that area, it certainly isn't the first that I have had a major panic clean within the weeks or days leading up to a houseful of people. It has though been three years since I last had the entire family over for a child's birthday as we stop at 12, so longer between panic cleanings. I have DD#2's confirmation next fall, and that had been my ultimate target date to turn my cluttered home into that idyllic, at least for me, place of relaxation and organization.This will be a big lift, and I will have jobs for each member of my family. Keep me in your thoughts.  Pray there is enough ibuprofen and Icy Hot for when my muscles give way. 

Just Try It For Today

Is happiness really a state of mind?  Can you truly live a happier life by pushing aside negative thoughts, petty complaints, and fits of jealousy? Can embracing an attitude of fullness verses a a deficit mindset be the right course for overall bliss? Would I wake up happier tomorrow if for just today I squealsh every negative thought, word, and impulse back?  Lovely Grey has some good thoughts today on being a half full glass kind of gal.  As I had no post ideas, I'm branching off my comments in her blog to see if I really could get through the whole day with an air of bliss.

It might be tough, but a little challenge is good.  First off, I had a not so great night of sleep because pup drank more water then normal last night after an extra long walk, and up we were at 1:00 for a trip outside, followed by tough time falling back to sleep.  But hey, no accident to clean up this morning-that was kind of him!  The next door neighbors put in a lovely new fence, but because of digging, the utilities on our line needed to be shut off.  This triggered a new gas meter being installed.  I am without gas until they come out after 2:30 to relight.  This means cold showers, no hot water for dishes, and no clothes dryer, with a mountain of laundry.  Well, we'll just see what we can come up with instead, shall we.  If Lovely Grey can live a full life in a motor home,  with clean body, hair, clothes and dishes, I can improvise for a day.

What I have to smile about today...

• Clean water out of my own taps, coffee grounds, electricity, and my Keurig coffee maker
• Soft, cozy bed to take a nap in later should I need to (or want to)
• Sunshine and a nice breeze, a clothes line to dry laundry
• Hair brush and plenty of pony tail holders to give myself an interesting "up do"
• Tea kettle that boils water really quickly, ready to heat up dishwater, and"bathing" water
• Empty dishwasher to hide the dirty dishes that can be washed once gas is back on
• Food in the refrigerator,freezer, and cupboards including vegetable cream cheese and onion bagels

It's 8:29, and things are cheery in my head. It's time to declare this day open for business.