Week 9: Getting Back on Track

The "clean the house" train is definitely loosing steam. Between our great trip in August, getting kids back to school, doing too much "back to school" volunteering, and you know - actual work, it has been hard to motivate myself to finish. Especially when there is still a measurable amount of work left.

And, there have been other hurdles. First off, I tried to consolidate the garage sale stuff that has been piling up. There is just a lot of it, and it is making it hard to get around in our bedroom. Kevin kindly bought boxes and brought even more home from work. But, those were all filled and there was still a bit left over. At least in boxes it could be stacked vertically and out of the way a bit more. To get this task done took a few hours. That's a few hours that may otherwise have been spent working toward cleaning a room. A necessary part, I know, but just something I hadn't accounted for.

Hurdle number 2: The vacuum gave up the ghost. Probably from cardiac arrest after all the paces I have put it through as of late. It was accustomed to a leisurely life in the closet, and this whole regular use schedule (in very dirty places no less) made it decide to revolt. It has now moved from the closet to the newly re-stacked garage sale pile. Right next to the tile cleaner I found in the front closet. Our garage sale attendees are going to think I have a thing against clean floors. Sadly, I think they would be right. But, in the short term, this vacuum disruption has meant that not only can I keep the uncluttered floors fresh, but also that I have to spend even more of my 11rooms11weeks time hunting for the best deal on a new vacuum. Ugh. But, dirt waits for no woman, and I need to get on with it.

This week, I knew the kids were going to be spending Saturday through Monday with the in-laws, so I could use the Labor Day holiday to clean in peace. I will try not to cry over the fact that a free weekend of kid watching will be used for housecleaning rather than a trip to, well, I don't know: anywhere! Back in May, I may have been plotting a garage sale by now, but I will take what I can get. I decided that the little corner of our house that contains the laundry room and pantry would be the target. Initially, I had these lumped into the kitchen, as they aren't really that big. But, upon further investigation - the kitchen may take a couple weeks all on its own, so these guys get to have a week (or in this case weekend) to themselves. And, I wasn't really sure what was in the cabinets in either room, so it might be best to give it my full attention - ok, well, at least the attention I am not paying to sleeping in a bit, catching some US Open tennis, and maybe helping Kevin to celebrate a birthday. As I said, the clean-train is loosing steam...