Ahhh, the relaxing days of summer.
So, I often allude to the fact that my house is not clean. When people ask me how I found time to write a book, I tell them I wrote instead of cleaning. I'm not really kidding. Now, here's the thing. I clean all the time. I mean everyday, I do something. However, in a family of four (plus two cats), the something that I do is not nearly enough. I am constantly vacuuming the kitchen, dining room and downstairs hallway/bathroom (where the litter box is). I am always wiping the counters (well, the small portions of the counters that are not covered in stuff). I am doing dishes and wiping up spills. I'll let you in on a little secret, but promise not to tell anyone. Ready...I hate cleaning. If I never had to dust or vacuum again, I'd be happy.
But this all came back to haunt me, as these things often do. My daughter's birthday is coming up. And she wants a party. I love having the kids' birthday parties at a venue, where all I have to do is show up with the cake (which I make). It's great. But my daughter wanted a party at home, with a few friends, where they could do a craft and use the bouncy house. Sounds ideal, right?
I looked around the house, and felt terrible. Even though I had three weeks, I knew there was no way that I could pull this off. We're (still) in the middle of finishing the walkway in the front of the house. My husband has all he can do to get the lawn mowed in between work, baseball games and rain. I've been trying to help him out front with landscaping.
Then, there's the inside of the house. It was a disaster. Everywhere I looked there was dust and clutter. There were cobwebs. I just can;t keep up with it anymore. This summer, I'm working at summer school, per diem in a clinic, playing chauffeur to the kids with their various camps and activities. Plus, I'm trying to promote my book, write the new one, and help out some other people with their promotions.
I did the obvious mom thing, and I bribed my daughter into having her birthday party out somewhere. And then I wallowed in guilt at what a failure of a mother I am. But, I tried not to wallow for too long, and resolved to do better. Sunday, while the kids were with my parents, I cleaned the living room. I mean changed curtains, washed windows and really cleaned. Like 3-4 hours worth of cleaning. And then I threatened all family members with bodily harm if they messed up the room.
However, that pride was short lived, as I realized that the house has about 12 rooms. If I did one room per week, then the whole house would be cleaned in 12 weeks. Wait, somehow, that doesn't work. Despite a full (both jobs, plus grocery shopping) day on Monday, I plugged on. Tuesday, I was off work, so the kids and I spent all day (and I mean ALL) cleaning their rooms. Changing beds, washing all their blankets. About 10:30 a.m. or so, I found a pedometer in Sophia's room, so I put it on. Even with taking an afternoon nap, and with only a short trip to Wal-mart, I took 8500 steps yesterday (but that doesn't include the first 2+ hours of my day). I'm at 2300 by 10 am this morning, and I still have to go to work.
The good news. The living room is still clean, along with the downstairs bathroom, both kids' rooms and the hallways (both up and down). The playroom has been picked up and vacuumed, and is passably clean, although could use a little more work. I even vacuumed and mopped the hardwood stairs and part of the dining room floor this morning. My house is solidly 1/3 clean. And that's before I run more errands and go to work for the day. Not too shabby.
The boys are headed to Cub Scout camp tomorrow morning, so I'm busy packing them up too. Which included not only finding the uniform shirt, but remembering that I needed to sew a patch on, locate the patch and actually sew it. Somehow, I'm a little confused about the Boy Scout motto. I didn't realize that "Be Prepared" applied to the moms who were not actually participating...
All this, and I'm working on book promoting as well. Good Intentions is featured this week on the book shelf at Chic Lit Central. It's only featured until August 4, 2013, so if you're visiting after that, it will simply be in list form there. Also on August 4th, I'll be guest blogging at ...the bookworm..., so stop by there to see what I have to say. My Goodreads giveaway also ends on Sunday as well. Busy weekend coming up.
I took part in a Blog Blast for Eric Devine's new book, Dare Me. It looks very interesting. Check it out.
We booked our Disney trip for next winter, but are still trying to squeeze in one more Jersey shore trip this summer. Need to get on that one!
Oh, and I have to get Sophia's party in there too.
Huh, no wonder I'm tired. Gosh I love summer. Gotta run. Have to run some errands before work!
But this all came back to haunt me, as these things often do. My daughter's birthday is coming up. And she wants a party. I love having the kids' birthday parties at a venue, where all I have to do is show up with the cake (which I make). It's great. But my daughter wanted a party at home, with a few friends, where they could do a craft and use the bouncy house. Sounds ideal, right?
I looked around the house, and felt terrible. Even though I had three weeks, I knew there was no way that I could pull this off. We're (still) in the middle of finishing the walkway in the front of the house. My husband has all he can do to get the lawn mowed in between work, baseball games and rain. I've been trying to help him out front with landscaping.
Then, there's the inside of the house. It was a disaster. Everywhere I looked there was dust and clutter. There were cobwebs. I just can;t keep up with it anymore. This summer, I'm working at summer school, per diem in a clinic, playing chauffeur to the kids with their various camps and activities. Plus, I'm trying to promote my book, write the new one, and help out some other people with their promotions.
I did the obvious mom thing, and I bribed my daughter into having her birthday party out somewhere. And then I wallowed in guilt at what a failure of a mother I am. But, I tried not to wallow for too long, and resolved to do better. Sunday, while the kids were with my parents, I cleaned the living room. I mean changed curtains, washed windows and really cleaned. Like 3-4 hours worth of cleaning. And then I threatened all family members with bodily harm if they messed up the room.
However, that pride was short lived, as I realized that the house has about 12 rooms. If I did one room per week, then the whole house would be cleaned in 12 weeks. Wait, somehow, that doesn't work. Despite a full (both jobs, plus grocery shopping) day on Monday, I plugged on. Tuesday, I was off work, so the kids and I spent all day (and I mean ALL) cleaning their rooms. Changing beds, washing all their blankets. About 10:30 a.m. or so, I found a pedometer in Sophia's room, so I put it on. Even with taking an afternoon nap, and with only a short trip to Wal-mart, I took 8500 steps yesterday (but that doesn't include the first 2+ hours of my day). I'm at 2300 by 10 am this morning, and I still have to go to work.
The good news. The living room is still clean, along with the downstairs bathroom, both kids' rooms and the hallways (both up and down). The playroom has been picked up and vacuumed, and is passably clean, although could use a little more work. I even vacuumed and mopped the hardwood stairs and part of the dining room floor this morning. My house is solidly 1/3 clean. And that's before I run more errands and go to work for the day. Not too shabby.
The boys are headed to Cub Scout camp tomorrow morning, so I'm busy packing them up too. Which included not only finding the uniform shirt, but remembering that I needed to sew a patch on, locate the patch and actually sew it. Somehow, I'm a little confused about the Boy Scout motto. I didn't realize that "Be Prepared" applied to the moms who were not actually participating...
All this, and I'm working on book promoting as well. Good Intentions is featured this week on the book shelf at Chic Lit Central. It's only featured until August 4, 2013, so if you're visiting after that, it will simply be in list form there. Also on August 4th, I'll be guest blogging at ...the bookworm..., so stop by there to see what I have to say. My Goodreads giveaway also ends on Sunday as well. Busy weekend coming up.
I took part in a Blog Blast for Eric Devine's new book, Dare Me. It looks very interesting. Check it out.
We booked our Disney trip for next winter, but are still trying to squeeze in one more Jersey shore trip this summer. Need to get on that one!
Oh, and I have to get Sophia's party in there too.
Huh, no wonder I'm tired. Gosh I love summer. Gotta run. Have to run some errands before work!
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