my life is reeeeeally boring right now
Because I'm not working and am too sick to sing, the most exciting thing in my life is that I have the spring cleaning bug. Circumstances have made it necessary, though. The toilet decided to stop working Monday night, and there was very icky stuff on the floor and in the tub by the time the plumber arrived Tuesday morning. It really wasn't that big of a mess, but the nature of the mess grossed me out. Neither Mom nor Dad was able to help, so I did a deep cleaning of the bathroom and hall yesterday. Two loads of clothes that had been touched by the yuck in the tub, so I was in the laundry room. I am easily distracted and take lots of breaks, so it took me over ten hours, start to finish.
Now the bathroom is SPARKLING. I decided I might as well go all out, so I cleaned the ceiling and walls, outsides of cupboards, and got on my knees (ouch) three times to scrub the tub. The floor got mopped twice.
Dad normally takes care of the dishes, trash/recycling, and his laundry. He did Mom's laundry until my City Hall hours ran out, but I do that now. I used to combine her laundry and mine into a single day, but it's just too much, so I am in the laundry room twice a week now: move all the supplies, bags of presorted loads, and stake my claim. Set timers and live by them until the last load comes out of the dryer. I'm only in the laundry room during typical weekday work hours, because I want to leave it free for neighbors who work outside the home. I tend to take long breaks in between flurries of activity when laundry gets moved along, but I'm getting better about not resting for half an hour with only ten minutes of work in between.
It helps to watch YouTube videos of people cleaning their homes. Seeing them cleaning gives me motivation to do my chores. It's either that or listen to The Clash's London Calling album again for the hundredth time, and that can get kind of old. (Dunno why I find that so motivating, but listening to that album always makes me want to get up and move, and I can usually channel that energy into something productive.)
Today is Mom's Laundry Day. I rearranged my bedroom a few weeks ago, and it isn't working, so it's time to move things back the way they were. (I may not keep it that way, but I haven't the energy to experiment.) I have to clean first, though. It's been long enough that the floor needs a rake and vacuum again, and I've let stuff pile up on all the flat surfaces ... including the floor.
A lot of this is repeated from two weeks ago. Nothing stays clean or tidy for long. Stuff to do, mostly in the bedroom; things may get added or deleted as the week/end progresses:
hide Girl Scout Cookies and Easter chocolate (I only hoard creme eggs and shortbread)
make bed
keep up with Mom's laundry
general organizing:nail polish gets a new home,
grocery bags in cars, obvious trash off floor, dirty dishes to kitchen,
library books all together, paperwork gathered, toiletries gathered, choral folder emptied, stationery/supplies/bujo gathered, go through a box of unorganized stuff and sort, go through another box of unorganized stuff and sort, go through yet another box of unorganized stuff and sort, declutter closet floor
unplug computer; dust/clean/charge all electronics
scrub mouse pads and hang to dry
move cat tree to living room
move tables, clean, set up charging station
rake and vacuum carpet
final furniture placement (for now)
pack leggings for exchange (ordered online, way too big)
sort and bag my dirty laundry for Laundry Day (the next day it isn't raining)
clear off living room loveseat and the floor around it
find an extension cord so I can move my bedside lamp (Knubbig from IKEA) from bedside to the empty bookcase shelf
organize sheet music in filing cabinet (I'd post before and after photos if my camera wasn't broken, because it looks AWESOME)
After I'm done, I will file my taxes online. Dad is a CPA, so he's already done them, but filing online gets me my refunds a lot faster than mailing them in. And then I will have a scoop of chocolate ice cream and light a candle to celebrate my efforts.
Longer-term tasks I'm listing while I remember, though I probably won't do them this week:
decide on a cat-friendly house plant for the bedroom that will clean the air and not die without direct sunlight, buy it, and make a place for it
plug in my old laptop, run diagnostics, update software, and transfer files to new computer
new computer maintenance: defrag hard drive, antivirus software, clear browser histories
find a box for a cat trap so they don't sprawl just anywhere on the desk when I'm trying to work
***
Off-topic: I'm on a Little Women kick at the moment. I have access to the Maya Hawke and Katharine Hepburn versions, and I listened to the audio book twice in the last month. I saw recently that there's a version with Susan Dey as Jo. I was interested in it until I saw that Shatner is Professor Bhaer. Nothing could have turned me off faster. I can't help but see him as a dirty old man, no matter what he does. I keep looking for the Saoirse Ronan version to stream or rent, but it isn't available yet. I do like the Winona Ryder version, though Hepburn will always be my ideal Jo. Laura Dern -- Marmee in the Ronan version -- recently performed the audio book. I don't think it's being released on CDs, so I'll preview it on Audible before I commit to buying. I do have a few duplicates of audio books for the same reason: a version performed by Person A is good, but then an actor I like does the same book, and I want their performance, too. It's frivolous, especially when I'm on benefits and desperately looking for work, but it's one of my favorite books.
Now the bathroom is SPARKLING. I decided I might as well go all out, so I cleaned the ceiling and walls, outsides of cupboards, and got on my knees (ouch) three times to scrub the tub. The floor got mopped twice.
Dad normally takes care of the dishes, trash/recycling, and his laundry. He did Mom's laundry until my City Hall hours ran out, but I do that now. I used to combine her laundry and mine into a single day, but it's just too much, so I am in the laundry room twice a week now: move all the supplies, bags of presorted loads, and stake my claim. Set timers and live by them until the last load comes out of the dryer. I'm only in the laundry room during typical weekday work hours, because I want to leave it free for neighbors who work outside the home. I tend to take long breaks in between flurries of activity when laundry gets moved along, but I'm getting better about not resting for half an hour with only ten minutes of work in between.
It helps to watch YouTube videos of people cleaning their homes. Seeing them cleaning gives me motivation to do my chores. It's either that or listen to The Clash's London Calling album again for the hundredth time, and that can get kind of old. (Dunno why I find that so motivating, but listening to that album always makes me want to get up and move, and I can usually channel that energy into something productive.)
Today is Mom's Laundry Day. I rearranged my bedroom a few weeks ago, and it isn't working, so it's time to move things back the way they were. (I may not keep it that way, but I haven't the energy to experiment.) I have to clean first, though. It's been long enough that the floor needs a rake and vacuum again, and I've let stuff pile up on all the flat surfaces ... including the floor.
A lot of this is repeated from two weeks ago. Nothing stays clean or tidy for long. Stuff to do, mostly in the bedroom; things may get added or deleted as the week/end progresses:
general organizing:
sort and bag my dirty laundry for Laundry Day (the next day it isn't raining)
After I'm done, I will file my taxes online. Dad is a CPA, so he's already done them, but filing online gets me my refunds a lot faster than mailing them in. And then I will have a scoop of chocolate ice cream and light a candle to celebrate my efforts.
Longer-term tasks I'm listing while I remember, though I probably won't do them this week:
plug in my old laptop, run diagnostics, update software, and transfer files to new computer
new computer maintenance: defrag hard drive, antivirus software, clear browser histories
***
Off-topic: I'm on a Little Women kick at the moment. I have access to the Maya Hawke and Katharine Hepburn versions, and I listened to the audio book twice in the last month. I saw recently that there's a version with Susan Dey as Jo. I was interested in it until I saw that Shatner is Professor Bhaer. Nothing could have turned me off faster. I can't help but see him as a dirty old man, no matter what he does. I keep looking for the Saoirse Ronan version to stream or rent, but it isn't available yet. I do like the Winona Ryder version, though Hepburn will always be my ideal Jo. Laura Dern -- Marmee in the Ronan version -- recently performed the audio book. I don't think it's being released on CDs, so I'll preview it on Audible before I commit to buying. I do have a few duplicates of audio books for the same reason: a version performed by Person A is good, but then an actor I like does the same book, and I want their performance, too. It's frivolous, especially when I'm on benefits and desperately looking for work, but it's one of my favorite books.
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