Friday, January 30, 2009

Step Away From the Housework

After a few gray, foggy or rainy days our Carolina blue skies returned yesterday. I had plans to stay home and tackle a lot of cleaning and organizing.

First on the agenda was vacuuming the entire house. In order to properly evict the dust bunnies under the table, I put the chairs up. I remember doing this at the end of the day in elementary school so that the custodian could come around with his machine to clean the floors. Anybody else remember doing that?
Well, sunny days are great for getting me motivated and energized to tackle housecleaning, but the only drawback is that they also put the spotlight on every dust bunny, smudge, spill, etc.

After vacuuming all of the hardwood floors and dusting the baseboards, I got to thinking as long as the chairs were up I might as well wash the floors too. Most of the first floor of my house is hardwood so it is a pretty big job. When I looked at the clock I figured I had enough time to get them done before lunch. Also I would work up an appetite and burn some calories too. Oh boy ~ how exciting ~ a win-win situation all around!!


Actually the job does go pretty fast with this.



And the floors really do shine when I finished. Makes me feel like dancing.



After my well-deserved lunch :-) I decided to celebrate the beautiful weather and take Peanut for a walk. I scored some major doggy points with that decision.


After our walk I planned to tackle the next job on my list - bathroom cleaning. About that time my son called to tell me he was in the area and did I want anything to drink from Sonic. He read me the list of specialty coffee drinks. Oh, yum the hazelnut latte was calling my name. I know this was a tough decision - clean bathrooms or sit and chat with my son while drinking a latte.




The smell of cookies permeated the air.



By the time my son left it was getting a bit late to start in on the bathrooms (sounds like a good excuse to me). So, I moved to the next job on my list - organizing mom's belongings. When my mom moved here in September a lot of her belongings ended up in my garage. Slowly I have been sorting through them. I emptied one box yesterday that contained a large stack of journals she had kept. Well, that put the brakes on my housecleaning!! I spent some time reading through a few of the entries. What a beautiful treasure she has left for her children. It was so wonderful to re-live her happier days. She and my dad had a happy life together filled with family, friends, tennis, golf, celebrations and travel. In the midst of her present situation it was so nice to be reminded of that.



She had written this in the front of her oldest journal. Apparently my brother gave it to her as a Christmas gift that year. She would have been 48 then. One thing my mom has told me more than once is that if she had it to do over again she would worry less about the housework and spend more time enjoying life. Hmm. . . maybe she has a point there.
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Once again I give you my heartfelt thanks for your kind & supportive comments. It will never cease to amaze me what a wonderful community we share in the blog world. To think that people I have never met face to face would take the time to leave such caring comments is very touching to me and has helped make this journey with my mom so much easier.

So, gals . . . at least for a few moments, drop your dust cloths, brooms, vacuums or dish cloths and do something that will put a song in your heart and a smile on your pretty face. You deserve it!!!





23 comments:

  1. Thank you for that... with your permission I can drop the summer school curriculum and go play in the sun with my kindergarteners.

    I am so glad I found you! I love your writing style and your thinking!

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  2. What a perfect post for me today. I have been polishing furniture with Lemon Oil today...and my shoulder is sore from some sort of 'crick in my neck' so I think I will do something more creative this afternoon and put the oil and cloth away! That's what girlfriends are for...to remind us what is important and to keep our priorities straight!

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  3. Kim, your day sounds wonderful to me. It actually makes me feel good to have things spic and span. I would like to be the kind of person who can let it go more though.

    What a sweet son you have to bring you a latte!

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  4. I wish that I could have sat with you and enjoyed a hazelnut latte. I liked the message of this post. Life is short and breaks in routine are so good.

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  5. I don't need a whole lot of encouragement to forget the cleaning...and have some fun instead. And a hazelnut latte will do just fine as well!

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  6. After my mom passed away from Alzheimers, my sister sent me several of mom's hand-written recipes. I recently pulled those out and began to use them. The pain is gone now and I can enjoy remembering her the way whe was before her illness. I like making the dishes and it makes her seem not so far away.

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  7. Lovely post, Kim.... Thank you for reminding us to stop and smell the flowers.... and share a cup of coffee and conversation with those we love!

    Carol

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  8. Good advice! Visiting blogs puts a smile on my face. Looks like your mom enjoyed writing memories down...precious now for you to have. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  9. That was a much needed reminder. I have tried to make myself keep a diary so my kids will have that when I'm gone...and after reading your post it made it clear how important that would be...thank you!

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  10. Those blue skies look so inviting, as well as your nice clean wood floors!! Makes me want to go clean house.

    Isn't it wonderful to have handwritten memories of your mom? I hope my mom is doing some of that now. I know she's done some journaling in the past, but don't know if she's keeping up with it.

    Nice post. Think I'll go clean the kitchen floor!

    Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Kim, what a sweet post. Your mother is very wise. How wonderful that you have her diaries! I know you will draw much strength from them. Your house looks so beautiful, I can't imagine that there is any dirt anywhere! Have a wonderful weekend! Twyla

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  12. It sounds as if you spent your time very wisely. I try to remember that I can have a clean house once my children are grown. :)

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  13. It sounds like you had a pleasant day. Your mother sounds like a wonderful lady. It's neat that you have her journals to read. You are welcome for the prayers. I agree, we have some neat friends in the blogging world!

    Have a good afternoon,

    Sharon

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  14. Kim, you are so lucky to have journals from your mother! Oh how I wish I had something like that! I've started a journal recently and wonder who will really care about this in 50 years but I think it will be interesting for my children, grandchildren!
    PS
    I wish my house was so clean!

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  15. What a great entry!
    You have a beautiful home!
    I love the pics you posted!
    Very sentimental about your Mother! I had a precious Mother, too. I lost her in October of
    1998. I've never been the same since.
    Love,
    Bonnie

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  16. Sounds like you got a lot done just before lunch!!
    Your day sounds great. I am the opposite of you when it comes to cleaning. I like to clean on rainy days. :-)
    Before I started blogging I kept journals for years and years and have a whole box full of them. Every once in a while I get the urge to throw them all away, but after reading how much you enjoy reading your mom's I think I'll keep saving mine.
    So sorry about your mom, but on some level I'm sure she knows you are there. You are such a kind and caring daughter. How lucky she is to have you.
    It is so good to be back on line again. I sure did miss all my blogging friends!!!

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  17. Dear Kim ... just what I needed today, someone to tell me it's OK to relax, forget about the dust and grit we tracked into our entry after the last snow .... tomorrow is good enough. I also have boxes in my garage that contain mementos of my mother. I love sifting through everything every now and then. There are actually times when I 'see' Mother so plainly. It's like she is still watching over me, guiding me.

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  18. What wonderful keepsakes in your mom's own handwriting.
    Always take time when your kids drop by and savor the moments.

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  19. What a lovely post, Kim. Sometimes we put too much emphasis on a clean house and forget about the important things. We must remember to take time to smell the roses.

    Have a good day my friend.
    Hugs,
    Donna

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  20. Are you still cleaning? Come over and play dollies with me! It's too COLD to play outside! heehee!

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  21. Kim,

    Can you bottle up some of that energy and send it my way?

    I remember the last day of school and placing our chairs on the desks for the custodians to come in and clean the floors. It always felt so good to put our chairs up on those desks because we knew summer was here.

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  22. I'm the newbie here...I noticed your cherry box...
    I like things clean and tidy, but I also love time with friends and family. a friend once said..."oh look, there's dust on your hutch, I can relax now."

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  23. I am so glad you visited me so that I could find you! Hey, I remember putting the chairs up at school so the janitor could clean!

    That stack of journals, what a joy to have those. I have never managed to keep one for long myself, but have established that habit in both of my kids. They have volumes already - hope they can keep up with it.

    Your home is just beautiful!

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