What I Learned While Cleaning My House Today

House cleaning.

I like to consider myself a reasonably good housekeeper.    I don't particularly enjoy cleaning but I hate the mess and dirt worse which leaves cleaning as the only alternative.  The discouraging part is that as soon as something is clean it only take 0.0024 for one of my kids to revert it back to its previous state.

Today Trevor and I cleaned our house from top to bottom.  Other than my aching tired body it feels good to have accomplished this. I had a few thoughts while slaving away that I thought I'd share with you:

First of all, after wiping down our leather couches for over half-an-hour, which I did after I had already wiped down many walls and doors full of little kid smears, I was cursing all the food bits and sticky spots and I decided that when food or liquid is consumed by anyone in this house it will be at the table or counter.  If I can localize the crumbs, stickiness, bowls, sippy cups, napkins and whatever else comes from food or beverage ingestion to one area than cleaning up of said products will be far less work. (?)  I have discovered bananas behind the TV, sippy cups in dressers, and the crumbs......EVERYWHERE!

Secondly, a chocolate chip mashed into carpet for several months does not come out easily.

Thirdly, half a bottle of laundry detergent and a third of a bottle of bleach found upside down behind the washer made an awful mess.  The washer danced a little too much and managed to jiggle both bottles to the back edge and over, oh and remove the lids. (the lid of the detergent may have possibly not been on but I know the bleach lid was!)  I'm too short to have noticed this was taking place until one day I smelled bleach quite strongly.

Forth, I detest cleaning floors.  Wait.  I knew that already. 
But you see, cleaning floors isn't simply a matter of vacuuming/sweeping/mopping etc.  Before the actual cleaning can take place the floors must be clear and then while performing the floor cleaning task many other cleaning necessities come to light.  I.E. filthy couches, walls, bar stools, baseboards....

Fifth,  Chinese food, a bath, and now a glass of cab/merlot finished this sort of day off nicely and were well earned!

To Sing

After a two year hiatus I get to sing again. 
A good friend of ours has formed a short-term choir (eight rehearsals and one concert) and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it.

I have been singing for as long as I can remember.  Growing up as part of the Mennonite Church surrounded me with rich wonderful music for much of my life and had a vital part in instilling the love for singing in me.  Choirs were always being directed and I was always a part of them.  The greater Mennonite Church community even has a province-wide annual music weekend called "Songfest" where, yes, many of us would get together and sing! 

 As much as I enjoy singing, my voice has never been likened to that of an angel or anything. 
I'm no soloist.  In fact I get scared spitless when it's just me and I sound like I've never sung a true note in my life, and I definitely have no hankering to be on American/Canadian Idol or anything!  Fortunately, get me singing with someone else - even one other person - and I do manage to carry a tune and not cause those around me to shudder and cover their ears. ( I hope so anyway, no one has actually said...)
 After practically a lifetime of singing I quit just before Sawyer was born.  Pregnancy affected my breathing and since breathing is kinda integral to singing I struggled.  My voice was starting to cause those around me to cringe so I stepped away.

Sawyer came along and life naturally became busier and more complicated.  Add to that an already busy schedule and limited singing opportunities and I never managed to rejoin our church choir or a worship team.  This past fall I really began to miss it.

Now, thanks to this friend, I get to sing again!  Historically a high soprano, I croaked my way through the first rehearsal, apologizing to those in front of me as I worked on evicting the frogs who'd set up house.  My voice remembered how to make a sound that resembled singing by the second rehearsal, however any note remotely on the higher side refused to come out.  Yesterday was the third rehearsal and I think the frogs have finally left their residence in my throat (they'd had it good for two years I don't blame them for resisting!) because it mostly felt like I could once again sing.

Maybe by next week I'll even be hitting those high Bs!

Beady

Last fall among my not-so-successful first attempt of teaching Sierra about money which involved giving her an "allowance" (she thought she needed to buy a toy during every weekly shopping trip) I found something called 'PixOs micrOs' on clearance.  Tiny micrOs (beads) are poured into a mold, doused with water that magically sticks them together and allowed to dry.  Then they can be decorated into characters.  Sierra absolutely loved it.  I found another kit on sale a month or so after and then nothing.  I checked Amazon and other stores but they were either unavailable or too expensive - until yesterday.

 

Walmart once again had then on super clearance so I bought four.  Sierra has been in her glory and I've been sweeping up micrOs!

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My Latest Obssessions

This past "winter" (so warm and mild it hardly qualifies as a true Southern Alberta winter, in fact, I saw weeds already thriving!) I noticed that both my favourite pairs of boots were showing significant wear.  At first there was a tiny bit of sadness since I really like both pairs, but I became rather excited because then I could justify purchasing a new pair! (or two)  I have a bit of a love affair with shoes and would my budget permit I'd probably have my entire walk-in closet full of fancy footwear.

It's a good thing finances do not allow such frivolity and wastefulness.

Here's what I replaced my unfortunate boots with:

 

 

I am quite excited by them both.

I had some other obsessions when I first began typing this post...but now I can't remember what they were!  So there may be a part two.