All I Want is a Couple Days Off

It is truly amazing how quickly the weekend goes.  I thought surely I'd have more time.  I had something for work that I didn't get done on Friday that I thought I'd do this weekend.  I had lots of other things I wanted to do this weekend.  I don't regret how I spent the weekend, I just wish there had been more of it.

To Lori's chagrin, I removed everything from the kitchen.  Well, the kitchen counters.  For a good cause, though, mind you.  I cleared the counters, scrubbed them down, and then only brought back in what really belong there. The problem with these types of operations (I've done them before) is that it leaves behind a lot of stuff that now lacks a home.  (Currently all piled on the dining room table and too much of it within Ben's reach.)

Lori would probably look at my side of the bed and suggest maybe I ought to work there instead.  I don't know why, but when I get a cleaning bug, I must start in the kitchen.  I am unable to start anywhere else.  I've tried.  So usually if I can get the kitchen into good condition, I can move on to other areas, usually on the main level and then spreading out from there.

Problem is, I don't know where the stuff now on the dining room table goes.  And in the process, I may have messed up some of Lori's organization.  I know that if she had more time, she'd probably toss a lot of it, but stuff just comes into this house so quickly (receipts, mail, junk mail, stuff from school, church, small group, etc.) that sometimes it's not possible to keep on top of all of it.  (If it were, my side of the bed or my car wouldn't look like they didi.)

So I may have made the kitchen nicer (the windows still need to be cleaned, the cabinets need to be wiped down) I'm not sure how much I've actually helped.

Which is why despite my deep admiration for Sarah Susanka, I do wish we had a room that just had tables along the walls, a flat screen on one wall, big recycling and trash bins, a shredder and our exercise equipment.  And a big lock on the outside to keep everyone else out.  I wish there was a place where we could take all that stuff, spread it out and sort it out our leisure.  A place where we new it was ok to dump stuff to be dealt with later.  There might be some shelving with bins, but it would be illegal for anything to be on the floor.

If I had a few more days, I could probably help with the dining room table in a more orderly fashion.  But as it is, I think I've been somewhat cruel.  By Friday, it will have to be cleared off for small group (small group is a great motivator for cleaning) but to look at it now, it's a bit overwhelming.