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WritingAfterDark

Blogs of Writer, Artist, Photographer, & Caregiver Joanne D. Kiggins

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Location: United States

Joanne has published more than 2,500 articles and was award recipient of the 1990 Woman of the Year for Beaver County, Pennsylvania, for her accomplishments and excellence in journalism and to the community. Her co-authored book, “Unforgettable Journey,” won fifth place in the Grand Beginnings romance contest. An excerpt from her WIP, “Unearthed,” placed her fifth in the Absolute Write Idol contest. Most recently, her essay, “Perseverance,” is published in the Stories of Strength anthology in which 100% of the profits are donated to disaster relief charities. Her most recent articles were published in ByLine Magazine, Writer's Digest, AbsoluteWrite.com, and Moondance.org. She has a monthly freelance writing column at Absolutewrite.com. Currently, she is the sole caregiver for her 85-year-old mother.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Cleaning, More Cleaning & Walking Sticks

Sometimes by evening when I’m ready to update my blog, I add the most exciting things that happen during the day and forget to post the mundane things. So, many times you’ll read interesting tidbits only to find my next post reverting to the day before when I have time to write.

Yesterday, I arrived at my house about 9:30 after my early morning doctor appointment. I’d already had it in my mind to clean the house when I got home. Two Feather makes a pot of coffee every day I’m there so I poured a cup and sat on the couch and watched the end of the “Today Show” with him.

As soon as it was over, I started to work on the house. First I pulled all the throws off the couch and chairs and put them in the washer. Pulled the sheets off the bed and picked up all the rugs in the house and took them to the laundry room. When I started, I was in high gear. By the time I cleaned the bathrooms, and vacuumed and dusted the whole house, I was aching and exhausted.

There was no stopping me, though. In between the bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, and dusting, I tossed the throws in the dryer and put the sheets in the washer. I swept the kitchen and entryway floor and then switched washer loads again. Now the rugs were in the washer and the throws were ready to be placed back on the couch and chairs.

I took a short break and went outside to sit on the deck and grab a breath of fresh air. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something crawling on the deck post. Of course I always carry my camera with me, so I ran in the house to get it so I wouldn’t miss the shot of this green-colored walking stick. Most of the walking sticks we’ve seen around here are brown in color. It was fascinating to me to see a green one. I never miss a chance to get pictures of all the different things I see.

As you know from earlier posts, I love nature and all its beauty. The short break outside was all I needed to get my second wind. It’s probably a good thing I took that break, too. I went back in the house to check the sheets in the dryer and found my laundry room full of water. Arrggg!! We pulled the washer out from the wall and found the drain hose had come off the back. After about 20 minutes of finding a pair of pliers, clamping the hose back on, and cleaning up the water with towels from the closet, we were back in business! :) Now along with the other laundry, I had 20 towels to wash and dry.

I folded the sheets, threw the rugs in the dryer, and tossed the towels in the washer next. Two more loads of laundry after that and I would be done. The bedroom was next. I put clean sheets (flannel for winter) on the bed and cleaned the bathroom in our bedroom.

Then there was cleaning the stove, the oven, the counters, and washing the dishes.
Next was cleaning the floors. I’ve never really liked mops; they just don’t seem to get the floors clean enough. I’m a bucket-and-rag on-my-hands-and-knees floor washer. So I tackled the kitchen floor and front entrance next. By the time I finished those, the rugs were dry and ready to place on the floors when they dried.

While the floors were drying, I ran around the house finishing up all the little things that needed done: filling the napkin holder, putting up a new roll of paper towels, filling the toilet paper bin, and filling the salt and pepper jars.

It was 3:00 by the time I finished the last load of laundry, folded it, and put everything away. It was also time to pick up Mom from the Day Care to get her home for her therapy. (That, I already talked about yesterday.)

Anyway, that was my day. House cleaning and laundry and it took me from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM to finish. I didn’t get to spend much time with Two Feather, but it was wonderfully satisfying to see my house clean and all the laundry done. But I was exhausted. I think next week, I’ll slow my pace a bit and break up the chores at my house into two days.

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