The spring cleaning shuffle

Spring cleaning has come late for me this year.

I normally try to do this during the appointed time of year, but if you recall spring this year was a rainy and extremely windy one.

I know that some folks have managed to be on top of the spring cleaning thing because of the abundance of garage sales we have already had.

Garage and yard sales, I would think, are a pretty good indicator of the whole spring cleanup in general.

When I get around to the pre-summer flushout I like to throw everything outside so I can get to all the floors and walls.

It also helps to beat out rugs and soft furniture outside so you don’t fill your home with dust.

While doing this I have had several people stop and ask if I was having a garage sale.

Maybe one of these years I’ll just sit there and let it turn into one.

I could probably stand to get rid of some junk (Good junk though —when I get around to the sale, stop on by!).

But wait, there’s more!

I’m ready to deal!

Sorry, I got in sale mode.

The other problem I have run into with the cleanup this year is that I have been remodeling my home a bit.

I put up blue-stain beetle kill on almost all of the walls and ceilings of my house.

This means that during the winter and spring months I have already been moving everything out of one room and into another to put the wood up.

When that was done and the wood was sealed I moved it all back—along with the furnishings from the next room.

Living in a house you are remodeling is not half as fun as you might think.

So the main part of the wood is up. It has all had two coats of sealer (short a room and a half).

Until very recently a miter saw perched on my dining room table amidst little scraps of beetle kill wood and various tools all seemingly held together by the sawdust that was pretty much everywhere.

Kind of like a crazy craftsman’s zen garden.

Okay, I just said that to try to make it sound better. I didn’t even fool me.

But now I have to clean.

Now I have a deadline.

Why?

The parents are coming.

And they are riding with my brother and niece.

Crap.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to see my mother and stepfather and I have been griping for what seems like forever that my brother has not visited Saratoga in the over 21 years I have lived here.

What bothers me is that now I have to prioritize.

The back back room where dwelleth trim, furniture, odds, ends and other mysterious ephemera … will not be clean in time.

The living room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom I can get to.

Oh, the bathroom.

Scrubbing.

Whoopee!

I’ve decided it’s okay to just clean really well the areas that will get used for this visit.

Why?

I have been in the bosom of my parent’s garage.

I have experienced my niece’s bathroom.

I still have to clean though.

Get out the steel wool!

Bring on the toothbrushes!

Find that neat circular brush I adapted for my cordless drill!

As I write this, I have six days to get it done.

That gives me four nights after work and a weekend.

Maybe.

It would probably help to get even more motivated.

To that end I have invited some people over to either visit with or meet the family.

That should amp up my cleaning panic.

They will be here as this hits the newsstands.

Maybe you’ll get to meet them.

They are nice people (despite the fact they raised or grew up with me).

After they leave I will take a day or two …

… and then start cleaning the garage/shop of all the stuff I will have just shoved in there.

 

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