Finally Getting Around to the Spring Cleaning

Our latest push over in the Sleepy household has been the much procrastinated spring cleaning. Every now and again both Tim and I get the urge to, well, purge. (But not in an eating-disorder way. Nor have we been zapped by the "Puke Saber" that is reportedly under development.) Since both of us have to actively fight against what we term the "PackRatGene", this purging is generally a good idea. (Though honestly, there have been a few things go missing that took me a while to miss that now I figure we chucked and I'm a little annoyed with myself about it. But when you contrast that to the vast quantity of things that I don't even realize are gone...it's still a worthwhile practice.)

Anyway, last summer when the in-laws were strewing their stuff all over our house living with us, there was no possibility of a spring cleaning - delayed or otherwise. In fact, their presence necessitated us boxing some of our stuff up and stacking said boxes in places that were "out of their way." Because, you know, when you're staying with someone out of the generosity of their heart, it's important that you let them know how inconvenient it is that they're still actually living there.

Moving on.

Those boxes have remained stacked in the library for now just over a year because neither of us have had the time (or inclination) to attack them and get them either put away or chucked. But last night I went in to survey the problem and at least make a plan of attack...and I ended up resolving all but two boxes worth of the problem. And those two boxes are books that we've been given as part of my parent's book-weeding. So it just remains to sort through those books and either find a place to shelve them or arrange for them to find another book-loving home (in the event of duplicates, etc.) Best of all? The library is truly functional again as a restive place to spend the evening - without having to weave your way through boxes and clear off the loveseat.

The other chore that was on the spring cleaning list (though it's really not cleaning) is to finally, after seven blessed years in the house, get the entry hall, stairwell, and upstairs hall painted. Most of the procrastination has been my fault for indecision concerning color, I'll own that. But there has also been some grumbling from the taller native in the house who will be required to do the high bits. Because 5' 4" on a ladder can just barely reach the top part of the wall when 9' cielings are involved. Forget the cieling. Forget the stairwell.

Well, this weekend I collected up all the paintchips that had been summarily rejected. I categorized what was wrong with each and went in search of the paint chip that I knew had to be out there that maximized the good spots and minimized the bad. I came close with one called Oat Bran...but really, do you want Oat Bran on your walls? Yeah, me either. I eventually found something that was perfect (and of course it's name just flew out of my brain - but it's essentially taupe-y, beige-y, neutral and not too dark, not too gray, not too yellow, not too green...you get the idea.) And now our entry hall has been painted - and gosh it looks fantastic. I'm thrilled and plotting how I can weasel some painting during the week so it doesn't take 3 weekends to get the whole project completed. We'll have to see. Even if it takes 3 weeks, I'm elated that it's actually (finally!) in progress.

Then, if there's still time before school starts, I'm tackling the kitchen. Because I have kitchen stuff that I don't even know I have (meaning it never, ever, ever gets used) that should probably go find a more appreciative home. And then maybe I could open some of my cupboards without things leaping out at me.