Flails with RELIEF!!!

[texchan]

So, my house has been driving me CraZy. And not in a good way, either. Just ... sometimes everything around me becomes "too much". Too much clutter. Too much here and too much there. Just, in general "too much". It probably doesn't make any sense, but I don't know how else to describe it. I live with messy people, and I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a domestic goddess. Not by any stretch of the imagination. So, even though there are only three of us living here (well, three people, one cat, and one pin-headed dog), the house can tend to get cluttered up really quickly. Not to mention our rather severe dust situation, thanks to the afore-mentioned pin-headed dog. I pretty much despise straightening up and/or cleaning the house. It makes me feel surly and unappreciated because it takes freaking forever and no one ever notices. Or says thank you. Or even acts like they appreciate it. And it makes me feel discouraged and like my life is a futile struggle because I know the house isn't going to stay this way. Maybe for a day. Or two. Three, at the most. And then hubby and kiddo will stop putting their things away, and the vicious cycle will continue on -- swirling me right down the drain.

But, stuff gets to me, you know? I can only let things sit for so long before I HAVE to de-clutter and straighten and all that other jazz that goes into the whole "domestic goddess" thing. I guess that's another part of why I get so darn discouraged about the housework: because I seem to be the only person bothered by the clutter.

Anyhow, I reached my breaking point today. I just couldn't take it any more -- even though it meant basically giving up an entire day that should have been devoted to something else (like working on my stupid book ... argh!). The office was the worst. It got to the point where I couldn't even work in here. It was so cluttered that I couldn't sit here and think. My brain just wouldn't process past all the crap on the desks. I can't explain it: sometimes, I just need flat, relatively clean surfaces so that I can order my brain.

Today, I straightened and de-cluttered the family room, the master bedroom, the kiddo's room, the third-floor hallway, and the office. Including dusting -- which makes me particularly proud, because I abhor dusting. Hello, allergies from hell. >.O I put stuff away. I cleaned off desks. I cleared and straightened book shelves. I stored away stuffed animals. I filed paperwork. I got stuff ready to go to charity.

Yeah, it was a waste of an entire day. A day I could have -- and should have -- spent writing. But I am now sitting here in my office space and feeling SO FREAKING RELIEVED. I feel the same way when I walk into the master bedroom or through the upstairs hallway. So I think it was worth it.

Still lots to do, as always. It seems the housework is never truly "done". Yet another reason to hate it. I still need to do the bathrooms. And I wanted to vacuum, but I didn't get to that today. Maybe tomorrow. Bathrooms and vacuuming should only take about half a day. So, we'll see.

In other news, I'm feeling like crap warmed over. My Curse is upon me, and I hate my uterus right now. I had a hormone-induced migraine yesterday, which made thinking impossible. And breathing nearly impossible. I spent most of yesterday curled on the sofa, kind of wishing I could die so that I would feel better. Hubby's been out of town since Monday, so I haven't slept much in the past two days. I think I slept 4 hours on Monday night and two and a half last night. Oh, and my kiddo has strep throat ... so that's been so much NOT FUN. Poor little thing. I had planned on dropping her off at school this morning and then heading home to take a nap for an hour or two. But she woke up with a horrible sore throat, requiring a visit to the pediatrician's office. Then to the drug store for antibiotics. And then the rest of the day spent basically trying to make her feel as happy and comfortable as possible. My headache is slowly creeping back in on me, and, overall, I'm just not a happy camper. This could be why I broke down and cleaned. Maybe something about improving my mental health actually taking steps toward improving my physical health, too. I dunno. But I do feel more positive, in spite of physically feeling icky.

On the plus side, lack of sleep gave me plenty of time to watch old TV shows on DVD. I spent a very happy evening last night (and most of the early AM, too) watching Starsky & Hutch. I love that show. ♥

Oh, and I made quesadillas last night with my panini press. Turkey ones. They were yum, too. =D

Comments

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Man, it's nice you have so much time to do all that! I've been kind of overwhelmed lately with all the cleaning stuff we need to do. We still need to put our apartment together, really, but when I get home from work I'm usually just kinda zapped. So good for you! That sounds like a productive day!

And I totally sympathize about your headache, I get those too :-( I hope your kid feels better soon (and thus you too!)

*hugs*

[tex-chan.livejournal.com]

It really was nice, in a way, to have the time for this kind of cleaning. If my daughter hadn't been home from school, I wouldn't have been able to do it -- just because I would have been running from one place to another for errands and such. Between household errands and general school stuff, that kind of thing tends to eat up the day pretty quickly. So, although part of me feels it was a total waste of a writing day, another part of me is still glad I did it. Which probably makes no sense at all -- LOLz!

Cleaning (and knowing that there's so much to do) can be overwhelming! I totally understand where you're coming from on that. I remember the days when I was still working in at my corporate job -- and before that in a private firm -- and I was the same way. By the time I got home from work, I was totally wiped out from dealing with all of that. So I usually had little to no energy for cleaning. It's really a hard thing to do when you have so much else going on in your life, particularly after a move. I've always found it hard to get everything settled and fixed "just right" after moving. I hope that you're able to get the apartment just the way you like it really soon! *HUGS*

Thanks for the well-wishes for kiddo. She still isn't 100% today, but I can tell she's feeling better. She has no fever, and the doctor said it was OK, so I'm going to let her do a half day at school today. That way, she won't miss her play.

[animerei.livejournal.com]

Have you ever considered hiring a maid-service to come in once or twice a week? Just to vacuum, dust and scrub. That way, you wouldn't have to deal with those cleaning issues...

[tex-chan.livejournal.com]

I used to have a maid who came in every other week to do the "heavy" cleaning: mopping, all the vacuuming, most of the dusting. I would do lighter dusting and vacuuming and the general straightening up in her off times. It was a great arrangement, and I liked her a lot. Unfortunately, she had to cut back drastically on her clients because she started having a lot of trouble with her knees. She had surgery on both of them, so I ended up being one of the clients she dropped -- which I can understand, as I was one of the last she took on, and our house has a LOT of stairs. I've never managed to replace her. But ... I do agree that I probably need to do that. I just hate cleaning with such a passion. >.O