Where did the time go?

Cleaning (yuck!)

Back in November, I wrote about my tendency to procrastinate and listed all the things on my desk. I took this photo that same day:


I was embarrassed to show you the "before" picture until I could follow it up with an "after" one, which I couldn't do until now. Here, thank goodness, is how it looks today:


The front rooms of my house got a thorough cleaning while I was off work during the holidays. They've pretty much stayed clean and needed only dusting and vacuuming this weekend. The kitchen and bathroom, of course, get dirty on a daily basis, so they were due to be cleaned again over the weekend. All of that I could have managed if I'd put my mind to it, but the den where my office is? Just looking at the mess in there overwhelmed me.

My office area is at one end of the den. At the other end is a table that used to be a perfect place to do crafts or work jigsaw puzzles. For the past two years that table has been piled high with the tools of an ongoing redecorating project: paint cans, brushes, rollers, drop cloths, etc., all of which had become covered with a layer of dust. Add several stacks of books and a heaping pile of cardboard boxes (for transporting items to Goodwill), and I couldn't even imagine where to begin.

This past weekend, motivated by an impending first-time visit by a new online friend, push finally came to shove. Even working at the fastest pace I could manage, I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to finish. Fortunately, on the second day, my daughter pitched in. She can be something of a Discard Nazi, and, thankfully, she worked her tail off as she talked me into tossing out a trunkload of stuff I just might need someday.

My house is more orderly right now than it's been in the past two years. In fact, it's so clean that I had no fun at all yesterday, because I couldn't bear to do anything that might mess it up.

Company (yea!)

Our Sunday visitor was even more delightful in person than she is online. She comments here as FrontHallGlass, and she came bearing homemade macaroni and cheese in one hand and a precious eight-week-old puppy in the other. We had a delightful evening full of good conversation, good food, and one fairly pathetic game of Trivial Pursuit. I look forward to doing it all again.

Convalescing (yikes!)

That would be Butch, who, ironically, managed to injure his right front leg while he was home and I was at the veterinarian's office. He was fine when I left home to go get a new supply of heartworm meds for him and Kadi, but by the time I got back he was limping. Nothing appeared to be broken, and there were no visible wounds, so we think he probably hurt himself jumping off the futon.

I waited out the weekend, hoping he'd improve, before I finally broke down yesterday and took him to the vet. They kept him for a couple of hours, checked him out, and came to the same conclusion I did: he probably didn't need to go to the vet. Still, they gave him some anti-inflammatory meds. So far, the drugs have done a lot more for my guilt complex than they've done for Butch's limp.

Catching up (yippee!)

I've buzzed quickly by a few of my favorite blogs in the last few days, and I hope to catch up with everybody soon. Right this minute, though, I have a major

Conflict (yup!)

The new season of American Idol starts tonight. See y'all later!