Day 28: Out of the closet

After being so bored yesterday, I decided to get up and get moving today. The baby woke up just before 8. I made her an egg and hopped in the shower. We were out the door and on the way to the vet's office around 9:30.

The dog got a Canine Influenza booster shot. They did it in the lobby, so we didn't have to wait too long, which was good because the dog howls like crazy at the vet. I don't know if she is scared, nervous or was protecting the baby. She just is so loud and crazy.

We brought the dog home and vacuumed out the car and then went out for a "quick" shopping trip. We ordered new furniture last week for the bedroom. We're upgrading to a king sized bed, so in addition to our new bed, dresser, nightstand and mattress, we need a new comforter and sheets. I've already spent so much money that I decided not to redecorate with new curtains, etc. and just to work within the color palate we have.

I also needed a few things to round out my wardrobe for back to school. We went into Kohl's and I found a few things, but no comforter. Then we walked down the shopping center, which was very hot in our 105 degree heat, and went into another clothing store. I needed a white cardigan because my classroom is so cold all the time. I found a white cardigan and a couple of really cute outfits, but they didn't carry household items.

We went to the linens store next door and did find a new comforter and two new gigantic pillows that are for decoration. I looked pretty interesting trying to get three very large bags back to my car with the baby. I thought I had a lot of stuff before I got home, but then realized, I had a full closet, with no room for the several new outfits I brought home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon taking things out of my closet. I tried everything on and created two piles, one for discard and one for storage. It wasn't too much fun, but I did find some clothes in my closet that I had forgotten about, did clear out some drawers too.  It was one of those jobs that I always say I'll do during the summer, but never seem to actually get around to doing. Well, I actually did it. I significantly cut back on my clothes, and I was too busy to be bored.

My husband says that I'm OCD because I organize all my clothes according to tops and bottoms and then by color. I think it is just nice to be organized. I don't organize them according to sleeve length or season, but I do try to group them according to color. It makes sense to me. That way I know where to look for what I want to wear.

He might call me OCD, but he'd be proud that I got rid of things that I won't wear ever again and cleaned out my closet. Maybe tomorrow I will work on my shoes? Bet you thought this entry was going to be about something else. 

Day 34: Steam

Have you ever wondered why housewives seem so excited about cleaning house, new amazing products, etc. After spending a summer as a stay at home mom, I understand. While you can see great progress at times in your children, for the most part your days feel like the same thing over and over. You start wondering what day of the week it is, forget what you've done today because you remember doing it every day for the past week and it's a little fuzzy if you're remembering today or yesterday.

Housework, while menial and tiring, is something that produces tangible results. However short lived, really cleaning something feels productive. As part of my mission to prepare for my husband's return, I decided to do something about the abominable carpet. I thought about calling professionals to clean the carpet, but was not pleased with the results last time.

For about the same amount of money, I could buy our own steam cleaner. So that is what I did. I bought a Hoover SteamVac PowerMax Spin Scrub. It was one of the highest rated by Amazon users and Consumer Reports. It came yesterday. I put it together this morning, and started cleaning small areas at a time.

First I used my Dyson Animal Ball Vacuum to go over the carpet. Then I started steam cleaning. I only did the front entrance and small hallway before taking a break to play with the baby and get her dinner. But my plan was to wait until she went to bed and do the living room (aka baby jail), so it would be dry by the morning and she could play on clean carpet.

Little did I know how filthy our carpet really was. I keep the house pretty clean. I'm not a neat freak (although no one would know, when it's just me, I can let the house go in favor of rest or sanity, much farther than most who know me could ever guess), but I do try to dust, vacuum, pick up, etc. unless I'm too busy or sick. I will always put my relationships before cleaning house, but I try.

My Christmas gift was the Dyson. Right after the baby started pushing up and trying to crawl, I bought a Shark hand steam cleaner to do the baseboards, tubs, toilet, etc. I like clean. If I had ANY idea how dirty this carpet was, I would have wrapped the baby in latex. We own probably the most effective vacuum on the market and use it, but the Hoover made it look like I've been using a lint roller to clean the carpet.

The water was almost black after the fourth pass through the living room. It is 1 a.m. and the carpet looks a million times better, but I know it needs another treatment. I will probably wait until next week to do it again. I have to move furniture, rearrange all Lil Bit's things. But the perfectionist in me wants to do it until the water comes up clean or at least not black and opaque. I did two more passes than I planned because the water was so filthy.

It may not feel like a giant accomplishment, but the room we spend the most time in is much cleaner, and looks amazing in comparison to what it did three hours ago. I may be cleaning house to fill time, feel productive, prepare for my husband's return, but it still feels good to have done something today. I just wish it would have gone a little faster. I'm exhausted, and ready to drop. 

Day 67: Pre-Travel

Today has been relatively stress free, but this morning was a bit of a challenge. A friend of mine graciously offered to dog sit. I was excited about it because our dog is a bit of a challenge. She gets really excited about new dogs or people and makes this horrible howling noise. She doesn't do terribly well in the kennel. She gets worried when we leave her and doesn't eat. With this trip being much longer than the three or four days we are usually gone, I was glad to have someone to watch her instead of kenneling her.

At the last minute, my friend's husband surprised her with a weekend getaway. So they need to kennel the dogs for a few days. This isn't a big deal except that I hadn't worried about checking her shots since she wasn't going to a kennel. I was planning on worrying about getting the dog her shots once we got home. Last night it occurred to me to pull the shot records and look at them. Her rabies and distemper and parvo expire the day they are leaving for their mini trip. 

So this morning, I was up before the baby, rushing to get out the door and to the vet's office in time to be seen for shots. This was definitely an adventure. We were there for an hour an a half. The dog went crazy with all the puppies, cats and dogs and people. She whined and cried her crazy howling sound. The baby wanted to see all the people and dogs too. It was hard to keep up with the baby and the dog at the same time. It wasn't easy. I will have to come up with a different plan for her canine influenza booster in three weeks. The baby got off the bench and started crawling across the floor. Every few strides, she dropped all the way down into a prone position and slid across a few tiles. If there were a way to end up covered in more dog hair, I don't know what it is. So I'm trying to intervene with the baby, but mindful that all dogs and owners aren't as social as Maggie is, so I can't just let her go either. I definitely had my hands full. It will be so much more fun when we have two dogs. Ugh, I really hope that my husband is home for the next rounds of shots. 

Then I spent most of the afternoon doing a little of this and that, casually packing something I hadn't yet or picking up things around the house. One of my best tips about vacation planning is to take the week before traveling and clean house. As of 4 o'clock this afternoon, my house was company clean, maybe not mother clean, but definitely friends over clean. I washed my sheets and made my bed. I picked up, emptied the fridge, dusted, vacuumed, organized. When I come home, I won't return to a mess. I even took the trash out to the dumpster.

And when I come home, exhausted from sleeping in not my bed for two weeks, I will slide comfortably into my nice, crisp, fresh smelling sheets. It is like a little piece of chocolate I am saving for later. I know I have a clean home and comfy bed waiting for me when I get back. I can't tell you how good it feels to know that it is all done and I can really relax when I get home. I've had so many trips that I rushed around packing at the last minute and then left the house a mess. Coming home to a sloppy home is depressing. While the procrastinator in me said, "Leave it. You can do it later." I knew that later I would want to clean even less than I do now.

I wish it were earlier in the evening that I'm sitting down to end my day, but the baby took a nap late this afternoon for some reason and is wound for sound. She wouldn't go to sleep when I put her down and started screaming. I wasn't in the mood for listening to a tantrum, so I am sitting in her room, where she can see me and working on my blog. She is gradually calming down, so then I can go have a glass of wine and get to bed myself. She doesn't know that 5 a.m. is coming very early tomorrow. But having her tired will work in my favor because she may nap a bit more than usual.

I am very proud of myself. There was no panicked rushing around. My mom called to see what I was doing earlier and I was watching TV and playing games on Facebook while I ate dinner. I've been packing a little at a time for a few days and just have toiletries left for tomorrow. I can't pack them until I'm done using them. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but I left very little to do. I hope it goes as planned. I will let you know how the travel went tomorrow night. 

Day 207: Feeling productive

I have been unable to do much the last few weeks, and honestly will probably leave a lot of things still undone come Sunday night, but I got home to the smell of dog funk after running errands last night. I don't know what Maggie did in her kennel, but the entire house reeked like musty dog. I pulled her kennel outside and hosed it down immediately.

Luckily we're having beautiful weather here and I can leave it outside to dry for the weekend since I don't plan on kenneling the dog over the weekend. Then this morning, I jumped out of bed, took the dog outside and brushed her, of course, covering both of us in dog hair. Then quickly bathed her before the baby got fussy.

The baby was playing nicely in her crib while I scrubbed the dog who was a least cooperative if miffed at the entire process. Then I changed the baby, got her dressed for the day and gave her a bottle, made myself a bowl of cereal, fed the baby her cereal, and vacuumed the entire house. Had to enjoy that new Dyson. If you have never tried one, they are totally worth the price. I can't believe how much cleaner the carpets look. Phew, all before noon.

I still feel a bit shaky and my head is still congested. But I couldn't face the mess one more minute. Our grass is dormant in the winter and is basically like a yard full of straw, which the dog loves to roll in. She came in covered in it several times this week, leaving trails of brittle grass everywhere, which of course the baby is drawn to like a magnet. I so far have caught her before any got past the fingertips, but it was only a matter of time.

I quickly ran out of steam after a busy morning. I took a bunch of broken naps, interrupted by a phone call from my birthday boy, my husband Chad. I know he isn't a big birthday fan, but I was glad to get to talk to him and let him know how much I value him. Since the morning was so productive, I felt justified  being lazier this afternoon.

Then my Lil Bit and I played all evening. Overall, it was a decent Saturday. I just wish it wasn't over yet. There is something so freeing about Saturdays. But I think I am going to crawl into bed, snuggle in with a book, and enjoy getting a nice long night of sleep. Wow, my idea of a great Saturday night has certainly changed in the past few years. Wouldn't trade it for anything, though. Not much can compete with snuggle baby kisses. 

Day 319: Steamed

    No, I'm not mad, I used my hand held Shark steamer all day!! I haven't gotten out of my pj's, but I spent the whole day cleaning the kitchen. I don't know that I got every single speck of dirt, but the kitchen is cleaner than it has ever been. I could probably spend the entire day cleaning the insides of all the cabinets tomorrow if I really wanted to be thorough, but I can save that for another weekend. I steam sterilized the baseboards, sink, counters, windows, doors, from the top of the fridge to the bottom inside and out. Then I steam cleaned the floor. If you needed to eat off the top of my fridge, you could!

I put Lil Bit in her Jenny Jumper and hung it in the pantry doorway. She figured out at least swinging and spinning if she doesn't quite have the hang of the jumping part. She either watched me from there or her highchair while I cleaned. When she was hungry, wet, dirty, tired I stopped and held her, played with her. It took me all day, 10 hours including breaks (admittedly a bit over the top), but as I start doing one room a week, eventually the house will be very clean and will just require touch ups - hopefully. That is the plan.  As an army wife though, I know how well plans work out.

We did get to talk to daddy last night. Out of everything I (we) have struggled with this deployment, I am most proud of how we are handling being apart. When he calls, it feels like just any other daily conversations for the most part. I don't know what has changed, maybe I am just too busy to obsess over missing him, maybe I am so busy that time is flying very quickly. No matter the reason, we are doing fantastically. I feel like the separation is always hard. I miss having him around, but we are doing our best to stay in contact and really talk to each other about the little things.

Other times we've been separated, we spent a lot of time saying I miss you and I love you and not knowing how long we would have until the phone cut out or the Internet went down. The lines he's using now are much more secure and we're able to talk. We also say it first just in case. Being able to tell him what we did for dinner or how my day at work was or how irritating the dog is being makes it feel like he isn't quite so far away. And while he generally only calls once a week or once every two weeks, it feels like just picking up a good book right where you left off. We're only six weeks in and we have a long way to go, but I am feeling pretty good tonight.

One day, one moment - tomorrow is another day. I'm sure it will have enough of its own problems. Like all the stuff I didn't get done because I was steaming my way through the kitchen. By the way, steam is hot! Just a little public service announcement: if you hold it too close to your hand, it burns. I am so blond sometimes.

At least I can fall asleep in a few minutes, knowing he loves me, the baby is happy and sleeping and my kitchen is clean. The fridge is a little barren but sparkling!! Ahh, the simple joy of being able to see the results of a job well done. Now if only I could invent a way to keep it done! Wow, my fantasy life has sure changed since becoming a wife and mother. I think I steamed away some stress.