Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I'm Too Old for This......Seriously

Well it's Fall housecleaning season.  Actually, it's "anytime the mojo hits" housecleaning season.  I haven't been one for this seasonal waste of time business for a long while.  Spring, Fall, Summer, Holiday seasons....whenever the mood strikes.  It has struck this season.

I've been at it for a week now.  Dining room - check.  Family room - check.  Our bedroom - check.  However, a couple of slight injuries and a commitment on Friday have now led me to postpone further drudgeries until possibly this weekend.  There is still the bathroom, hallway, kitchen and utility room to be done.  There's also been little cubbie cabinets that haven't seen a dust rag or cleaning solution in years that have finally been done.  Cleaned, cleaned out, re-organized.

The realization is this:

**I am getting too old to be climbing step stools, at least a thousand times, with arms stretched over my head, scrubbing ceilings.

**I am getting too old to be flapping my arms up and down, as if I'm getting ready for take-off, scrubbing down walls.

**I am getting too old to get down on my knees, up again, down again, up again, etc., scrubbing baseboards, bottom of walls and floors.  Also scrubbing vinyl blinds in the bathtub.

**I am getting too old to struggle with a caulk gun and a tube of caulk that somehow seems to have dried up in the tube and takes all the might of Hercules to squeeze it out; caulking all the piecemeal woodwork around the gigantic window (from the previous owner).  Total time: 2 1/2 hours.  Results: Beautiful.  Though I ended up with pulled muscles in my shoulder.

**I am getting too old to be running back and forth, hanging washed curtains, blinds, shades, lampshades, blankets, quilts on the wash line and retrieving them.

**I am getting too old to be ironing newly sewn curtains for said gigantic window, once again stretching arms out as far as they will go.

**I am getting too old to be shampooing wall-to-wall carpeting throughout many rooms, stopping, emptying dirty water resevoir, refilling clean water resevoir too many times to count.

**I am definitely getting too old to be pushing heavy, enormous furniture back and forth  and lifting smaller (yet unbelievably heavy) pieces.

I do have to say, though, that once it's all done, the results are amazing!!  Everything so clean and fresh, a few new adornments here and there.  BH even said it all looks great!  I told him to enjoy it because it's probably my last "Hurrah"!!

The injuries?  Well, there was the pulled shoulder muscles on Sunday.  I took Ibuprophen before bed and was much better Monday.  But last night I have like a pinched nerve on the side of my neck and something wrong with my thumb - feels like arthritis - kind of numb feeling -  hurts like hell.  I forgot to take the Ibuprophen last night.  So I will suffer in silence today and nurse the sore areas.  No cleaning.

There's always next week.  I'll start again.  Ah, but the apples are about ready to be picked.  I'm hoping we don't get a hard frost before I can get to them.  We figure about 20#s worth.  To be peeled, cored, sliced and frozen.  Then there's the perennials to be cut down (lots of perennials!) and weedwhacking for the last time.

I also got my form for the school craft show in the mail yesterday.  It's held on the first Saturday in November - deer season opener.  I so wanted to take part in that this year.  But I didn't knit up as much as I thought I would, and never did get the storage house cleaned out.  All the bins of crafts are stored there.  I wanted to go through them to see how much  and what items I had left from years before.  I'm not making crafts anymore, but I did want to get rid of what's left to free up the bins and the space.  Aaarrggghhh!!

But, who knows.  Maybe that mojo will strike me, I'll get it done, and be on my way to the craft show once more!  In the meantime, I gotta take some pain medication and rest.  Us old folk have to do that.

3 comments:

Judy said...

At least your husband gets to see it clean, by the time mine gets home the kids have destroyed it again! We picked some apples tonight and tomorrow we will get more.... apple sauce, apple butter,apple pie filling, dehydrated and cider. Exhausting but so worth it later in the year, sitting by the fire sipping warm spiced cider. Yum!

Linda said...

Lol! Oh, I remember those days, Judy!! Trying to keep a house clean with kids all over the place. I always used to rant "as long as you have kids, a husband and animals, forget about a clean house!" Now it's just the husband - gotta keep him in line! Have fun with the apples - I know you're going to enjoy them in a few months!

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid the cleaning mojo could strike me over and over, and nothing would get done. I must commend you on your doing so much. I would never have gotten up, had I gotten down in the first place. My mind might not be too old, but my body definitely is, I'm afraid. :) Enjoy all this energy while you have it. It is a most precious gift.