I didn’t teach today, so after a slow start (catching up on missed sleep over the weekend) I decided to catch up on a few tasks.
Task #1: Sweeping
Because of my allergies, we don’t have carpets in the house. Hardwood or vinyl on most surfaces, some tile in the main entry. This means that dirt and dog hair show up pretty quickly and also move around, not unlike tumbleweeds and drifting sand. Sweeping at least once a week is optimal, but to be honest sometimes energy and time don’t match up. We hit the high points once a week, and do a “deep sweep” every three or four weeks. It was time for a deep sweep today. I moved furniture, picked up the wonderful IKEA carpet squares (can’t find them in the online catalog, hope they weren’t discontinued) we use in the dog entry, and went to it. It took 40 minutes to get the hall, dining room, entry, living room and kitchen done. If I had the time and energy and it were a little warmer I would have mopped as well to get the last bits of pollen up.
I also shook most of the dirt out of the carpet squares and popped them in the washing machine, as well as took the covers off the dog beds and will wash those next.
Dusting didn’t take long — most of the surfaces are covered with items that move regularly so they don’t get too dusty. However, it’s on my list to move everything off surfaces and do a full-scale dusting in the next couple weeks. Still, it was nice to get the pollen off the main surfaces in the living room. Didn’t do the dining room yet…
Task #2: Laundry
Never-ending task. Because I am now wearing more professional clothing and actually care that colors don’t bleed and items are wrinkle-less, I am washing smaller loads in general. Many of the items have to be dried flat or hung to dry, which increases the time it takes to finish laundry. To save a little bit of time and water, I have tried to acquire enough of various laundry types (my white tops that need low temperatures and gentle cycles, for example) to get me through at least two weeks of work between loads. So today I am doing the last little bits on the laundry for the coming two weeks.
Task #3: Sorting through boxes
I keep hoping to sort through boxes. Before I do that, I have some piles of papers that I have worked on and set aside… it’s another never-ending battle, although it’s not piling up as fast as it did when I was actively studying! And there is almost sun coming through the cloud cover! Off to check out the garden…