Post by Honeylioness on May 4, 2010 10:07:02 GMT -5
Traditionally May 1st has marked several different types of observances and holidays:
* International Workers Day
* May Day - A Spring celebration marked with flowers and a maypole with flowing ribbon streamers
* The Celtic festival of Beltane
* The Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night
So why then did I feel the need to commemorate this weekend with a frenzy of cleaning and activity sure to make even the hardiest reader need a nap?
But that is what I did.
I should have known something was up when I was awake at 07:00 am on a Saturday morning. After making coffee and checking in on Anne I tackled my bedroom - the railing that keeps me from toppling straight down the stair well had become invisible under the piles of draped articles of clothing. So time to sort clean from dirty and actually hang up the two dozen shirts back on their hangers - what a concept! Strip the bed, gather the laundry and bring it downstairs.
Then it was off to help clean the canals. www.canalwaters.org/ I did not manage to be there until everyone else quit - which was after lunch - because the temps were climbing rapidly and I do not fare well under a blazing sun.
Back at the condo several owners were hard at work power washing and stripping the first section of wrap around decking in the complex - however I turned my attention to tackling my own unit.
Have you ever said to yourself - I am just going to do this ONE thing and then I can live with the rest? Well, that is how it started - but one thing always leads to another. By the end of the weekend my list of chores done looked like this:
No wonder I was ready to come back to work for a little R&R!!!
Then let's add to that the phone calls. Talked to Mom a few times, she and Dad are sick and rather grumpy.
Thursday evening I get a collect call from Alabama - the county jail actually - yes, it is Callum - and yes he is in jail. Long story short - he never paid for several tickets he got soon after returning from overseas and they finally issued a bench warrant. So there he sits. The judge told him if he could come up with the money that morning he could leave - but would be on probation for two years. Or he could do 20 days and walk out with everything wiped clean. so there he is - in an overcrowded unit, sleeping on the floor and going more than a little stir crazy.
I did point out that if he could survive a war zone for as long as he did, he could do 20 days. I really need to think about things though - he called over a dozen times during the weekend - but I was out and about and honestly .... you don't contact me for weeks at a time until you are in jail then you want to call me every day?
After the first call from Callum I swear the phone had been hung up for no more than five minutes when Redhawk called.
Oy Vay.
For the first time in a long time he was actually tuned in to how I was feeling versus being focused completely on his own issues and he knew something was not right with me. While I did not tell him about Callum (males and their territorial rights and all that) I did tell him that I had just about had it up to HERE with this limbo shite and just when was he getting his A$$ out to see me as we had things to discuss that were not being addressed and were hard to do over the phone anyways. Then I told him he had from July - August 15th as a window because I would be sans student during that time frame and we would have privacy.
We will see if he actually takes the next step or if I have to just walk away.
I still have a list of things I would like to get done around the house - but this seems like a good start
* International Workers Day
* May Day - A Spring celebration marked with flowers and a maypole with flowing ribbon streamers
* The Celtic festival of Beltane
* The Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night
So why then did I feel the need to commemorate this weekend with a frenzy of cleaning and activity sure to make even the hardiest reader need a nap?
But that is what I did.
I should have known something was up when I was awake at 07:00 am on a Saturday morning. After making coffee and checking in on Anne I tackled my bedroom - the railing that keeps me from toppling straight down the stair well had become invisible under the piles of draped articles of clothing. So time to sort clean from dirty and actually hang up the two dozen shirts back on their hangers - what a concept! Strip the bed, gather the laundry and bring it downstairs.
Then it was off to help clean the canals. www.canalwaters.org/ I did not manage to be there until everyone else quit - which was after lunch - because the temps were climbing rapidly and I do not fare well under a blazing sun.
Back at the condo several owners were hard at work power washing and stripping the first section of wrap around decking in the complex - however I turned my attention to tackling my own unit.
Have you ever said to yourself - I am just going to do this ONE thing and then I can live with the rest? Well, that is how it started - but one thing always leads to another. By the end of the weekend my list of chores done looked like this:
- Dust, sweep and straighten master bedroom
- Vacuum two flights of stairs
- Wash down the base boards and railings of these two flights of stairs
- Clean off and sweep small deck off living room
- Vacuum tracks for sliding door to deck
- Scrub out tracks with toothbrush to remove embedded dirt and the beginning of mildew
- Vacuum living floor and all living room furniture
- Clean full bath including scrubbing the tub and floor
- Vacuum dining room floor, polish/dust furniture, vacuum chair seats and window seat cushions
- Clean half bath including sweeping the floor
- Remove everything from top of refrigerator and clean it and the the items.
- Pot up rooted coleus cuttings
- Scrub the fan grills from the stove hood
- Wash down the stove hood
- Scrub the tile back splash behind stove
- Scrub down the stove top
- Remove marble tiles from counter top and scrub down
- Wipe down all counter items next to stove
- Clean microwave oven
- Go through fridge and clean out
- Scrub out cat dishes
- Wash kitchen window, shelf, sill and all objects on them
- Clean back deck including cleaning out planters and moving all of them to sweep behind
- Go to Lowe's for toilet tank repair kit and annuals
- Plant wall containers, hanging pots, patio railing pots and door planters
- Did three loads of laundry
- Went to "Yard Sale" for minor league baseball team based down the street
- Went to grocery store
- Made dinner
- Took three showers
No wonder I was ready to come back to work for a little R&R!!!
Then let's add to that the phone calls. Talked to Mom a few times, she and Dad are sick and rather grumpy.
Thursday evening I get a collect call from Alabama - the county jail actually - yes, it is Callum - and yes he is in jail. Long story short - he never paid for several tickets he got soon after returning from overseas and they finally issued a bench warrant. So there he sits. The judge told him if he could come up with the money that morning he could leave - but would be on probation for two years. Or he could do 20 days and walk out with everything wiped clean. so there he is - in an overcrowded unit, sleeping on the floor and going more than a little stir crazy.
I did point out that if he could survive a war zone for as long as he did, he could do 20 days. I really need to think about things though - he called over a dozen times during the weekend - but I was out and about and honestly .... you don't contact me for weeks at a time until you are in jail then you want to call me every day?
After the first call from Callum I swear the phone had been hung up for no more than five minutes when Redhawk called.
Oy Vay.
For the first time in a long time he was actually tuned in to how I was feeling versus being focused completely on his own issues and he knew something was not right with me. While I did not tell him about Callum (males and their territorial rights and all that) I did tell him that I had just about had it up to HERE with this limbo shite and just when was he getting his A$$ out to see me as we had things to discuss that were not being addressed and were hard to do over the phone anyways. Then I told him he had from July - August 15th as a window because I would be sans student during that time frame and we would have privacy.
We will see if he actually takes the next step or if I have to just walk away.
I still have a list of things I would like to get done around the house - but this seems like a good start