After a long week of taking care of others and having precious little time for myself, I woke up this morning feeling rested and ready to take on the world. As soon as my feet hit the floor, my brain began to crave artistic expression. I was so in the mood to paint or draw or design something beautiful and I had lots of ideas to choose from.
At no point in this process did I consider devoting my time to cleaning. Farthest thing from my mind.
However, as I wandered in and out of my closet, I did notice the overflowing laundry baskets. Just to take one for the team, I decided to run a load - maybe two at the most - as a minor side activity.
What an innocent and blindingly naive idea.
Here's what actually happened.
As I started my load of laundry, I realized I was using the last of the current bottle of detergent. Once I threw that big plastic beast in the recycling, my hand automatically grabbed a cleaning cloth and attacked the shelf where the detergent previously stood. Empty shelves are easier to clean than full ones, and I make a habit of doing things the easy way.
Once I wiped that space down, the gleaming white shelf, neat and tidy row of bottles, and lingering fragrance of lemon-scented cleaner intoxicated me. Suddenly, nothing matter more than cleaning and straightening the rest of my laundry room shelves.
Oh! So immensely satisfying.
As my attention shifted back to my now-washed load of laundry, I decluttered the top of the washer and dryer in order to make room for folding the load that was still sitting in the dryer. I wonder what it's like to have an empty dryer. Mine is almost always full of dry clothes that no one wants to fold. Ah well, life could be a lot worse than that.
But wait. Wouldn't it be much better to wipe down the tops of the washer and dryer before I put those nice clean clothes down? Of course it would. I'll work extra hard to get the dust that accumulates around the edge of the washer's soap dispenser. And as long as I'm doing the tops, why not the fronts? And if I'm doing the outside, why not the inside of the doors as well?
Yes. This was the moment I knew that I was in the full grip of a cleaning fever.
I know I'm an insane cleaning fanatic. But look how clean that little groove is!
There was no stopping me now. I turned my wrath upon the pegs that line the walls of the room. One was in decent shape, but the other - the one I use - was heaped with mountains of my ski gear. Goggles, gloves, hats, jackets, backpacks and all sorts of odds and ends were smothering the pegs and pooling down onto the floor below.
Ski season ended three weeks ago. It was definitely time to pack up the gear till next November.
But who wants to put away dirty gear? Certainly not me - at least not the me who was at the center of this hurricane of cleanliness. So I washed and wiped to my heart's content.
The 'before' shot of my peg rack is nothing you want to see; the 'after' makes my heart sing. A basket holding my reusable shopping bags, my skiing backpack repacked with summer hiking essentials, my keys and bag. On the floor, my trusty fake Ugg boots. I'm still wearing fleece-lined boots in May?!? Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, people. We're still freezing up here so I am still sliding these bad boys on for quick errands and chauffeuring duties.
At this point, one of my daughters peeped her head into the laundry room to remind me that it was almost time for us to go. WHAT??!!? Are you kidding me? I used up all my precious free time on a totally unplanned and uncontrolled cleaning binge??
Yes. It's true. Honestly, I wasn't all that surprised. I have a habit of doing this sort of thing; I clean only when the mood strikes me, and when it strikes me, it strikes hard. And honestly, I enjoy every minute of it.
But still, I was hoping to spend my time on something a bit more artistic. As much as I love a clean laundry room, I still craved some sort of tangible end product to share and enjoy.
So I grabbed my phone and took these photographs to share with you. They're not exactly artistic masterpieces, but I hope you have enjoyed them!
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| Maybe I'll get to you tomorrow, girlfriend. {Wikipedia} |
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I love to clean. And I love to tell stories about cleaning. Wanna read some more?
I get into these cleaning frenzies every once in awhile too. Yesterday I decided we needed to pull down all the blinds and hose them off in the driveway. Thank goodness these moments are rare! :)
ReplyDeleteOoh that one is on my list! I plan to take out the louvered closet doors at the same time. :)
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