cleaning day

I think I just wrapped up my most productive Saturday ever.

Today, I accomplished the following:

I cleaned the guest and master bathrooms.  This wasn't just a quick wipe down.  This was an on-my-hands-and-knees, bring out the Lysol 4-in-1, Scrubbing Bubbles, and Windex sort of job.

I did laundry.  The laundry basket is empty, which happens once every three months or so.  I did get two loads folded and put away, which typically doesn't happen too often (I lose steam and putter out when it comes to putting them away ... since it takes so long).  I have a load in the washer and dryer now, and several loads waiting to be folded and put away, but since the laundry basket is empty and we have clean clothes to wear, I'm counting this one as a win.

I rearranged the living room, dusted, swept, and put away books, folders, and all other miscellaneous junk that we don't need in our living room.  Aside from sweeipng (which I actually don't mind doing now that we have an awesome vacuum), the rearranging, dusting, and de-cluttering hardly ever happens either.

I paid our bills for the next month.  Not that time-consuming, but still good to have the bill pile in the trash and off the mind.

I attemped to clean the pantry, but puttered out after the first shelf.

The icing on the cake?  Cleaning the oven.  In my first three apartments, I don't think I ever bothered to clean it (not that I used it enough to make a mess).  In my fourth apartment, I think I cleaned it once right before I moved out.  Probably should do it more often, but until it starts to look gross (which it only did within the past week or so ... still can't figure out what made the mess), I don't really think about it.  I also plan to put in the oven liner I bought probably ten months ago so I don't have to go through this process as often.

I'm sure some people get this much cleaning done in a day no problem.  And they probably don't blog and brag to the world about it.  But for me, it's a big deal because I hate cleaning and didn't mind it so much.  The beauty of today was that the cleaning didn't consume my day -- just a tiny portion.  I managed to watch quite a bit of tv, which doesn't happen during the week anymore, play around on the internet, and read.  It probably also helped that Henry was still exhausted from spending yesterday at doggie day care.

I have a few theories over why I was so productive:

1.  I'm trying to get a head start on spring cleaning.  Not that I ever really do spring cleaning.  So maybe I'm just hoping spring will come soon (50ish days!!).

2.  I'm tired of dirt and stuff.  When I get in cleaning moods like this, which hardly ever happens, it's usually because I get to a point of getting tired of not having a clean house and just seeing stuff everywhere.  We've bought several storage-related items over the past few weeks, and I'm going to try to convince CJ to stop by Home Depot tomorrow (shouldn't take too much arm twisting) to pick up some bins and baskets, so if I can't at least throw things away, I can get it all wrangled into one spot.  And I have several storage-related projects lined up for CJ too.

3.  When I have less on my mind, I don't mind doing some of these chores.  Less on my mind = accounting homework.

I'm going to stop now.  Kudos if you read this entire thing.  I'm sure it must be boring reading about someone cleaning their house.  And no, I won't be making any special trips to anyone's houses to clean.  I'm not that good.