Consistency is not my strong suit. If you know me at all, you were probably quick to realize this. My intentions, however, are usually quite honorable, really they are . . . but sometimes life or other roadblocks seem to keep me distracted.
Our little family celebrated Christmas a few days early this year, as lots of other families do, trying to accommodate all the family gatherings on all sides of the family. As soon as our little grandson came in the door, he went straight for the recycled tricycle under the tree, and the wrapped presents were soon to follow, giving him a straight shot at the decorations on the tree. So the only logical thing to do, which actually pleased me so much, was to take down the tree three days before December 25th. Benny enjoyed "helping" and seemed to get as much satisfaction from de-ornamenting the tree as he did with the many gifts that were soon forgotten. I was doing the happy dance because there's just something about getting a fresh start after the holidays, and it always starts with inconsistent cleaning and rearranging furniture.
After all the kids had gone their separate ways and Stan was off to the deer woods, I began my cleaning and purging and rearranging ritual. I started with the laundry room, which I should be embarrassed to admit was pretty pathetic. This room, more than any other in the house, has become the "catch all" room. Three huge trash bags and four large tote boxes later, I was beginning to make a dent in this room and it was making me so happy. I even washed the trash can. (Yes, I know that most of you probably do that on a regular basis, but I'm a slug. It just doesn't happen often at all.) I alphabetized the pantry (which is part of the laundry room), I refolded towels and grouped them by color. (Oh, this made me so happy.) I made that much neglected room look as pretty as I could. I finished up with sweeping and steam mopping every square inch of this reborn room with Pine-Sol, giving it that smell that announces "I'm clean, I'm clean!! Finally!!"
(But then Stan came in from "deer hunting". He actually took several long naps in his little shack he's set up at the bottom of the field. The deer were safe. Somehow his dad's keep-it-in-case-you-might-need-it DNA made its way to Stan, and he soon discovered that those totes contained several of his treasures that he just couldn't part with. I lost that battle. But there's always next year. It's just a good thing he didn't look in the trash bags; that will be our little secret.)
I can't begin to describe how happy I am to have one room in my house that is currently squeaky clean. I know it won't last long, but I'm claiming every minute I can. (I'm looking forward to tackling the rest of the house as soon as I recover from this project.) I began by taking a good look at the overall condition of the sadly neglected laundry room. I inventoried what I absolutely had to keep. I threw away or donated what we could do without, or whatever I could sneak past Stan. I made room for the necessities and displayed some of the pretties. I scrubbed the trash can (with Pine-Sol of course). And last but not least, after I'd swept up all the stray dog treats and dust bunnies, I steam mopped with Pine-Sol. Oh how I love my steam mop! It just makes a statement. It's a shame I don't let it talk very often.
New Year's Eve will be upon us in just a few days and it's that time of year that we traditionally consider our New Year's resolutions. On the top of my list every single year is losing some weight; it will be on the list this year, but won't hold the place of importance that it has in years past. I survived cancer; I'm enjoying every single minute of my life these days and dieting doesn't bring me much enjoyment. At the top of my list this year, as it should have been for the past FIFTY YEARS, will be my resolve to live a little closer to the Lord. And here's how I'm gonna do it:
- I'm gonna try to be more consistent and make Jesus Christ my priority.
- I'm gonna inventory what I've got and what I need to get rid of.
- I'm gonna get rid of some "stuff" I've been holding on to for much too long.
- I'm gonna make room the the necessities and give them their place of importance.
- I'm gonna try my best to display the pretties.
- I'm gonna start each morning with a clean heart, decluttering and rearranging as often as needed.
- I'm gonna rely on Jesus Christ to do the deep cleaning for me. He's even better than Pine-Sol!
And as I said at the very beginning, consistency is not my strong suit. Prayers much appreciated from you to keep me accountable! And just like my laundry room, I'm gonna have to take a good long look at myself quite often to make sure that I've not been neglectful of any cleaning that needs to be done on a daily basis.
Happy New Year to each of you!! A new year; a new beginning; a fresh start.