Setting Things Back To Rights

Dharma wouldn't stop singing this song over Christmas. I don't know if it was her aim, but she succeeded in lodging in my brain and, now, every time I start to clean anything, I find myself singing or humming it.

The intro is a little long, but worth the wait.



After a solid week of post-Holiday blues and two full days of feeling just awful physically, I am slowly restoring order to myself and my home. The washer is humming along, the dishwasher has been loaded, unloaded and loaded again, for some odd reason I thoroughly cleaned out the tableware drawer, the counters have been (mostly) cleared and wiped and I am hurling myself into the shower as soon as the washer is done (old houses and their old plumbing--can't run the shower and washer at the same time).

As much as I thoroughly enjoy being lazy and taking a break from housework, I always hate what I find when I'm done. And, I admit it, I rather like setting things back to the way they should be. In moderation. I do get overwhelmed when the job seems too taxing, but I'm usually good for a few loads of laundry or dishes before I lose momentum.

After my shower I'm going to make my bed, transfer the laundry and sweep the kitchen and dining room floors. And by then Redheaded Snippet should be home and I can put her to work on finishing the living room and taking laundry upstairs before I get Man-Cub and run to the market.

It's Friday, what should we have for dinner? I've got nothing planned except pizza and I've made it so much lately that I've actually become sick of it! Who'd'a thunk it? Sick of pizza? I've been watching too much Iron Chef and Best Thing I Ever Ate lately so I'm craving things I absolutely cannot make or afford to buy like lobster, beef tenderloin and scallops. Maybe it's a good night for veggie sandwiches and Greek salad. Don't ask me how my brain made that leap, I really don't know...

In other news, the stove is 99% finished! The Viking and Daria got the stonework finished and The Viking finished cementing it all last night. Tonight it should be plenty dried and cured enough so we'll be having a fire after a week without one! Only problem now is we're blazing through our woodpile pretty quickly and The Viking is no longer able to chop wood to replenish it. But I have a feeling it won't be hard at all to find an energetic, well-muscled teen-aged boy (or two) who would gladly chop a few cords of wood if it means being in Redheaded Snippet's company for an afternoon.

All the stove needs now is a mantle of some sort. We're still working out what it will look like. And, sadly, I think the time is fast approaching to take the Christmas Tree down. It was sadly ignored this year, in all the preparation for our family gathering. We didn't even put the popcorn and cranberry strings on it--first time ever. And with the stove installation going on, the tree only added to the disarray and displacement of the living room and I have had about enough of it. I want the stove things cleared up and the tree gone so Daria and I can arrange the room and I can finally feel at ease in there! Maybe we'll even be able to paint, though I'm not holding my breath! I'm thinking yellow...

Right, washer has stopped and I need a quick lunch before showering so my blood sugar doesn't plummet halfway through shampooing. Hopefully I'll have new photos of the stove and living room next time!