{name tag from our ward party on Friday night}I feel like I've been absent from my life (and my blog) for far too long. Man, that was a long sickness. Happily, I'm back!
(I noticed in iPhoto that I only took 86 pictures in all of January! Unprecedented! And very telling.)
Yesterday morning, two sweet friends from my neighborhood came over to help me clean my house! Laurel proposed the idea at church on Sunday, and I feebly protested that I thought I was getting well enough to clean. But she insisted that, after such a long illness, the house probably needed a lot of work (all too true). Chris heard our conversation and said she would be coming as well. Let's face it, I was in no position to reject this kind offer.
Laurel brought her vacuum, since ours recently stopped working, and they both brought cleaning supplies. They stayed for 3 hours! And when they left, my whole house was clean. (It is hardly ever all clean at the same time. True confession.)
- Clean kitchen.
- Clean bathrooms (I even washed the walls!).
- All floors vacuumed.
- Couch and chair cushions vacuumed.
- Blinds vacuumed.
- Tables cleared of all clutter and detritus and cleaned.
- Tile mopped.
- Piano cleaned (badly needed).
- Everything dusted.
- They even washed the windows and glass doors in our living area!
I have no words. It was one of those times when I felt utterly rescued. I went from feeling quite overwhelmed—like I was surfacing from the depths—to feeling on top of things, energized, and ready for re-entry.
Oh, and my kitchen is finally finished! I polished up the last remaining bit of painting during the first week of January (before I got sick) and installed the hardware a couple of weeks ago on a day when I thought I was better. (It was disappointing to learn otherwise, but at least I accomplished something big!)I love it.
Anyway. After my sweet friends left, I just sat and looked around for about 15 minutes.
Then I decided to go get dog food, as we were completely out. I also ran to the grocery store to get some necessary items for an afternoon of baking (I had to make 3 double batches of muffins to take to Lucas's play practice today).
It was the first day that I didn't spend any time in bed! It was a very full day, and I was exhausted at the end of it, but absolutely thrilled that I could do it all. Doing laundry, errands, and baking bring a whole new satisfaction when you haven't been able to do anything for awhile. So thankful. I feel like I could conquer the world!
