Project Clean-up

Even though I graduated in May, I had one semester to finish before I could say I was officially done with nursing school. My last day is tomorrow, June 14^th, but the paper is actually running on Saturday. By the time this is printed, I will be hard at work cleaning my house.

Before school, my house used to be kept fairly neat. About twice a year, I would even clean out the closets. I used to dust my fans and I remember moving my stove and refrigerator just to sweep away any dirt or debris that may have gathered behind it.

Windows? They would get a nice cleaning on the inside regularly and at least twice a year on the outside. I’d do this around the time I weeded my flower beds.

This was all before nursing school. If you come to my house at this very moment, there is a thin veneer of a “cleanish” look, but it is only a façade. Open any drawer or closet and you’ll find all my dirty secrets shoved and tucked away out of sight.

My kitchen table is stacked with books, the printer, and usually my laptop. I have bags and papers and folders perpetually shoved on and underneath the table where I sit to do my homework.

Laundry is like an ever-growing beast that never ceases to pile up on our bed only to be swept away to a pile on a blanket on the floor and then back on the bed when I feel like I’m going to fold it, but then back to the floor when I spend too much time distracted with doing other things.

The inside is not beautiful, but it gets maintained to a certain degree. The outside is the real problem area because, between my schooling and my husband’s work week which can run 60 hours or more, we have very little time to deal with the yard.

The main issue is that we have no irrigation. This means that our poor grass doesn’t stand a chance. Sand is the dominant prevailing force in our front yard and weeds make up most of the green that exists in that area.

I keep wanting to put a sign in the yard that says, “Sorry for the mess. This area has been declared off-limits by the U.S. Government. Experimental testing in progress. Do not attempt to approach the front door. Absolutely no photographs.”

I will have about a month off of school before I start working. This gives me time to study for my boards and get my house and yard back in order. I’m hoping we can throw down a little sod and liven up the front so it doesn’t look like you’re pulling up to the creepy house on the block.

My husband has already started cleaning up. He painted the back shed and fixed the Weed Whacker. As I type, he’s mowing down some tenaciously tangled undergrowth.

My main mission is to regain control of my house. I want to be able to find my kitchen table again. I want to see white grout lines in the bathroom. I want to turn my fans off when people come over instead of keeping them on to disguise the dust. I want to flip my kitchen blinds back the correct way; in other words, clean the dirty side.

The simple things in life are all I want to focus on for a while. I think I’ve earned it.