the list

oh, you dratted list, you.

reminding me of all the things I want/need to do, but have no time for.

and that's just the day to day stuff.  now that spring is around the corner, I am jonesing to do some major overhaul on our house for spring cleaning.  Lydia's toys gone through and organized. closets emptied, shelves dusted, floors swept, stuff sorted. laundry area cleaned and made cute with soap jars, signs, pictures, etc. hang new curtains. clean out the magazine rack and rip out recipes we want to try. reorganize the cupboards to make them more user-friendly and less intimidating [I saw a Pinterest board where folks organized their pantry by meals, kinda clever].....

you get the picture.

right now I have so much on my plate with WIC and Prairie View, plus other organizations and family time. it seems so silly to want to get lost in a project like organizing winter gear.  why is it that we love to sink ourselves into mindless tasks? there's a certain comfort in losing time making one corner of the world clean and orderly.  my planner might be a mess, bills to pay, I might have three clients to see in between my hours at Prairie View, plus a sink of dishes to do and laundry to fold, but for goodness' sake the winter coats are sorted.

the best part of this is that I have a husband who loves my lists.  the difference between us is this: given a child-free afternoon, I could easily have at least four or five significant items on my cleaning list done, plus keep up the laundry and dishes.  Charlie, bless his pea-pickin' heart, cannot look at a room and decide, "Know what? I think I'll dust the bookshelves, organize the hall closet, and put some Christmas decorations in their appropriate tubs." it's something I have had to work really hard to understand about our relationship; it's hard not to take offense at the perceived lack of initiative in his ineptitude at finding things to do around the house.  he's just not wired for seeing what I see, which is fine.  it just means he gets lists of specific projects, projects that are A to B, a beginning and an end.  things like, "build a cookbook shelf above the sink" and "clean out the back door area--put away Christmas lights".  he likes making me happy by getting projects done, and he likes that he doesn't have to try and think of things to do.  problem solved.

what are some things on your spring cleaning list? pretty soon it'll be the season where we throw open the windows, shake out some rugs, hang the clothes on the line to dry, and sort closets like there's no tomorrow. I'd love to hear more about your house projects!