Obsess Much?

It is 1 am. Guess what I am doing?


I'll give you a minute.....



okay give up?



cleaning.


Yeah I know. I just could not help myself. It did not get done last weekend (we were away with family due to the sudden passing of our Chester.) It did not get done earlier today because we were away with scouts. My house had gotten not just kinda messy. Nope. It's dirty. The kitchen needs mopped, living room needs vacuuming, toilets need scrubbed, and mirrors need wiped. It feels yucky.

I got a late start. Usually I try to not do much after dinner time. If I do I find it's difficult to stop in time for me to wind down for bed. I need at least a solid 2 hours of stillness and relative quiet. (something I learned when I battled insomnia about 8 years ago.)

Around 8 o'clock I was helping 5yo finish her bath and I took a look around. There was no where to turn that wasn't affected by the ewwww. Not even my bedroom. Now I must confess that my bedroom has been a sore point for a few weeks. Since around Christmas. My closet was overflowing with rooted through summer clothes, folding chairs, extra kitchen equipment that I rarely use, suitcases, blankets, sewing machine...THE WORKS!

Here's where I need to interject a few things:
1. Have you forgotten I live with a few Messies? (hubs and girls)
2. Have I ever mentioned that my kids have fallen into the routine of sleeping in my room while my husband is away? I guess we all like the company. But the floor sometimes gets over run with their blankets!
3. Have I mentioned that once I start something, I have trouble stopping?

Okay, now you get a better picture. I'll continue...

As I'm drying 5yo I'm obsessing over the closet. The girls are the culprits...again. They were looking for something which I then took up which then turned into me getting really frustrated with mess and pulling it all out followed by just shoving it all back in so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore. So I'm thinking about the closet...and I just break.

I had to clean it right then. It could not possibly wait another second.

Nope.

I pulled everything out of the closet (but not before I decided to change the sheets because one can't clean the closet without fresh sheets!)

Pause one more second...have I ever mentioned I vacuum the bed before I put on fresh sheets...gotta keep down the dustmites...

Anyway, I got the closet back in order and started to dust the dressers but then I thought about just taking the vacuum around the backside of the bed. I didn't remember the last time it was done. WOH! dust. I then had to dig everything out from under the bed. From there I ended up pulling out the largest dresser (which really is a 2 person job, but hey, I was on a mission). Upon doing that I decided that the broken vcr that was hooked up to the tv really ought to finally be disconnected but first I had to test everything. Turns out the dvd player works.

I dusted, moved furniture, went through dressers, cleaned under the bed, cleared the closet, untangled some jewelry (after I sorted and rearranged the jewelry box). No stone was left unturned. I spent at least 4 hours in there. I think maybe more, but I hate to admit it. When I walked out of the bedroom and looked around I went into shock. The state of the house hadn't really sunk in until I got one of the rooms back into the order I like. Now it's late and I just wanna keep going.

How will I ever get up for church? Worse, how will I get my children up? Yeah, forgot to mention that while I was losing track of time the kids were helping and running amuck. I told them since they had so much energy they could sweep the kitchen and hallway. No joke. They did it, but have since gone to bed. They are awake. (which brings me to ...have I ever mentioned they are night owls?)

My room is clean. It feels good. And a bonus is that I turned on my actual stereo to listen to the radio and realized the local oldies station is now some sort of mix station that I <3 heart<3. Currently playing: Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
I know, not very spiritual, but fun.

I need a shower. I can't lay down in clean sheets feeling dusty. I'm fighting the urge to mop the kitchen, too.

EDITED TO ADD: No need to worry about sleeping through church. It was canceled due to weather.