A familiar scene played out at my house over the weekend. Emma had a three-day weekend in observance of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, and Bob was off as well. The weather was promising, unusual for the last few January’s, so they decided to visit my mother in law somewhat spontaneously. Even though I too was off Monday, we decided I’d stay home to care for the pets. One of the dogs, Oliver, and the cat, both had dental surgery Thursday, and Oliver had a growth removed from the top of his head as well. I’ve become proficient at hiding pills in food.

And I didn’t mind staying behind too much. Even though I always enjoy visiting Bob’s family, I also love getting the chance to have the house to myself. I’d like to say I lounged around, reading, maybe baking cookies, or doing errands in a leisurely way because there was no need to rush.

But I didn’t. I never do.

Instead, I painted, and cleaned, and rearranged furniture, and cleaned some more. It was a double whammy day for paint because I spray painted a couple old lamps and gave the stairs a much-needed fresh coat, along with some wall and window trim.

I also rearranged the living room furniture. We haven’t always had a tv in this room- for a while we relocated it to the first floor living space which I tend to call the library. But whenever we’ve had a tv in this room, it’s been in the same spot. So I decided to move it to the opposite wall. Bob was surprised when he got home, but he really likes the new layout. I haven’t moved the wall décor yet but it seems like we’re going to get some snow this weekend so I’ll be hanging out at home.

One of Peter Walsh’s recent tasks was cassette tapes, which I haven’t had for a very long time. I felt quite smug, then went into the garage, found these, and felt less smug.

I threw them out.

Now the key is to keep things neat. I do this all the time: go into a frenzy, get everything looking great, and three days later it’s a mess again. So I’m issuing a challenge to myself to keep all the decluttered spaces neat for as many days as possible. I took some photos but am having some issues adding them, so I’ll try again Friday. In the meantime, thanks for reading!