Making House Into Home
I have a love-hate relationship with spring cleaning. As I am writing this, I am a little annoyed that I even have to participate in the cleaning of my own home. Wild, I know. I had what felt like a long week at work, including a road trip for work that was 3 1/2 hours away. I was drained by Friday afternoon. After work, I went directly to the gym, sat down for a session with a client, and then started pulling weeds from my front lawn with my fiancé. I never in 37 years of life thought spring cleaning would include yard work. I did not want to do it. I even contemplated dropping a bag and hiring out. But I remembered our long-term and short-term goals, which do not include spending money on yardwork that I can do. I was in the yard pulling weeds for two hours until we called it quits for showers, dinner, and a movie.
The following day, I planned to get up for an early morning run, but the rain was so bad that I opted to sleep an additional hour instead. The moment I could no longer remain in bed, I got up, made coffee, and started to clean my kitchen, half bathroom, and living room. Though it is the most time-consuming, the spaces are the easiest to clean in my home because it is where guests travel the most, so we generally try to keep these spaces tidy. After this, I swept the stairs and moved to the guest and office spaces in our home. I tidied up and hung artwork in the bathroom. I opted to sweep and mop later because I felt a little tired. Spring cleaning also brings to light items that are either no longer in use or no longer function well in your home. Spring cleaning helps you to be out with the old.
By the time I got to the primary suite, I was tired. I needed to mount a shelf on the wall in the living area, and I thought all was well until the two top screws decided to become loose. I tried using anchors and different sizes of screws, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, I gave up and decided this would have to be a project for another day. How frustrating! I took a break to write this article. I decided I needed to put my run off to the following day. Once my fiancé returned from Home Depot, it was time to eat lunch and landscape the front yard. This has taken the better part of the day. My least favorite part of landscaping is digging. However, I got it done. Once we finished the front yard, we returned to Home Depot to get what we needed for the backyard. I put together a raised garden while my fiancé laid mulch. The only thing left to do was put up lights and power wash our patio. This was hard work.
I am so glad that we did this now and not later. We have a busy season. We want to enjoy our home in our backyard. As a little girl, I spent significant time with my great-grandmother in her garden. I learned a lot, and I think I got my green thumb from her. I look forward to our little plants growing and our flowers blooming. This is going to be such a good spring and summer. I am ready to finally chill and enjoy this place we call home.
