Clearing the Slate

September 4, 2017

For about an hour this morning, I dusted the furniture in my house with Method polish, swiped TV screens and my laptop screen with special wipes, hand-washed a few dishes, cleaned the kitchen sink with Method All-Purpose spray, cleaned the kitchen island and counter tops, picked up a bit of clutter and organized, and ran a load of laundry (but it's still not dried).  That leaves the bathrooms (one much easier than the other) and floors throughout the house.  I have a new broom and plan to sweep some recent drama out the door.

My house doesn't get to the point of being filthy, but I can live with a certain level of dust that my mother cannot.  Messiness bothers me more than dirt actually.  I work two jobs and write, and if something has to give, it's housekeeping.  I'm entering a long period of my life.  Over the next three months, I will have two jobs, including teaching part time.  I will research, write, practice, and ultimately give a lecture at the MFA program from which I graduated.  And I plan to return to the novel I was going to work on this summer, but then a short story and a chapter in a former novel called my name.  I also spent time working on my home office, clearing away some papers, organizing, and setting it up to be more functional.  It's time to return to the writing I'd planned and the lecture project.

The next two and a half months will be very busy and focus is necessary. Other than cleaning, I' spent the past week and this weekend working on some stray ends.  Starting with a clean slate in more ways that one is an excellent beginning.

Bring it, Fall!