Day Twenty-Three – Clean, Clean, Clean!
At this point, we’re still visiting our friends in Seattle, and it is now Black Friday. Everyone else got up ridiculously early to go hit the various sales. I have no interest in seeing this side of humanity, so I stayed comfortably snuggled up with my daughter while they went in search of extraordinary deals on bath towels, digital cameras, and more. We got up about the time everyone else was resting up for round two of shopping.
When they all headed out for the second time, I decided what my gift was going to be for the day. It can be tricky to do this Giving Challenge when you’re traveling so much. I didn’t have a car and wouldn’t have known where to go if I did. Still, it made me more conscious about what I was doing and for whom.
I mentioned before that our friends are expecting a baby, their first. The reality is that Kate could go into labor any time, being about a week away from her due date. Having gone through the whole “nesting” thing, I have no idea how she has managed not to lose her mind while moving into a house that is not yet completed. While things are certainly beautiful, there are projects yet to be completed in pretty much every room.
I made her the focus of my gift for the day, and when everyone was gone shopping, I dove in and cleaned. Their kitchen is absolutely enormous, and after having so many people in and out, the holiday cooking and eating the day before, and the aforementioned construction projects going on, things had gotten a little out of hand. I literally cleaned that kitchen for two hours. It might have been even more, actually. Thank goodness my toddler allowed me to distract her and occasionally “helped” with the housework.
I did have a fright, as when I dusted the living room, the completely intimidating entertainment system went dark, causing me to fear I had created a major electrical problem. I got brave and messed around with it and got everything back in working order, though.
When everyone got home, they were really surprised by how much I had done. I’m glad they were all happy, but my real hope is that it may have taken a little of the burden off of Kate’s mind.
