Laboring

Last year for Labor Day weekend, my parents rented a condo in Ocean City, Maryland, and they, my sister, brother-in-law, then-fiance and I spent a few days there.

We had intended to soak up the sun but instead got soaked, as Tropical Storm Ernesto was rolling through, and most of the time we were there, it was too cold and wet to do many beachy things. Mostly we just ate, drank beer and watched the green go by on The Weather Channel. This year, we thought about doing it again (the beach, not the tropical storm stuff), but for various reasons, it didn't happen.

Instead, I am spending my Labor Day weekend cleaning. I mean really cleaning. My housekeeping has somewhat fallen by the wayside since Stella moved in, and there were several chores I'd been meaning to do for awhile anyway, so since I had a four-day weekend, I decided to spend my Labor Day laboring.

Besides normal chores I'd been neglecting, like scrubbing the bathrooms, I decided that this weekend would be a good time to do all of those once-in-awhile chores that I never seem to get to. For example, on Friday and Saturday, I steam cleaned my carpets. I had plans to do every inch of carpet in my home, but after finding out how long it took me to do just the dining room, I decided to stick to the heavy traffic areas; whatever is under the bed or the entertainment center will have to stay there for awhile.

I can't say the carpet looks fabulous, but there has been a noticeable improvement. And just in case I didn't do a great job, I went to Ikea yesterday and bought a new throw rug for the dining room (to replace the one I spilled Kool-Aid on), a new throw rug for the kitchen and a new runner for the hallway.

Today, I scrubbed my kitchen floor with white vinegar and water. My knees are a bit sore, but the floor looks good. I'm hoping it is now sufficiently clean that Stella won't want to lick it anymore. (Stella, by the way, has been taking all of this cleaning in stride, napping quietly in her crate. I feel kind of bad for making her stay in there when I'm home, but I don't quite trust her to roam around when I can't watch her, and besides, she has kennel cough and shouldn't be running around too much anyway). The bathroom floors -- so badly ignored for so very long -- are next. Oh yes, my floors will be looking mighty fine, at least for a few days till they get trashed again.

In case the floors don't wow people enough, I also cleaned my sliding glass balcony doors, and I'm not sure if I'll get to it today or not, but there's a big bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap awaiting its debut on my kitchen cabinets and other woodwork.

I guess this is sort of my spring cleaning, just in the wrong season. It's nice to do a top-to-bottom scrub every few months; I always feel better in a clean house. It's good for the soul, I think.

It's not exactly a weekend at the beach, but all in all, it's not a bad way to spend my four days off. There's not as much beer, but at least I don't have to worry about getting sand in my socks.