The Annual Cleaning Extravaganza...

It must be done. I must clean the house in order for the school year to officially begin. It is this little neurotic glitch I have. Last year I redecorated the basement in its entirety. This year I believe I can be satisfied with some minor furniture rearrangements, a few things sold on Craig's List, toys sold in a yard sale, books utterly reorganized and all the new books properly placed within easy reach of the school area, the refrigerators cleaned and sterilized, the Rubbermaid containers sorted and stacked, a menu list made that will last me at least six months, a new lawn planted, the storage room cleaned, the cats' claws trimmed, the too-small clothes passed on to the homeless shelter and growing friends...Just a few things on my list. I have two weeks in which to check all these boxes.

See, here is the state of my office. Note the large stacks of books--and there is a cat in a box on the desk, in case you were wondering...

And here is the state of the basement. Note the large stacks of books.

And the state of the playroom. Note the piles of toys and boxes of stuff to be sold.

So for the next week and a half I will work in a frenzy to clear all this stuff and check off the other things on my list, and somehow I will manage to show back up to blog about how great it all turned out and how ready I am for school to begin. You can start placing your bets now...Our first day is supposed to be August 29.