Where have I been ?

Where have I been ? Here. There. Everywhere. Nowhere.

A few months ago, I decided that my son's room needed to be changed around. The thought was there that maybe I will get his tv hooked up to the satellite dish so he doesn't have to suffer through my shows, and I don't have to suffer through his. But in order to do that, chaos had to reign here. Starting March Break, everything in his room, other than furniture, had to be
taken out and being in the apartment we are in, the stuff had to go somewhere and it landed in my room. I didn't sleep in my bed for a week. Good thing I had a couch. And while I was at it, I might as well paint his room too, while the stuff was out. We have been living here for 11 years. It was time.

Made the mistake of telling my parents my plans. Well, maybe not a mistake exactly as they both have been a very big help in my undertaking. Mom came down three days in a row to help me paint. But where I was thinking to have everything said and done by the end of summer, it's going a tad quicker than I thought it would.

I didn't get his room set back to rights when the living room started to get spring cleaned and painted. My biggest fear was when my youngest brother showed up with my parents one Sunday to help dad take out my couch. It was one of those L-shaped things, in only two pieces, with a lazy-boy type thing at each end. Saying that thing was heavy and awkward is an understatement. I was so afraid that one or the both of them would pop a hernia or pull a muscle moving it out of here. If either suffered from it, they didn't say. My brother is 47 and dad is 70.

I make the comment at Easter about waiting until the May long weekend to start the kitchen. Well? Other than the small chest freezer not being cleaned out and defrosted, the kitchen is done. No easy task as the wallpaper being removed revealed the aftereffects of an upstairs leak in the wall. Took the landlord (85) and his wife (80) a week and a half to replace that section of drywall (would have been a lot quicker if he hired someone or let me do it lol) and get me to the point of painting the wall before the cupboard went back up. But what got the kitchen started was mom finding a teak, two piece buffet/hutch thing at a Habitat for Humanity store near them that would be 'perfect' for me and she couldn't help herself and bought it.

So there I was. I still had some things in my bedroom that belonged in my sons room or in the donation box when a pile of kitchen stuff landed in my room as well. Even odds and bobs of my living room was in there.

And no, the bathroom hasn't had it's second coat of paint on the walls yet or the small cupboards to hang on the wall getting their first coat of paint. So guess where some of the bathroom stuff landed ? Yep. My room too. Is a wonder I even had a pathway around the bed to get to it, let alone actually get in it.

And even though there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the spring cleaning and painting and the chaos I create, I got very stressed out over it (the last thing I needed too)

Yes, I tend to be a bit of a pack rat and had a lot of stuff to go through (but I was an organized pack rat lol) it is creating the chaos to unpack rat myself that had me in jitters. There was one Saturday night where my bedroom was in shambles, my bed covered in stuff with nowhere to put it out of the way, the living room was in a mess and the kitchen was utter chaos. Dad had a church meeting that particular Saturday, so mom came down by herself to help paint and I tell you, after she left I sat on the bottom step of the stairs leading in from my door to the livingroom and had no clue whatsoever of where I was going to sleep that night !! I couldn't put anything away. I couldn't move anything anywhere out of the way as the walls we were working on needed a second coat. My son found me there a bit later. Much as I try to hide it, he does get very very concerned finding mom with tears running down her face. Debating whether to go sleep in the car that night, I ended up grabbing a comforter out of the kid's room, throwing it on a big enough spot on the living room rug that would not have me curled up into a big ball and slept there. Not well, mind you. Dang floor is hard !! At least I wouldn't have had far to fall if I fell out of bed huh? hahaha I didn't tell my parents about having to do that for a couple weeks. Mom hadn't realized the mess I had going and the extra chaos we created that day when she left.

While I tend to be a pack rat, it's always been organized confusion. This bit about having all this stuff out of place and all over has been a bit much and I've had some real rough days, thinking it'll never end. So far, it's been almost two months going, what with having to stop to do the school bus thing, and attempts at doing the usual household chore stuff. Plus the kid insists on eating so I have to stop and make dinner/do dishes. Spend some time with the kid. And in there somewhere, I try to sleep. Not doing that very good either.

I haven't got a replacement couch yet. Good things come to those that wait I guess. There is a ReUse store down the road here that benefits the life skills program my son goes to and I've been keeping my eye out there for a loveseat or a small couch. Saw one I liked for a very affordable price, but by the time I got in position enough to get it, it was gone. So now I continue to make do with my grandmothers old wooden rocking chair and an office chair. I have a couple of those folding chairs in a bag things if someone shows up unannounced. My table and chairs went out the door a couple weeks ago (not a great loss). With the buffet/hutch thing, my table was just too big. I don't have a dining room and the end of the kitchen where a table could go isn't that big.

The stuff I've decided isn't worth hanging onto anymore and still in decent/good shape is going to a charity fund raiser being held later in May to benefit the local abused women's shelter where my parents live. My parents are amazed at the stuff I've gotten rid of so far (and I have another pile for them sitting here). I was asked why I don't have a yard sale and make a few bucks but where would I put all this stuff until that day arrives ? So at least it's going to a good cause and I'm okay with that. Better than at a landfill and it's out of here.

Before Fang moved out last summer, I had actually stopped caring enough of the home environment to keep up with the dusting and vacuuming, the washing of floors etc. Sounds awful, I know, but I was tired of all the prep work I had to do to accomplish those chores because he didn't care enough ... or figured that was part of my job as a wife ... to put his stuff away or put things back where he got them from etc etc. There was just too many times that I went through this place like a whirlwind and had it looking spotless, only to run to the grocery store and come back a couple hours later and wonder what bomb went off in my absence. Never mind the embarrassment of having someone popping in and seeing the mess, I just stopped caring. Once he moved out, then I slowly realized that if something was out of place, it was my doing. Or the kids but he learned quickly enough lol. I was finally starting to get back to enjoying doing those mundane household chores again and reveling in the cleanliness and neatness of the place that lasted days and not just mere seconds or minutes. So that's why the big spring cleaning/painting undertaking and the chaos that ensued stressed me out so bad. It was like I had taken a giant leap backwards and half expected Fang to walk in and just plop his butt down in the office chair and not move a muscle like he used to. He wouldn't dare either. I now have a sign on my door warning him that if he walks in here and lights a cigarette, he's going to get his butt kicked. That should be enough of a deterrent lol. But seriously, after all the painting and whatnot ? If he wants to see 56 (he's 55), he better not light up in here.

But really, all that isn't the only reason why I've been away from Multiply. But maybe that's part two lol