Spring Cleaning

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This past week was Spring Break, and although I still had to go to work, I accomplished quite a bit. Perhaps it’s because I started the week with some goals of things I’d like to have done, and perhaps it’s because I decided to tackle them in order of ease, but I managed to clear many things from my to-do list as well as in my household generally. Some things probably should still be done, but I’m not sure I’m ready to dispense with them, and so I hold onto them until I make a choice. You see, I made it so far through my list, I added more items!

Of course, work responsibilities topped the list. I arrived at work to discover that an instructor had erroneously been in for lab on Saturday. Fortunately, the room was ready, and unfortunately for me, the instructor left it in disarray. I prepared the enzyme assay for next week and made sure that it worked, and then I started on the sugar solutions for the following week. I finished grading all the exams, posted everything to the internet and waited for complaints only to hear from exactly zero students either way. I cleaned out the fridge, tossed out old reagents, took the plants home that need care outside of term so I can water them at home, and even cleaned up my desks.

Many personal things got done too. I finally arranged for Goodwill to take the donations I had ratholed in the garage, moved them to the porch, and wrote up a list with photos in case the IRS wants to know what I gave them. Then, I cleaned and mopped the tile downstairs, reorganized and swept the garage, and then on a wild hair pulled weeds in my entire yard Tuesday night. I posted things to Craigslist, sold a few things on ebay, ran errands including to the grocer, and I even got my driver’s license renewed (I had to go in person this year for a new photo). I dug up some flowers from my mom’s yard that spread and replanted them in the two spots where my yard was barren and then I trimmed the bushes on the north side of the yard. As always, there is trash in my front yard to remove when the wind blows. I cleaned the kitchen, did the dishes, finished all the laundry and even vacuumed my car.

There was also fun and frolic. I still completed seven workout sessions, and then my sister and I went out shooting so she could work on her skills, try some new guns, and watch me sight in a few I have that had never been shot. We went out for lunch, and I’ll visit my parents later. I received some funmail items and played the piano most nights, and I even played the accordion I inherited.

Even the government got its turn. I am almost finished with my taxes (I owe money so I’m not in a terrible rush), but I finished my IRA transfer for last year and organized everything and entered most of the items, including tally sheets of my donations in case the IRS wants to know about those. Oh, and I received reimbursement check for my glasses I bought in February, making that the fastest rebate I have ever received.

I accomplished quite a bit. In fact, aside from actually filing taxes and cleaning the living room, I accomplished everything I set out to do this week, even after adding items to the list. There are a few other Spring Cleaning things I probably should do, and there is a picture hanging in the hallway that I haven’t managed to put away yet because I’m hoping I will still find a watermelon at the end, but we’ll see. I know there are plenty of things I could and should toss, but maybe with this donation kick I’ll finally get all of that cleared away to make room for what comes today and tomorrow. I admit I am sort of a pack rat, but that’s because those things remind me of the past, and the past has some meaning because it was once real. There never really have been good fireworks to anoint the week in my life, because all the really exciting episodes of my life faded into ignominity. Now it’s routine, but in clearing out, maybe I’ll make room for new and better things or for the eventual return of things and people that God decides really are mine to keep.