Joy of Cleaning

You’ve seen my lists. You’re wondering how I have time to post. Well, here’s an interesting conversation I had with my nieces Kaitlin (9) and Leona (7) after I picked them up at the train.

K: Is there anything for us to DO at your house?
Me: Well, we’re really busy cleaning and getting ready for our holiday.
K: Can we help?!
L: I get to do the bathroom!!!
K: Awww.
Me: Don’t worry, girls. We have two bathrooms.

They had a minor conflict over who got to do the bigger bathroom.

I’m totally serious about this.

They then fetched and carried for me all through the rest of the day. The result: I sit here, writing this post, waiting for take-out dinner to arrive, listening to the Barenaked Ladies ‘Barenaked for the Holidays.’ Just a second. I have to get some egg nog.

Industrial revolution

I love lists. Even at our other times of the year, I have all sorts of lists going. Things to do, things to make, things to buy, things to retrieve from storage, things for Steve to do. But Christmas is definitely a stellar opportunity for list creation.

For you, a list of all my current lists:

1. Christmas presents that must be completed before we travel to P.G. next week.


2. Household tasks that must be completed before we travel to P.G. next week. This list is bigger than normal because we have friends (whom we've never met) from our church staying at our house when we're gone.


3. Miscellaneous tasks to complete before leaving town (job application, GST payment, filing, write lesson plan for teaching grade sevens how to write a communication plan)


4. List for houseguests of where to find things and numbers to call if anything floods or blows up while we're away.


5. Repeat of (3) for tenant.


6. What we each need in P.G. (3 lists)


7. What we need to take in the car for trip.


8. Groceries we need for this weekend, with brother & sister-in-law as houseguests.


9. Baking we'll do Saturday, and corresponding ingredients needed.


10. Decorations and food to take to Sunday Christmas party for my church's ESL class.


11. Christmas presents, and corresponding supplies, that we can finish in P.G.


12. People we have to get in touch with in P.G. to arrange visits (including my brother, Mike re: karaoke!!!).


13. Things I should be doing (instead of posting this entry) before guests arrive in one hour.

One list, one item at a time. Off to deal with grapevine and pinecones.

Swipper feef

Noah appears at my bedside, gleefully shouting, “Swipper feef! Swipper feef!”

In my advanced state of grogginess, I respond, “What?”

He replies, “You mean ‘pardon me’, Mama.”

Chastened, I try again. “Pardon me?”

He repeats, with same level of animation, “Swipper feef! Swipper feef!”

Now he’s laughing so hard, he’s almost falling over. “SWIPPER FEEF!” he yells, and points at his feet.

He’s wearing my slippers, which have been … mysteriously absent … for two days.

Crime report: Burnaby. Slipper thief on the rampage.

December weekend

Friday:

1. have tiny (benign non-health-threatening) cyst removed under local anaesthetic
2. discover that surgeon’s reassurance of minimal pain is remarkably untrue
3. consume a panoply of painkillers, administered by able and sympathetic nurse, Steve
4. drowsily watch Troy
5. go to bed without brushing or flossing (I'm sure that will alarm those of you who are aware of my pathological oral hygiene)

Saturday:

1. repeatedly try to get out of bed, but find am unable to defeat gravity
2. finally rouse through promise of food and more pain meds
3. begin to feel better, and contemplate shower
4. make list of baking projects and needed ingredients
5. consider that I won’t have time to bake until Monday

Because we also have to:

1. pick up vacuum cleaner that the shop, after 6 weeks, tells us can’t be fixed
   
2. buy a toy to donate at tomorrow’s party
3. go to friend Shonna’s this afternoon to hang out and meet her friend who’s in town for the weekend
4. get started on sewing projects this evening
5. spend tomorrow morning at Sunday School and the meeting (aka ‘church’)
6. attend our work Christmas party Sunday afternoon/evening

Anniversary

I was at my sister, Brenda’s store today, and she was commenting on a button a customer was wearing.

Her: “Oh. There was some demonstration at the Art Gallery about some women who were killed, and this is the anniversary…?”

Me: “You mean at L'Ecole Polytechnique?”

Her: Blank look.

So for those of you who’ve forgotten, or are who are too young to remember, today is the 16th anniversary of the death of 14 engineering students, targeted by a mentally-unstable gunman because they were women.

In Canada, it’s also been declared a National Day of Mourning and the National Day to End Violence Against Women.

A lot like Christmas

My sisters, Steve and I spent Saturday making Christmas presents. We spent a lot of the day talking and planning, and little of it actually working, but we got a few things done.

My normal pattern is to think about Christmas in November, then decide that everyone I know has too much stuff anyway, and I don’t need to worry about gifts. Then around December 20, I develop this enormous enthusiasm for Christmas and wish I’d taken the time to handcraft gifts. But since it’s too late for that, I go out and spend a whack of money on more stuff for people who DO have too much stuff, and DON’T need another (fill in the blank).

I heard on CBC that Maritimers spend more than other Canadians on Christmas (according to VISA). My theory is that in the most economically-depressed area of Canada, Christmas is a time to buy things one has dreamed of through the year. Versus here in B.C., where people buy everything they want through the year, and so at Christmas, there’s nothing left for others to buy for them.

Steve and I have found that there’s truth to the saying that a house will suck up all your spare money, so we decided to make use of our craft supplies and fabric and make some Christmas gifts this year.

Of course, I can’t write much about what we’ve made or planned, because that would spoil the surprise. But my favourite project so far is pomander balls, made by studding an orange or lemon with cloves, dusting it with spices and leaving it to dry. But since last year’s oranges rotted, I’m using the oven this year. It makes the oranges dry faster and it makes the house smell great.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas. Hmm mm hmm mmm hmmm.