Promising start

It's always a great day when my daughter and her son head out for the day. Not to say I don't love them, but it's nice to think you can get so much done when they are gone. Our intentions are always one thing, but we did get some things started and that's better than where they were.

Intentions:

Lee: work until 1pm, then come home and unclog the drain in the tub (in the cellar, which means clear the cellar of Julie's stuff- Malakai's bed, foam tiles off the floor-in case of spills-, toys put away, etc).

Me: clean the den. This includes the piles of mail/papers/magazines/assorted stuff that's on the loveseat; clear the computer desks; sort and file papers that I don't need to do anything with; throw out papers that are too old to be of use; pack quilts into lined-wicker basket and make the room neat again. (What you don't see above is to the left of this photo on the floor in front of the closet, is a pretty wicker basket that should have quilts in it--but has a quilt in it, topped with magazines that I want to go through before I throw them out.) That stand with the cardboard mag holders (on left of loveseat) is really too much stuff in this room, but haven't decided what to do with the stuff it's holding. I don't think it will fit in the file cabinet. This room tends to be a 'catch-all, obviously.

Me: also, clean up the kitchen and plan something nice for dinner for just Lee & I.

In theory, this would have been wonderful.

What really happened....

Lee: worked until 1pm- check!
Lee: went on the computer, until my mom came over and we ready to leave... (see below)-- But some of the mess is cleared out. The box by the coffee table has magazines and genealogy stuff in it and really has to be gone through to sort into the right binder (I've been into genealogy for almost 30 yrs and have each surname I research in a separate 3-ring binder.)-- And some of the stuff on the coffee table is from my hubby when he came home from work today.

Me: cleaned out the den of quilts (put this storage container in living room, so it can be used when there is a chilly evening)- Results: This means more floor space- check! (see to the right corner--floor!) The bookcase is another day, believe me. LOL

Me: Cleared off the loveseat (of papers)... except now the cat has decided I did this for him. Not. (I scooted him off before taking the photo.)
 --However, where did those papers go?

Me: Some of those papers DID go in the trash...okay. More than some. However, there are now a few more papers on the computer desk, and they are almost in piles that are organized together (except for the ones that were there originally- but they're at the bottom of the piles now on the desk--see previous photo).
Me: did get a box (of 'stuff' thrown into the box to check out 'in a minute') cleared out completely and the box got thrown out in the trash. Results: One box down, more floor space.
Me: Found two pocketbooks that were 'broken' (one with a ripped strap and the other, had the strap holding on literally by one thread) and cleaned them out and threw them to the trash (no they are not fixable). Results: This only gave me more space on the loveseat.
Me: Found a box on the coffee table in the den that had clothes from the dryer on it (mine) that had our old DVD player in it. Still workable, we just happened to have been given a blu-ray player and I'd already hooked that up. I folded the clothes and put them on the staircase to take to my room, boxed up the old dvd player and put it in the cellar. Results: More space on the coffee table.
Me: had lunch...salad and toast.
Oops: mom stopped by. Well, come on, if you're 83 yr old mom stopped by, wouldn't you visit? I did. And I'm not sorry, my work got interrupted. The visit was nice... until we went to say goodbye. I'm not sure WHO suggested playing cards (hand and foot)...but the next thing you know, there we were. At the table, playing cards. 2 hrs later, she whooped our behinds!! Then she merrily went on her merry way and now Lee is in the garage (well, hey, the door was open) and I'm here updating how productive my cleaning was. Because I did such a great job, I'm gonna continue cleaning and may even post photos (I DID take some before photos, although I'm embarrassed to show them. This is what happens when you put things off. And I do. sometimes....
Ok. Really. I'm going.
Now.
Almost.

Okay, I did get half the kitchen done. not the island counter (which seems to be the catcha-all area). I can only control half of that, since Julie isn't here and a third of it is hers.
We're not done yet, but it's an improvement and a start!
AND we got to go to the movies!! (That was my reward for getting so much done in 1/2 a day).
THEN... I crashed!