Sunday afternoon, after I’d had my requisite post-morning service, mid-afternoon nap, I happened to take a little gander at the dresser in our bedroom. And that simple little gander turned into an all out, full-fledged spate of housekeeping horror.
My dressers! They were dusty! Dismayingly, discouragingly, disconcertingly dusty.
Will someone please tell me I am not the only one who lets my furniture get into such a sad state?
Thankfully . . .
a can of Pledge and a cloth . . .
and about two minutes of work made the biggest and shiniest difference.
I often wonder why it is that I put off jobs for so long that really don’t take all that long to accomplish. Two minutes! That’s all it took.
(And just in case you’d like to see a close up of the photo on our dresser, here it is. It was taken when Steve was about 40 and I was 35. We are nothin’ but teeny bopper whippersnappers here!)
And then? After the disorder had been dissipated? After the dust had (literally) settled?
I felt a surge of cleaning inspiration hit my tired old bones and I hauled my middle-aged self right into our closet and launched into the organization of Steve’s clothing and shoes. It was a task that took a little longer than two minutes to accomplish, but it was a great feeling to get it done—especially since I had been threatening to do it for the past three years.
By that time, I was so inspired by my dust free dressers and my husband’s tidy belongings that I felt compelled to turn my attention to my own closet. (You fellow bargain hunters will be happy to know that about ninety percent of my clothes were purchased at consignment and thrift stores.)
So. Two hours of time invested gave me several unplanned chores crossed off my to-do list.
And after I was completely done with my foray into fabulous productiveness, I took a deep breath of satisfaction and smugly counted up the calories I had burned with all that dusting, bending, stretching, reaching, moving, hauling.
And then I went and ate two cookies to reward myself.
Because the first rule of cleaning? Every hour spent cleaning earns one cookie.
You read it here first.
I have dust everywhere and I hate to dust. The main reason is there is so much “stuff” on the dressers that I have to move everything to dust. I had promised myself I would not sit anything around but low and behold–broken promises. I did vacuum last night and Friday afternoon I sat in the kitchen floor for 4 hours cleaning out my cabinets. That made me feel good even though I disliked throwing away all that out dated food. Got to find some way to keep track of the canned goods in the back of the cabinets.
Ann, cleaning out kitchen cupboard is one my favorite cleaning jobs. I love to be cooking and open a cupboard and actually be able to find what I need. Good for you!
Becky! Dust! For shame! I NEVER allow dust to build up in my immaculate home (OK…now my pants are on fire!!)
Jojy, you had me goin’ there for a moment. I thought I had finally met the Perfect Housekeeper! 🙂
I too have dust, in fact I decided to dust our bedroom on Sunday also. Being it was such a beautiful day out I had the windows open and it was windy. I started catching all the dust bunnies on our furniture and must have set some loose. Well I hate to admit it but it was so dusty it set off the smoke alarms! I had to blow those out in order for them to quit going off! A bit embarrassing but no one on here knows me so I will share a laugh!
Kathy, yes, I can see why you would want to tell that story sort of anonymously. 🙂 Although everyone who reads here is probably shaking their heads knowingly and saying, “Yep, me, too!”
Wow you have a lot of shoes! 🙂
Lesley, yep, I do. Thank goodness for the $3 rack at thrift stores!
What a relief I’m not the only one with dusty dressers! Although that said, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf as the disorder in my home is driving me crazy! !
Jenna, maybe if you just got up and went and dusted one thing, then you’d feel better and you could come back to the computer with a clean conscience. (If not a clean house.) 🙂
I put off dusting as long as possible! It is probably my least favorite chore, next to cleaning the bathtub.
Suzanne, oh, I HATE cleaning the bathtub. I was dust all day long if it meant getting out of the bathtub task!
No, you are not the only one who has dusty dressers. Funny story – I taught Sunday School this past Sunday and I really, really did not like the lesson … it was about Paul’s words from Ephesians about the roles of wives and husbands. It’s a very uncomfortable lesson to me. I told the class that I procrastinated so long in sitting down to prepare for Sunday that I started dusting my house, and I really dislike dusting! But help from God got both the lesson and my dusting done. 🙂
Karen, wow, if you got tough Sunday school lessons more often, your house would be immaculate in no time! 🙂
That was funny.
With a very shoddy big dog and two cats, dust is a given in our house. As much as I would love a clean house, the animals mean more to me, so…
I love your big walk-in closet!
Any thoughts yet about a Smith furry child?
I thought I put “sheddy” but auto spell thought better. Shoddy he isn’t!
Liz, yes, animals are much more important than perfect housekeeping any ol’ day.
And as for a new Smith furry child? Just posted about it! 🙂
My dear friend Becky, Oh you should see the dust on the furniture in my house. I was sitting next to my fireplace (sans fire so far) talking to my daughter and son in law last night and happened to look over at my mantle. And what to my horror did I see, a LAYER of dust. Now I must admit when the kids were little (and I had LOTS more energy than I have now), never would there have been dust on anything. After I got home from work, cooked our evening meal and got the kids bathed and in bed, I worked until early in the morning cleaning house. Okay now that I have said that I must say that NOW, when I get home from work, I fix the simplest meal I can (or run through a drive through), eat and settle myself on my comfy couch with my laptop and in the company of my sweet hubby. I figure time with him and my beloved laptop is precious! Hope you have a great day and love love love your clean dresser and closets!!! Until next time. Oh by the way, I am work, you never saw me shhhhhhhh!!
Gail, I agree. When we get a wee bit older (and a tad bit wiser) we tend to make a few necessary trade offs and realize time spent with people we love is more important than an immaculate dresser top. Enjoy this season of your life!