April 10, 2012

Outside Temp: 47 F (it got as high as 64 F today!  Woo Hoo)

What I cooked today:
Goulash: I was going to make spaghetti sauce, but I got sidetracked and forgot until about 3, then I realized I wouldn't have enough time to do it justice in the crock pot.  Maybe tomorrow.  It didn't matter, since the goulash worked out fine.

Update:
What a beautiful day!  Patrick took Ryan with him and Grandpa to town and the dump (woo hoo!  My garbage is finally gone.. for about a day or two).  Ryan's teacher called and her daughter is sick, so he didn't have to go to school today.  So, Grandpa thought he'd like a day in town with the men. 

Woo Hoo!  That meant that I had a whole day by myself, with no one to take care of!  So, what did I do?  Cleaning.  Lots and lots of cleaning.  A little lame, I know, but it's so much easier to do when there is no one around messing it up.

I opened all the windows (finally removing the last of the plastic over the windows.  I may regret that move when we get a cold snap in about 2 weeks), and let all the crisp spring air into the house.  Then, I started in my master bathroom.  Actually, it's our only bathroom, since the second bath doesn't work, so it's been closed off for the last few months.  Yes, all 6 of us sharing one bathroom.  And it does get a little cleaned every once in a while, but since I usually ask the kids to clean, it hasn't been really cleaned in a while.  I scrubbed the counters, the floors and the mirrors.  Ahh, a nice clean bathroom.

Then, I moved on to my bedroom.  I hadn't done a thorough cleaning since we got the chicks (I know, only a week ago, but it wasn't really clean when we brought them in), so I got under the bed and the dressers and dusted everything.  By the time I moved on to Ryan's room, I was on a roll.  And boy, does that kid have too many toys with way too many little pieces. 

I also scrubbed the kitchen table and (sort-of) cleaned off our desks.  A little more vacuuming, and I was done for the day.  I still have to attack the kitchen, family room, and the other kids rooms, but I feel really accomplished.  I also managed to get about 4 loads of laundry done, and an extra 4 loads of clean laundry (that has been sitting on the couch for the last few days) folded and put away. 

At some point during my frantic cleaning routine, I had to sit back and laugh at myself.  I was screeching along with the radio (Guns and Roses or Skid Row or Lady Gaga, take your pick) and realized that the windows were open.  Uhhh, I pray that my neighbors were all at work (yes, all 2 of them).  But the singing along (albeit, badly singing) made it go faster, so I just kept going. 

Of course, as soon as the kids got home, Katie asked to change the radio to Taylor Swift, so I had her put on earphones and my cleaning frenzy was finished.  Apparently, I can only clean while listening to 80's hair bands!