Gotta Clean

Long time...

So anyway, I've gotten a lot done these past few weeks. I painted the stairwell--cottage white--and have been redoing the pantry shelves along the side. It looks like the storage place of a proud and civilized people.

I've redone the shelf over the stairs and am waiting on the white brackets to replace the skinny shelves against the left wall. I had to order them on ebay since they are a size outside the norm *grumble* (insert rant about the Lowes and Home Depot duelopoly here).

Today I finished the archaeological dig in the refrigerator. I mean, that thing is glowing with a cleansed and holy light. I even pulled it out and cleaned under/behind it. I EVEN ordered a replacement for one of the crisper drawers that was heat-warped beyond use in the terrible dishwasher disaster of '09.

I refinished the desk in the office; The raised garden is cleared and the trellises folded and neatly nylon-tied for next year. The laundry adventure continues apace.

Why am I working so hard? Thanksgiving? Well, yes. Cuz I should? Yeah, um, sure. The tingle of pride and accomplishment I feel when looking at my finished work? Absolutely. Because Zoe's graduation is coming up and the thought that people from both families will be coming to visit fills me with a cold and prickly dread? Ding! Ding! Ding!

Simply put, I am utterly unable to envision a scenario involving a visit from Rob's family that does not involve overt or semi-cloaked judgment (which, oddly enough is the same as my own self-judgment). I'm already practicing pithy internal comebacks to my own internal put downs. Practicing against friendly fire as it were. I suppose it's good that it's lighting a fire under my nethermost sit-upon regions. So, maybe I shouldn't look my paranoia in the mouth.

I am excited, and I will enjoy seeing so many people I love in one place. I just feel that it will be a referendum on my entire existence as a wife and mother.