What a saturday!!!

MAN.....what a Saturday.....

The day started out with having to take JCG to her soccer game. We were hoping that she could recapture the magic she showed during the first 5 minutes of the game last week. She was a terror. She busted through all the other girls and kicked two goals. You have to understand that last year she might have kicked the ball once or twice all year. Mainly she just chased around behind the pack of girls with the ball. But alas, she reverted back to last years habits. Nevertheless, I digress...

As soon as the game was over we got in the car to leave and the battery was dead. RATS....and me having left the jumper cables in the middle of the driveway from having to jump my car this morning so B could take it to work. SIDE NOTE: PLEASE, for all that is good and holy in this world, go and but some jumper cables and leave them in your car. They are cheap and will save you one day. Luckily there were a lot of people around and I borrowed someone's car to go and retrieve my cables. SIDE NOTE: The P family in our town that we are good friends with are good people. They didn't hesitate when I asked them to borrow their car.

Upon returning with the cables and popping the hood I realized that the battery lead had come loose. So I didn't need a jump. ARRRRGGGHHHH.

Upon returning home I dropped off JCG with RP and went to Home Depot to get some top soil and 20 bags of mulch. After loading 11 bags onto my flat cart I realized that they didn't have enough bags within my reach to fulfill my order. So we had to have an employee get a forklift and get another pallet down. After loading the car with my mulch and topsoil (and grass seed), I drove home.

The first thing I needed to do was dig up the dead plants next to the mailbox. That in and of itself wouldn't be such a big deal. The problem is what to do with the dirt. I realized that there were low spots on the corners of several of my neighbors yards so I start filling in holes with the dirt. This was extra physical labor I wasn't counting on.

After filling in the new holes next to the mailbox with dirt and grass seed, it was time to move the mulch to the flower beds. THAT WAS A WHOLE LOT OF FUN.

Then I needed a brake so I waived my neighbor over and we power washed his lawn mower.

Then I took a break.

Then I vacuumed out both cars and shampoo washed the Odyssey.

Then I cleaned up the whole front yard from all the various things I had gotten out to do my work.

Then I power washed the drive way and sidewalk.

That was my Saturday. I am tired.

Sunday I get to spread the mulch, build a cover for my sum-pump and put all the mats back into the cars. I am ready to go back to work on Monday.

Cleanliness...perspective or reality?

My wife and I are what I like to call island parents. We moved to Ohio over 10 years ago. Far away from our life long friends and the closest family is 12 hours away via car ride. We have developed some friendships since moving here but my wife does not like "imposing" on our friends.

So when we really need to do some serious cleaning we have to either ignore our children, stick them in front of the TV or wait until they are asleep at night. None of these options are particularly appealing.

So what do other parents do?

Do you just decide to live in a constant state of chaos until your kids are more self sufficient?

Do you work tirelessly and not take a break from all the work you do anyway?

I am not ashamed to admit my obsession....

Clearly I now have two obsessions. Probably more than two but that is all I can think of right now. My new obsession is writing in my blog to basically no one. But I do have another obsession that I would like to share with you.

I am unsure when it started but at some point I developed an appetite for floor cleaning (huh?). Yes that is right, I enjoy....let me restate....I derive MUCH enjoyment out of cleaning the floor. Mainly it is the carpet and the floor in the kitchen. Now you might be wondering how an obsession with cleaning the floor might manifest itself.

Well....

I have a Dyson vaccum cleaner. Dyson vaccum cleaners are some of the most expensive vaccums on the market. I can not describe to you how much I love my dyson vaccum cleaner. It is the most awesome vaccum I have ever owned. It is easy to clean, empty, use and it sucks harder than any other vaccum I have ever used. Yes I could have purchased a different one but I only use the best when I clean a floor.

I have a hoover steam cleaner for the carpet. I steam the carpets clean about once every two weeks. I pride myself in being able to get up stains when my wife is worried they won't come up. Some of my most challenging stains to have conquered are lipstick (ALOT), ground in lip smacker (RED) and red wine (ALOT). With my trusty steamer you can barely see the lipstick and lip smacker and you cannot see the red wine at all.

The newest weapon in my arsenal is a hoover hard floor heated cleaner. Basically it is like the carpet steamer but it is used on hard floors. I am less happy with this item because it doesn't seem to clean as quickly as I would like it to. Plus the vaccum function of it is pretty weak. But I will be with it for a while.

Am I ill? Probably, but I have my mom to thank for my cleaning obsession. Ok, I wouldn't go so far as to say that I have a cleaning obsession. Just a floor cleaning obsession.