Day: May 28, 2005

Today was a good start for summer vacation. The kids got all their work done before lunch with only minimal prodding from me. Then we brought out the slip-n-slide that I bought at a thrift store last November. We set it up on the small hill in our yard and much splashy fun ensued. I didn’t actually participate in much of the fun because I was wrapped up in The Face by Dean Koontz. I tend to not like creepy novels. I definitely don’t like novels where Bad Things happen to children, but this particular novel really worked for me. There was some creepy stuff, but the basic universe is one where supernatural evil is balanced with supernatural good and I’m alright with that. The characters were engaging as well, which is a must for me to really enjoy a book. It was nice to really wrap my head around a new book, but now I need to dive in and work on some household projects which need to be finished.

In every house there are corners where “stuff” gathers. The “stuff” may be papers, toys, batteries, anything where someone decides it needs to be saved, but isn’t sure exactly where to put it. I’ve been cleaning out corners of gathered “stuff” over the past week. I use the pile-in-the-middle method. I scoop everything from the corner (or counter, or closet) into the middle of an empty space. Then I can only put back the things that really belong in that corner. Everything else needs to find a new home. Sometimes it only migrates to a different clutter spot, but in theory as I go through and eliminate clutter spots this “stuff” will eventually run out of places to hide in plain sight. I got this method from my mother who always taught me to clean the corners first because if I clean the middle first the corners will never get done. My mom is a smart lady.