Cleaning binges are rare

With Jim my dog walker coming to help with Eddie everyday I've got the impetus to keep the house presentable. Like when you shove everything in the closet or the spare bedroom when guests are coming and you don't have the time to really clean. Only I'm actually keeping everything clean clean. Not just pretending to be civilized clean.

But binges don't happen often enough for me. When I've got the energy, I've got to take advantage of it before it evaporates.



This morning, Eddie (that's him in the picture) got me up early from a Tylenol PM sleep to go out for a potty break at 2. I couldn't fall back asleep again and started on the hall closet.

Can't imagine ANYone needs as many lunch kits as I've managed to collect over the years. One with space for an ice pack to keep food cold. Two that zipper around the top for easy access. A freebie one from the photography studio that folds up on itself like a brown paper lunch bag. It doesn't stay open wide enough for a sandwich holder to fit in without tipping upright. Another that still smells like pickles. Nine gloves, three mittens, a brown pair and one green pair of rubber wellies, snow boots (with cleats) all neatly stowed away and I now have room to put away my bowling bag so I won't be stubbing my toe on it in the dining room anymore.

Will bag up the extra stuff with what I emptied from the bedroom closet for the clothing drop box and reclaim some space while contributing to a free range hanger sculpture that's growing on the bedroom floor. It's like playing Barrel o' Monkeys trying to pick that thing up. No wire hangers!

De-dog haired the sofa, vacuumed the living room, did the kitchen floor and will keep my fingers crossed that the recycling cans don't blow down the street on the next wind gust.

Have batteries...

will Wii box.

It's been nearly a year since my brother, Alex, set up my Wii and my nephew, Alex, showed me how to use it. I played for an hour or so with it, designed my Wii Mii, bowled for a little, boxed until I hit 500 points and then it told me that it was probably a very good idea to take a break.

Which I ignored.

Then I played for another couple of hours having every good intention of "boxing" myself down to a less tubby amount of me. And then, the next day, my arm was stiff and my back hurt and I was cursing myself for not listening to the much smarter Wii console that told me to take a little break.

And three days later I still didn't play with it.

And over the summer, nope.

So, my New Year's resolution is to try to do something to get me out of my "sitting in the comfy chair" funk during which I've watched season four of "The Wire" and the first three years of "Homicide" (I heart Clark Johnson) and went in search of the Wii controls.

Didn't disconnect the thing when Giuseppe painted the living room this summer. Just moved everything not plugged into the television or VCR to a "safe" place, which I found! Plugged in the cord, inserted the disk, and...

Nothing!

The batteries in the controls are dead. But they're AA batteries. Who doesn't have AA batteries just hanging around the kitchen junk drawer?!

Apparently, I don't.

Came across four rechargeable AA bats, but can't find the bit that plugs into the outlet. Found an unopened pack of AA with some lightbulbs in the basement. They were covered in a crunchy coating that (I'm guessing here) probably isn't white chocolate.

One trip to Super Fresh and $38.27 later and I've got batteries and a chance to keep my one, single resolution and boxed for half an hour. All wins, no completed third rounds and a little sweaty before dinner. All is good.

Already boxed today, so day two of the resolution gets a gold star in the "Done" column!

What to do next?