Catching up

We've been spending so much time at my parent's house this past week (has it really only been a week?), it's been very difficult to maintain the house. But, with a blitz on Saturday, we managed.

I'm so proud of what the kids did with the sun room, their tiny toy space, I took a picture. For the born-organized, this scene may be chaotic, but for me it brings peace. Very few toys on top of the bins, more inside, clear floor, clean windows. The nasty floor pillows got covered with leftover fabric from the basement that can be easily washed, the ugly, stained chair got tossed. I used my new steam cleaner on the floor and windows - I love that thing.

But all this travel means that the trunk stuff gets unloaded and dumped in the entrance willy-nilly and by the time we clean it up, it's time to go again. The sand is unbelievable, but we don't complain much about that because we are happy when we can make it to the beach there. My mom's shopping skills have deteriorated, so I end up taking all our food for each trip and then some for my Dad. That means coolers to empty and clean out, beach chairs, swim bags all pile up. Plus, Mom seems to be dumping stuff on me pretty regularly - a pile of magazines and catalogues dating from a few years ago that she felt I could use, wilted vegetables from her fridge, etc. I bring them home to throw them out or recycle them. There are really only so many battles one can fight in a day.

Today is a home day and I need to rev up the dehydrator for processing some strawberries from Costco, need to marinate some beef for jerky, do a whole house vacuum, do some shopping for Dad's food, get to my class at the gym, three loads of laundry, clean both bathrooms and make some minimal progress on Mark's socks. Tomorrow we'll be back at my parents, time can be so fleeting.