These Little Piggies...



These little piggies have been living in a pig sty. We used to have a great cleaning routine. A weekly list of particular chores that happened on a weekly basis. I actually used to dust our house each week. Then, this became an every-other-week cleaning routine. Not quite the standard I was hoping for, but the house was staying basically clean. With this pregnancy, we have resorted to the "when-is-the-next-time-we're-having-company" cleaning routine. (Thankfully we have our fair share of company, so haz-mat has never been required...)

Sophie had a lovely way of reminding me that we have adopted a new system. She walked into her bathroom, which I was furiously cleaning, took one look at me, and said, "Let me guess. You're getting ready for Aunt Pammie!" Yes, indeed, my cleaning the upstairs bathroom can only signal one thing - somebody's coming!

House-keeping creates a very real tension in my life. I truly love a clean house. I actually, physically feel better and certainly feel much more peaceful when our home is clean and organized. I just know I am more pleasant to be around. Until...I try to insist on keeping the house clean. Then I am absolutely positive that I am much less pleasant to be around. So, I try to take a more relaxed approach, which works pretty well, until it doesn't. Once we reach pig sty state, I then become Atilla the Hun. I have not yet found the right balance.

So, currently I'm reading three books (because, of course, reading books helps your house get cleaned up...) Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson, In the Midst of Chaos by Bonnie Miller-McLemore, and If Mama Goes South, We're All Going With Her by Lindsey O'Connor. Do you sense a theme?

All kidding aside, I am finding that, for me, and this may not be true for many others, finding inspiration or a new take on an old problem is encouraging. I haven't been motivated to clean the house from top-to-bottom, but then that isn't really my goal. I am hoping to change my outlook on the work God has given me, and consequently change my actions. Small steps so far. But hey, that upstairs bathroom is sparkling! And with Pammie's visit just around the corner, I predict the piggies will be in a somewhat cleaner sty by the weekend!

P.S. (Oh, Aunt Pammie, could you please let us know exactly when you will be arriving?!)

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