Day One

I had no idea what to do this month. I was really looking for some inspiration, something to bring meaning to this month's '29'. I had a few backup ideas, things I was milling around when I decided to start this project, but none of them seemed right this month.

We just bought a living room set this past weekend. It consists of a couch, love seat, and chair.  This was a sort of a big deal in that it was one of our few 'grown up' purchases. Figuring out how and where this new seating will fit into our house has been tricky...for a few reasons. First, we have very few things in our house that are nice. Most of our furniture has been found on the side of the road or purchased at a thrift store. There are few pieces from Ikea or that have been inherited from others but nonetheless we have sort of a hodge-podge of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. I have been worrying about how the furniture will look. I begin by sitting in one room, analyzing how our other stuff should be moved around, what can be moved into storage, and what can be thrown away.  Usually I love rearranging furniture.  I find it refreshing to purge a bit and establish a new perspective in a room.  Therefore, I was surprised at how daunting it was to tackle figuring out how our new setup would fit in with the mess.  That is what it all feels like: a mess. I find myself trying to figure out how make it all fit and it seems that the only solution is a house with more storage, a bigger house, a clean house.

Ugh. The only one of those things I have control over is the clean part.

So, I grudgingly am committing to do a bit of cleaning each day. This may seem - well, I don't know what it may seem like - but to anyone who knows me, this is not my strong suit. I am a clutter-bug, I am a pack-rat, and I am mess-leaver. I am the one who drops something on the floor and doesn't pick it up. I leave cabinet doors open, I let stuff go bad in the fridge, I have a pile of coats and scarves on the dining room table because I can't seem to take them to the closet each day.  Really, cleaning happens when we have guests over, so maybe once a week? God, that's embarrassing.

Okay, so, a little bit each day. This is going to be very, very, very hard for me.

Today, I swept.