A Brag (and a Request)

I was skipping along, all head-in-the-clouds like, just fine, quite content to enjoy my post-vacation glow for as long as the schmoopy-woopiness would have me. But ready or not, along came today, and with it, a bit of reality. Reality in the guise of laundry. Reality in the guise of piled-up dishes. Reality in the guise of kitchen floors littered with firewood scraps. And nothing pulls one out of a post-vacation daydream like a bit of housework.

I readied myself to do the usual - throw in a load of laundry, scrub bathrooms, throw in a load of laundry, dust, throw in a load of laundry, vacuum, and do up some more laundry. Just the normal stuff. But then something took hold of me and I started going a little crazy.



Maybe it was the week with no responsibilities greater than choosing which decadent dessert to try next. Maybe it was the week of lazy mornings at the beach. Maybe it was the impending fall and some primal, instinctual urge to nest before the hibernation to come. Whatever it was, I went beyond clean. WAY beyond clean.



It started with a thorough scrubbing of the boys (nasty-*ss) bathroom. And for some reason, I skipped the dusting spray and decided everything needed a good rub-down with a rag. And I mean everything! Baseboards, ceiling fans, picture frames, light fixture cords. Nothing was safe from the cleaning rag. I rinsed it again and again, and got new ones whenever the current one got beyond saving. I shed clothing, working up a sweat. And when even the raw knuckles and aching triceps weren't enough, I decided to rearrange my living room.


You may recall my living room. Notice there are no walls in my living room. At least none I can use. So we've had this lay-out for, oh, 11 years. We've lived here for 11 years.


Well now, it looks like this:


The couches are angled! Am I a wild woman or what?! I've gotta go sit down for a sec.


And while I'm resting from the excitement-that-is-my-Friday, here's my first request - I need your opinion. I used to think I had the "decorating gene." I mean, how difficult is it to design a room, huh? I know what I like, and I know what I don't like. What I can't seem to manage, however, is determining the perfect room arrangement. I simply cannot do it. My brain doesn't allow it. I envision something, bust a gut moving furniture around, only to find it doesn't work AT ALL. That's happened time and again. And it's why I've had the same, darn, gawd-forsaken arrangement for 11 stinkin' years.



And so now I realize I have a captive audience in all of you! All my loyal readers. All 3 of you. And it's a good thing there's 3 of you, so there can be a tie-breaking vote if need be.

So, which arrangement do you like? This one?


Or this one?


I'd put a poll on here or something, for your ease in voting, but that's too hard for me. I haven't even figured out how everyone puts crossed-out words on their blog yet. And I think that's a hoot and a half.

Here are more photos for your viewing pleasure, and not because I secretly want you to vote for the new arrangement. Because I want you to notice how bloody freakin' CLEAN this place is.



My mother-in-law, the Queen of Clean, would be proud.




Though she's probably mumbling, "It sure as sam-h*ll didn't look like that last week, when I stayed there!"


And she'd be right.

And just in case you were gonna ask, I hate what I did to my purple wall. I tried to do some sort of hazy, glazey effect. And it didn't work. Instead it's sorta schmoopy-whoopy. And I like schmoopy-whoopy if it means post-vacation euphoria. I don't like it when it means stoooopid swooshy looks on my walls.


I even washed every single piano key. Seriously. I did.

Heck, I even did this:

And the last time I did that was in 1998 or something.

So alrighty then, on with the ultra-important business at hand. Tell me, oh please oh please do tell, which way do you like best? The L arrangement? Or the angled arrangement? Seriously, tell me. Tell me now. Now. Now!

And just so you don't worry that I totally over-extended myself, and worry that my raw knuckles and cramping triceps will never recover, and wonder if I should rest my weary self after all this hard work, I did stop at this:

Some areas of my life just aren't meant to be tidy. Just be glad I didn't show you the bathroom "before" picture!