I was driving by a large field today, one that my husband and I used to ride his three wheeler in while we were dating. It was directly behind the house I grew up in....it is a huge piece of property, and used to be home to a water treatment plant. The ponds there had some kind of beaver type animal (not sure beaver live in Texas, so unsure what it was.) Well, now those ponds have been filled in, and a MASSIVE housing development has gone up, and is still going up. It made my heart hurt to see it. Does anyone else feel like this?
I just can't believe there are so many people in San Antonio, that are looking to buy new homes. Everywhere I go, new homes are being built or sprang up so fast, they weren't there the last time I drove by. And I'm not talking years, I am talking the space of a month or so..There will be a beautiful piece of land, trees, cows, etc., and then WHAM! a million houses that all look the same, along with miles and miles of privacy fences.
On another note, I was going over a friend's house this morning, and on the way into her development there are several mobile homes where the people just absolutely have no respect...for themselves or their neighbors. I don't feel this is in anyway a reflection on my friend, it's just unfortunate that she has trashy neighbors. She keeps her property and home immaculate. I don't care if you don't have any money, you can still be clean, it costs nothing to pick up trash out of your yard, and to keep the weeds down. The weeds I could even live with, but the MOUNTAINS of trash piled up on the front porch, and strewn throughout the yard is appalling. If something is broken, get rid of it, don't leave it rotting in your front yard. By making the effort to be at the least clean, it will make you feel good about yourself and your surroundings. My mother told me this, and it holds true. Example: when you are feeling sick, or depressed, by fixing your hair and putting on a little makeup, the world WILL look a little brighter, and you will feel a little more inclined to deal with the problems that crop up. If you look like crap, and feel like crap, well, you won't accomplish much. The same goes with your house, clean it up a little, clean is free, just takes time.
Driving home tonight from picking my son up from the college library, we passed rows and rows of houses with their Christmas lights on...it's amazing how beautiful everything looks at night, with the lights blinking. You almost forgot how "traumatized" the landscape looks during the day. The row after row of broken down vehicles, the neglected properties, the razing of the land to build more houses (see paragraph 1 for that rant) and the continuous expansion of the highways and roadways. At night it all dissappears to be replaced by these magnificent lights that give you a little feeling of hope. Reminding you that Jesus is the Light of the World. This is the explanation I give my kids for why we put lights up at Christmas. Along with proclaiming your light before the world, and not hiding it under a bushel....NO! (lol!)
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My days are so busy...I cannot wait for this semester to be over. I look forward to being able to stay home during the day, to clean, sew again, bake and get back to my routines for each day of the week. Having to get up each week day to take the son to college SERIOUSLY takes a HUGE chunk out of the day...by the time I get back home it's almost 3:30 in the afternoon, and I have just enough time to straighten the foyer, living room and bathroom, then get dinner started before my husband gets home from work. This next semester I have the son scheduled for one online computer course, plus a landscaping course and it's lab. That is a total of 6 semester hours, which is part time. I have his course and lab on Monday evening, so he will be there from 6:00-10:00 at night. Hopefully, this will allow him to find a local, part time job, and allow me to get my house back in "apple pie order". Since my daddy's passing in August, I haven't been able to really clean the house, more of just a general clutter control. I need to declutter my bedroom. It's in bad shape, and used as a general catch all.
I plan to buy about 6 rubber maid totes tomorrow, to pack all the clutter from the dining room in it, until I can sort through it. Then I will stack these in the closet in the playroom. I surely hope my sisters will be ready to sort through some of my dad's things, and that my brother buys a house here soon. He has asked for my dad's dining room set, plus the old antique recliner that was our great-grandfather's (I'd LOVE to have it, primarily because I am the family historian and love old things, but I am keeping a lot of my dad's furniture, so am trying not to be selfish.) In the bedroom, I need to go through dressers and throw away a lot of old clothes (husband's), then take most of these dressers to the garage for a future sale or give away, then set up my dad's bedroom suite in my room. Then I want to paint, and make new curtains, making my room, finally, a safe haven for sleep and relaxation.
My kitchen needs a little work, but not much, more of a general cleaning, and putting things away. The laundry room needs LOTS of work. I am behind on my laundry again, especially when it comes to comforters and bedspreads. They take up a lot of space, let me tell you. The puppy enjoys it. She sleeps in the laundry room, and burrows into a comforter to keep warm.
The girls room needs to be organized and the carpet cleaned. They really need a new carpet, but I haven't taken the time to hunt one down, and I am not looking forward to taking apart the bunk beds to get another carpet in there...Oy vay!
The long hallway is another "hot spot" as the Flylady would say. I need to get this area taken care of too. My son's room....I don't even go in there...he will be 19 in February, and I REFUSE to clean his room at his age....he does okay, but there is this yucky "boy" smell in there....
The bathroom is cleaned every day. I do this, to help keep everyone healthy. I find by cleaning the toilet everyday, and wiping off counters, door knobs and hanging clean towels every day, we have been relatively illness free most of the year. (I really like that show "How Clean is Your House" and have learned a lot about how to clean the toilet and bath.)
The living room is also cleaned every day, for the most part. I see a couple of cobwebs way up in the corners of my 12 foot ceilings. My 5 foot three self doesn't look up often so they get missed. The toys in the corner toybox bother me and I want to put them in the girls bedroom, but I lack the motivation. Likewise in the far corner I have a semi-permanent box of books that I have listed on Amazon.com for sale. I think they are starting to grow roots, and are sprouting mushrooms on the top, as they have been there for about a year. Other than though, my living room is pretty clean.
I have a new friend coming over on Saturday for lunch, so I am motivated more than usual to clean and declutter (which I hope will start tomorrow morning and finish tomorrow night.)
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