Tidying up

I dunno. I have trouble patting myself on the back. Oldest daughter is off work today, and came into the kitchen to see what I was doing this morning. "Nothing," is what I said. Then in my head I began listing what I'd been doing since getting up with the dogs at 6:30am.

• cleaned up dog mess from oldest dog lacking sufficient self-control on the odd day---thankful it was on the hardwood and not the rug
• fed dogs
• got online and checked email and ranted
• drank tea and ate cereal
• began putting clothes in washer (did five loads) and setting clean ones in basket for the boys to lug outside and hang-up
  
• dug through various paint cans until I found what I was looking for
• opened can of white enamel and lavender enamel for inside jobs
• began to touch-up paint on door frames in kitchen/dining room (this is while kids are getting up, eating breakfast and waiting for me to start going over schoolwork)
  
• when daughter found me I was putting fresh paint on fronts of kitchen cabinets

And my silly response to her was that I was doing nothing. When will I learn? Truth be told, moms are busy so much of the day, and at least for me, unless I'm doing something earth-shattering (never happens!), I lack the ability to give myself any credit.

Now, thankfully, the trim in various places and the cabinets look all fresh. One son touched up the paint (lavender) in the bathroom. What happened to spur me on was visiting a couple of friends lately and seeing how my own house was slipping into disrepair. Theirs were too. We can live with dinginess for only so long until things have to change. Home maintenance is rarely on the top of my to-do list, but when things look clean, we all feel better.