Mother's Day Early

It seems like there has been a rash of celebratory events lately, and once we get started with one, we apparently like to gather as many as we can to extend the happiness!

Tuesday was Ryan's 26th birthday. It just really doesn't seem possible that my baby could be so old!  This year he is exactly 1/2 my age which, I am sure, makes it magical in some way. :)

Tueaday afternoon a flyer was left on the door for a local house cleaning service.  Elizabeth brought it in while Mom and I were working a puzzle and I said, "That is what I want for Mother's Day!"  Elizabeth and Ornery split the cost, which was much more than I would normally pay for such a thing, but not as much as I have seen it advertised in the past.  So, yesterday I called to set up an appointment, and today "Mimi" came and spent six hours cleaning Zoe Cottage.

Of course, it wouldn't be right to have her come into a dirty house, so I did a bit of "pre-cleaning-cleaning" beginning yesterday and finishing today.  I washed all the throw rugs (eleven in all) the shower curtain, and all the towels and sheets.  Elizabeth climbed up on the kitchen counters yesterday and handed all the glassware down to me so I could wash it, then put it all back--in a slightly different arrangement that is more to my liking.

This morning, Ornery and I went to Panera for breakfast, and then I came home and washed out all the small trashcans, swept the front and back porches and picked things up in almost every room of the house.  I took a lot of breaks, some on the back porch in the rockers, some in my studio where I dreamed about painting, and some in the living room to talk to Mimi while she cleaned all the wooden blinds (a HUGE undertaking I had been putting off for some time!)

Once I had my part of the work done, I retreated to my studio to paint some card fronts.  I made two Mother's Day cards, and ended up giving one to Mimi before she left.  I have four to send, so now I will have to make three more, but that is not a hardship since I am getting to use my twinks. :)

The mail finally arrived at about the time Mimi was leaving, and in it was the pottery pitcher Elizabeth ordered for my birthday back in February and another batch of 21 new colors of twinks!  I think I should be okay for color selection now, although I don't think I am yet up to the choices in a 64 color box of Crayolas!

Other than some rugs needing to finish drying, the house is in tip-top shape.  I am not even entertaining anyone soon, so we get to enjoy it all by ourselves for a while!  I usually deep clean like that when I am hosting some event, but this time I just wanted everything to be clean all at the same time.

Tomorrow I plan to do a bit of cooking to restock the freezer. Elizabeth is taking chili to work tomorrow, but if she wasn't I am not sure there would be anything fixed for her to take for lunch.  So, perhaps some calzones and a batch of hamburger/rice stroganoff... and some cookies--I am pretty sure that would finish off the celebratory week in style!