Kitchen Confidential

Despite how much of a clutter nut I am, I really like it when my home is clutter free and clean. As strange as it seems, I think sometimes my house becomes cluttered and stays cluttered because of my particular neuroses. I have too much perfectionism in me, the curse of being irritated when things aren't "just so." When the house is spotless, every little thing bothers the heck out of me, sort of irrationally so, and for those who know me, probably comes as a surprise. On the flip side it's peaceful too. Ironically, sometimes it seems easier to deal with when things are a frenzied chaos.

I taught some lessons yesterday, and because one of my students just finished eighth grade, her mom comes and stays inside during the lesson. This is a first for me, since usually the kids are old enough to drive themselves, or they're old enough for the parents to drop them off and then enjoy having an hour to themselves. There are a few coffee shops nearby and I think one father in particular just goes and enjoys a rare moment of solitude.

But now, with this new student, each week I need to make sure that not only the living room and dining room are clean, but also my "den" which serves as a waiting room for her. With the new furniture I picked up used from some friends a few months ago, it's turned into a comfortable space which feels great to have clean and has become my favorite place to sit and relax with a good book or the computer. For the past two weeks, each Thursday has found my entire first floor (other than what's behind the closed door off of the dining room) spotlessly clean, and it feels great. I want to maintain this kind of living, and as Torey has said to me, when you respect a space, you want to keep it clean. I respect these three rooms because they're the ones I've been able to make my own.

Now the kitchen...that's another story completely! By the end of the summer, however, I'll have a new one, and I know I'll finally feel like that's mine too. The first step is finishing my bathroom, which I've been chipping away at this week. By the time fall rolls around, my whole first floor will be completely redone, and I'm going to strive with everything in me to keep it clean, because it feels so good.

As to my kitchen, it was in serious need of a Clean Sweep intervention. I helped Torey a week or so ago with babysitting her kids for a couple of hours and she offered a helping hand in getting the kitchen back in shape. It had just gotten out of hand, and since there's that door to close from the dining room, it was a case of "out of sight, out of mind."

We did a thorough scrubbing down, and it feels great to have it clean, but Torey's insight to me made a huge impact on me. She made the comment that I don't respect my kitchen, and for someone who derives so much pleasure from cooking, I need to be able to respect and enjoy my kitchen. I think the hope for a perpetually clean kitchen will be fulfilled on the other side of this kitchen remodel, which has spurred me on to get it done, and get it done as quickly as possible. I'm really excited by the prospect and I'm finally able to envision it as a reality. One way or the other, it's getting done this summer.

I'm looking forward to this entire first floor being remodeled--I think my life of insane clutter will have a fighting chance to be overturned.

Or at least that's the hope.

Thanks Torey. I told you you didn't know what you were getting yourself into, and as you now fully comprehend, I owe you, big time!

A Clean House

Thank God I have students who come to my house for lessons. If I didn't, I fear my house would forever be relegated to semi-squalid conditions, which unfortunately tends to be my wont. Today was a lesson day, which equates to cleaning day, though honestly I started a day or so ago because it was such a disaster. My house always seems to become a war zone whenever I travel for a long period of time--packing is always done last minute, and my living room becomes the staging area, filled with piles of possible stuff I might need to take here, there and everywhere.

Fortunately, the war zone has been swept away once again. It always feels so good when the house is clean. And especially now, since I found a tremendous deal on some furniture that really fits my house well. I picked it up a week ago Saturday, right before my trip to Puerto Rico when my house was a complete disaster, so I didn't get a true sense of what it felt like. Today is the first time I've seen the new furniture in a clean house and it really feels great. I walked in tonight and I found myself saying, "man, I really like my house." It feels good and I realize that my house is a place I really can enjoy (when I'm not pining for someone to share it with, of course...) It feels like these new pieces of furniture were the missing pieces of the puzzle.

My house feels like a comfortable sweater.

A New Haven

I have a few places in my house now that I've been trying to create as "havens." I like to read, and usually the only place that's clean is my living room. I spent about a week cleaning up one room downstairs, and now that I have a nice leather chair in there, I really enjoy the room. I've been spending most of my free evenings for the past week or so in there, listening to some nice tunes and reading or surfing the net.

I just finished giving my bedroom a really good tidying up, and I hauled one of the club chairs I just bought up into a nook I have in my bedroom. I think I'm going to enjoy being here as well. My hope is that I'm creating spaces where I want to be, spaces that I really want to keep clean. When I pick up my new furniture for the bedroom later this week, I think my bedroom will finally be a room that feels like mine, rather than a dorm room in college. I think cleanliness will follow. (We'll check in again in six months to see).

One down...

As of two minutes ago, my "study" is spotlessly clean. It has been relegated to the roll of glorified storage closet and all purpose stuff-it spot for whenever I needed to do rapid fire cleaning of the house or garage. It was a daunting task which took well over a week of grabbed time to clean it, but as of now, it's tidy. Giddy up!

I've got a nice leather club chair from Costco winging it's way to me soon, and I just found a very cool lighted bookshelf to put in there that I'm thinking about buying. I think it will turn into a nice haven/library for me.

Now to tackle my guest bedroom upstairs.

I should have an update on that one in a month.

Back Home

I arrived back home today from California, and it's good to be back. Though I must confess that I'm missing Santa Cruz weather. My brother Jim came and picked me up at the airport in Detroit, and I told him that the air felt like Michigan: It felt juicy. I'm always struck by how you get an idea of what your time in a given place will be like with that first gust of the local air that greets as you step off a plane. In Thailand, the air felt hot and heavy, drenched with the smell of jasmine. In San Francisco, the air felt clean and mildly moist from the fog that rolls in from the ocean. On my layover at Houston, the air just felt cloying and sweaty. And in Michigan--it's juicy. And I don't like juicy.

I'll post some pictures and a summary of my trip in a few days, but while I'm online, I have to post about one more reason why Netflix is the choice for me. I've noticed that they've begun a "play it now" feature on their website, but I haven't taken the time to investigate further. In this day and age of hidden fees and glitzy promises of deals too good to be true, I figured there had to be a catch. But since I'm here tonight, itching for some entertainment, and have nothing to watch, I thought I'd investigate a little bit.

The good news? It's included in your membership. I see a movie in my future tonight!

Home

I enjoyed a wonderful evening tonight with my friends Paul and Alison and their children. We had dinner, ate some dessert, then watched a movie. As I was leaving, talk turned towards projects around the house that were taking place under each of our roofs, and I recalled one house that I almost purchased, to the point of making an offer on it. I mentioned how relieved I was that it hadn't panned out, and that I knew I was in the right house for me.

When I came home tonight, and stepped out of my car, I was greeted with a sound that transported me into a hundred memories--memories of summer nights, camping under the stars in a forest of pines. It's one of the best sounds in the world, and it's a reminder of one more reason I love my house. The sound of wind whipping through the branches of the pine trees that border my backyard is a sound I never tire of hearing. There's no sound like it on earth, and to me, it's a quintessential Michigan sound. I've heard and enjoyed it walking on many a hike in the U.P. of Michigan, or back in my days as a Boy Scout, hiking through the woods back to camp. It's a sound best mixed with the sound of waves lapping on shore, or accompanied by the roar of a campfire. That sounds reminds me of wonderful trips with friends or family, or solo hikes that are just as memorable. I'll often sit under those pine trees when I come home in the summer, and enjoy the peace I feel when I hear that most pleasant of sounds. It's a reminder of how I think this house is perfect for me, and one more reason why I'm very grateful for it.