Taking the Scenic Route

We aren’t going to get the tree up tonight like we planned.  We did get a lot of cleaning done though.  This morning I was all determined to get the house together before putting the tree up.  It took me the entire day to clean our little bitty bathroom.  How sad.  Yes, it was dirty, but the main problem was trying to clean the bathroom with my back.  I kept thinking that if I just took it slow, it would be fine.  Zane came and ‘helped’ for a while.  He enthusiastically dunked the rags into the cleaning water, but only remembered to squeeze it out about 30% of the time, resulting in a LOT of water everywhere.  It is good for him to learn to help, and it meant he was staying out of Zach’s way (he was doing the really heavy cleaning and doesn’t have the patience with interruptions that I do)  It did, however, mean the floor was slicker, which meant I was working harder to keep my balance and keep both of us safe while trying to clean.  I ended up having to give him a bath in my ‘just cleaned’ tub to get all the goop off of him.  Zach had to help get him out of the bath (he would stay in there forever if we let him) because I couldn’t do anything other than say ‘please get out of the bath’ and he knew it and was, naturally, taking advantage of the situation.   

My back hurts so bad this evening I am almost totally unable to move.  It hurts to the point that Zach took Zane with him to run to the store for milk, sour cream & oil because I couldn’t trust myself to deal with an emergency alone with Zane. 

I do have to say though that I am so thankful for Zach.  When I emerged from the bathroom, the entire kitchen (including the floors and cabinets) were clean, the main living area was clean, and he was sorting the boxes of ‘papers we need to go through’ that were in the way)  I sat with him and finished going through the papers, then he took out bag after bag of trash and started the towel/rag load in the washer to help clean up the massive amount of laundry created by the dishes and bathroom cleaning.  Then he scrubbed up a bunch of potatoes for supper (the roast will wait until tomorrow), vacuumed, and took Zane with him to the store.  It is such a blessing to have a true partner. 

He also is the one that suggested we wait until tomorrow to do the tree so that I might be able to enjoy it without being in so much pain.  I know he was excited to get the tree up, so it was really sweet.  I am glad we didn’t tell Zane that was the plan so it was easier to just change the decorating to tomorrow.

It is nice to have the place clean though.  Zane destroyed his clean room while we were working in the rest of the house, but that usually only takes a half hour at the most to get decluttered again.  It will wait until tomorrow though.  I am DONE tonight.