My not-so-typical day

My dear readers, you've already deduced that I'm not the kind of housekeeper whose house can pass the white glove test. It's clean. It's just not spotless. Well, usually...

For the past couple of days, I've had this urge to clean my house. If I were pregnant, I'd say I was nesting. I still say I'm sympathy nesting for a friend. Or it could just be that with the new system I have in place for the kids, I want to get more organized. Or maybe I'm done with my summer break and ready to get back to work. Whatever the case may be, I spent my whole day cleaning yesterday.

Typical cleaning for me is vacuuming, sweeping and mopping. (Remember, clean--not spotless). Yesterday, I vacuumed walls, cobwebs, spider webs (my son was able to rescue a few spiders for his collection) and baseboards. I found curtains in my laundry room and decided to hang them. I cleaned out the refrigerator and the freezer. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. I vacuumed hallways and carpets. The point is -- I didn't just clean like usual...I deep cleaned.

Well, now it's become apparent why I cleaned so much yesterday. How was I supposed to know that one decision I made last night would change the whole structure of my day today?

Last night, after dinner, I told DH that I was going for a walk. I invited my five year old daughter along and she gladly accepted and came along.

Where I live, the streets are all criss-crossed, but the blocks don't run in a typical city block. So, while I went to the corner and walked all the way down the street, turned a corner and walked all the way down that street, turned again and walked all the way up THAT street, I did not walk on a street that crossed the street I started on. I got mixed up and confused and ended walking all the way to the main road and had to back track back home.

As you can imagine, this took quite a while to do (probably 1 1/2 hours). By this time, it was dark. DH was frantic and got into the car with DS and went looking for us.

As DD and I were walking, a dog followed us. Now, I'm convinced that she was our guardian angel. I didn't know her but I somehow felt more comfortable knowing she was with us. That is, until I stepped in an hole up to my knee and twisted!

So, the last leg of our walk was done with me limping. I could see the empty drive way from up the street, so I knew that DH was out looking for me. As DD and I walk across the yard, DH pulls into the drive way and starts fussing at me. (He was worried and when he worries, he tends to get mad. He was mad at me).

I was in pain from my fall but didn't want to see the kids see me cry (and I was on the verge of tears) so I sent them inside. I stayed outside and DH came outside -- starting to fuss at me again, until he saw me crying.

Long story short, he sent me into the shower to get my leg cleaned up (I have a nasty scratch on my left leg) and sent DS into the kitchen to do dishes. When I got out of the shower, DH told me that DS was crying, so I went in and comforted him.

I have been forbidden from walking at night ever again. I didn't take my cellie because it's prepaid and I didn't have any minutes left (they had expired...that's how often I actually use my cell phone). I will 'find' the money in order to get time put on the phone this Friday. I don't ever want to be caught without a cell phone again. No one bugged us (which was fortunate, considering we don't live in the safest of cities). If I had the cell phone on me, I would have called DH to come pick us up as soon as it started getting dark and he would have just ragged on me for not finishing my walk--not gotten scared out of his mind that our 'quick walk' wasn't so quick!