Cleaning

As many people know one of the big things in adoption is the home study. Of course as I have mentioned in earlier posts there is more to a home study then the actually inspection of the home but there is an inspection at the end. Since Jeff and I have lived in our home for 5 years now things have collected and dust is a major collections!

So we cleaned. Well in the process of cleaning. Everything! Everywhere! And purged!! First we worked in our office aka the half the kitchen. This area tends to collect a lot for the simple fact that our heavy trash and recycling gets put there. Also any hunting and fishing equipment that hasn't been put away yet ends up in front of the desk. So we dedicated one full day to just cleaning that. Mind you we moved all the furniture, mopped the floor, and reorganized the room.

Then we rearranged the living room. Well I rearrange the living room twice a year so this year I happened to have help. Later that night I did the dinning room by myself. Fear of breaking the glass in my china cabinet kept me from moving it but I did my best to dust behind it. I know they aren't going to look behind the furniture but as a girl with a dust mite allergy I prefer to get rid of all the dust! Mind you Jeff and I have 24 hours off at the same time! Of that 24 hours one or both of us are asleep for 12 -16 hours and I have church. So doing spring cleaning like this takes multiple Sundays. One per room is our average but during that we are still trying to have a social life, do the adoption paperwork, read the books require, start taking classes, and oh yeah spend time together to make sure we keep focused on our marriage. Maybe it's good adoption is costing us so much money because we are so busy we don't realize we have no money!!

Then came Memorial Day Weekend! Most people get all excited about going to the beach, going to BBQ's, and visiting family. Jeff and I tackled our bedroom. A room that hasn't been rearranged ever! Other then cleaning what I could get to quickly between sleep schedules the bedroom hadn't had a good cleaning in a year. Plus all the furniture in our bedroom is heavy! So instead of spending time with family or spending the day at the range shooting we cleaned. Again. Jeff had worked over time that weekend so he wasn't 100% and I was moody from missing out on a get together to clean. But we cleaned and cleaned and Jeff moved furniture and we cleaned again.

Then when we were done the room felt empty! Why empty you ask? During all the cleaning Jeff and I have decided that Winnie didn't need the kennel anymore. So after 5 years her kennel has left the room. So as we prepared to move one baby into our bedroom we had to accept that our first baby isn't so little anymore. So as we prepare for parenthood in this private, lonely way our emotions range. Many people don't understand, many don't care, but we clean and we get ready to be parents. Please understand during this time we aren't being anti-social, we are cleaning and we are adoption poor. And even though we may have our moments were we wish we could go and do whatever both of us know there isn't anything else we would rather do then prepare for our future.