Sooner or Later…

Why, oh why do pregnant women suddenly become list makers?  Why does it suddenly become important to get *everything* done before the baby arrives?  Most things on the list will be undone in a day or two and does the baby really care?  We tell ourselves that if x gets done then y will be so much easier with a newborn, but life isn’t an equation so why do we drive ourselves insane with long lists!

Before we knew the little missey was on her way my summer list had one major goal, one minor goal, and a few every summer goals.  

Major goal–paint the living room, other rooms would if time/money allowed.  We live in a 100+ year old southern house. A house so old it has a name–”The Joe B. House”.  Love the tall ceilings, large windows, and the way sunshine falls through the house.  Built before air-conditioning, the slightest breeze just flows through the house.  Under the 50+ year old carpeting are beautiful hardwood floors that look good with a waxing until refinishing can be done.  Also, love the fact that the rooms are not huge so the house doesn’t feel like a museum.  By today’s standard it is a medium to smallish house, but it is just right for us.

What I don’t love is looking at 40-50+ years worth of grubbies.  Yes, the former owners were clean people, but after so long even the best paint will fail.  Add in real plaster in the front-room and you have unwashable walls–unless you want to dissolve them down to nothing.  We talked to a granddaughter of the Joe B. and found that the front-room had wallpaper that hid all those smudgies.  The next owners stripped it, then discovered that cancer has a way of stopping all dreams of remodeling and retirement. 

So we have antique smudgies to look at.  We have been looking at them for 4 years.  Small children have added to the collection & included some matching artwork for our viewing pleasure.  The only carpet left is in the front-room and adjoining bedroom.  It is there so that paint drips will fall onto old carpet and not hardwood flooring.  Small wonder that I want the room painted and the carpet out.

Minor goal:  build a pantry in the basement.  We are one of only about 5 houses in town with a basement.  (Totally great story about how it came to be, but not now.)  So where better to keep all the food & storage a large family needs than in a cool dark pantry in the basement.

Small goals were on the line of gardening, finally finishing hauling off 50+ years worth of junk (been doing for 4 years), beach trips, and more landscaping.  

Practical and do-able, right?

But with little missey making her presence known the list somehow grew.  Now there are closets and dressers to sort through, furniture to move and clean behind, and baby things to prepare, and other reasonable things to do–if you are the owner of a pregnant mind. 

Sounds reasonable and even do-able–right?  If not, no big deal–right?

For the first time in years and years and years we have a flea problem.  Did you know that 90-99% of flea products are not made to be used on hardwood floors?  That good vet quality products are outrageously expensive, and the closest ones are 45+ miles away?  That environmentally friendly or cheap remedies are not kid friendly or available locally. That to do the job right you must move and vacuum up all dust and dander because larval fleas *eat* that stuff!  Did I mention that this is a 100+ year old house?–think about that in terms of dust and old dander.  Or not, it’s really stomach turning.

The web is some help, but not always.  One site says to damp-mop to pick up eggs and prevent future hatchings.  Another says no damp mopping as the humidity will encourage egg hatching.  This is the south where it is possible to have 95% humidity and no rain so the creating humidity isn’t a problem but damp mopping everyday is bothersome.  Guess what helps–damp mopping everyday.  Right after vacuuming every room, every day. 

So the list of things a pregnant woman would like to get done, is getting done because ”It has to be done” as Nora Batty says.  The first list was sadly neglected until the past few weeks. 

The garden was planted and then grew up in grass as tall as my waist.  That weeding chore was finished today!!!  So now I can finally get the cardboard and straw down to prevent weeds.  Yes, I know better but rains did not cooperate until the grass grew then rain totally stopped.  DH spent shut-down finishing the kids play corner, cleaning the yard, and hauling junk.  That should be all the junk, at least until we tackle the attics in both the house and the garage.  I did get some flowerbeds tended, but still have flowers and herbs waiting to go into the ground.  If the weather holds that will get done this weekend.  So the backyard is looking good (cheers all around).  Don’t ask about the front is all I ask. 

We made it to the beach twice.  Once was a monday and there were only about 5 families there–very nice and peaceful.  One thing learned:  never, never, never buy a green swimsuit for a lake that has fishing areas.  I have been bitten more times in two trips that in all the trips in the past 10 years.  Nothing like a high, upper-inner thigh, swimsuit line bite to get a body moving.

The front room looks as dismal as always.  The pantry is still a dream.  I have about 28 days to go.

And that list is now only as long as my arm.