Friday, June 17, 2011

A Very Short To-Do List

When I woke up this morning (actually, yesterday morning, since it's after midnight now), I had one goal to accomplish.  ONE goal.  I never have just one goal.  I always have a to-do list longer than I could possibly accomplish, and I always OVERestimate how much I can accomplish and UNDERestimate how long it will take me!  But in this case, I narrowed my focus to one task:  washing dishes.

You see, all this week I've felt like I've been playing catch-up since our trip last weekend to the homeschool convention--playing catch-up, but never actually being caught up.  Not on laundry, not on housecleaning, not on organizing, not on garden work (I have broccoli and peas waiting in my refrigerator for me to prepare for freezing), and not on dishes.  My dirty-dish problem was compounded by the fact that our dishwasher continues to be agonizingly unreliable, and I get so frustrated when I open the door at the end of the cycle and find dishes that I thought were going to be clean and they're not.  Those washed-but-not-clean dishes contributed to my huge pile that needed washing by hand until the whole kitchen threatened to be overtaken by nothing but dirty dishes.  And so, I was determined that, in one area, I would achieve my goal.

I did.
I know I could have asked my mom to help me and she would have dropped everything to do so; but since she and my dad are leaving on a weekend trip, I didn't want to add to her workload.   It's a good thing I'm a night person.  It's a good thing I really don't mind staying up until after midnight.  It's a good thing the night air is so pleasant as it flows in the open windows by the sink.  It's a good thing I have screens on the windows so that all the moths and other insects attracted to the light can't come in.  It's a good thing I'm finally DONE!  :)
The only thing that bugs me about all of this is that I feel like so much truly important stuff is flowing through my fingers and not being captured by me.  I still want to write about the homeschool convention, and some other homeschooling thoughts, and about Josiah's birthday, and how family traditions get started, and the women of Genesis, and so many other topics that are deeper and more significant than the fact that I got all my dishes washed!  Oh well, such is life, and the dishes get dirty far more often than birthdays get celebrated and conventions get attended.  So once in a while, I guess it's OK to mention dishes on my blog.  ;-)

Maybe tomorrow I'll have time to write about something more important.  Live ever in hope, right?  :)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love reading about the everday things. I find joy in getting them done too.

Homeschool on the Croft said...

But maybe we think of these 'mundane' things in the wrong way. What if all these household tasks are our 'true' worship at this stage of our lives? What if, when we do all things to God's glory, then washing dishes until all hours is a glorious act? My hubby so often says, 'Oh I wish I had time and I'd do so much reading of good books etc'. But his daily toil - hours and hours of hard work for me and for the kids IS his work on honour at this stage in his life.
I think that has been a real ramble, but hope you get my drift!
And I have to say that I would *love* my sink are to be that clear just now ;)

Sally said...

I'm so sorry your dishwasher is misbehaving. I don't want to ever live without mine. I'm very dependent on it. Is yours just old and dying, or do you think it will be fixable? At any rate, I hope you'll soon be able to get it fixed or replaced.

I hate to think of all the things that go (and are going) uncaptured on my blog. I try to console myself by saying it's more important to live life than to write about it. In fact, I would have nothing to write about if I didn't live life first! I love your blog posts, but I completely understand that living takes a higher priority than blogging.

Enjoy your clean kitchen this morning!

Miriam said...

Your clean kitchen is BEAUTIFUL!! My d/w works and there are still days that the dishes take over :) Have fun with your sparkly kitchen today. 2 things I noticed (just for fun b/c I notice things like this): no kitchen curtain - I'm glad I'm not alone! and we have the same dish-towel (the one hanging on the left), but yours is much cleaner and not as worn out or stained ;) I like the farm scene on those towels.

Anonymous said...

woohooo on getting the dishes done! Mine are backed up too! I also put on my last pair of clean underwear this morning... :-P

Polly said...

Clean kitchens are so satisfying! Read Keeping House by Margaret Kim Peterson. It discusses the litany of everyday tasks. Love it!

I'm in your boat--just too busy with Real Life to write anything meaningful. I'm taking comfort in the knowledge that as my deep thoughts go unrecorded, I'm busy doing the real work of my life--raising a family!!! That having been said, can't wait to hear your thoughts!! ;)

Happy Friday!!

Elizabeth said...

Three cheers for you! Hip hip hooray!!! Hip hip hooray!!! Hip hip hooray!!! :)

Rachel W. said...

Davene - My dishwasher was doing the same thing about a year ago and I quit using it for a little while because it frustrated me so bad. I talked to our appliance serviceman here at work and this is what was recommended and works. (Or, I should say, it did for mine.) Run several cycles with no dishes; just pour in a gallon of white vinegar each time. This will loosen up the hard water deposits and any food deposits that are clogging holes and restricting your water flow/distribution. After that, add 1 cup of white vinegar to each load. That program along with switching to the Finish detergent packs with the Powerball additive has cured my dishwasher. As an extra measure, because I figure more is better, I get this little jugs of dishwasher cleaning stuff at Lowe's or Wal-Mart and use it once a month as recommended. It is a little thin rectangle shaped blue jug that you turn upside down in your bottom rack and run a cycle. I really hope this will work for you.

Sarah-Anne said...

you go Davene!! :D