THE SKY IS FALLING!!!

Today I saw the mailman pacing up to our mailbox, and I dropped the pile of trinkets I was hauling upstairs and made a mad dash for the door, hollering back to Newbie and the Hubs, "HOORAY!!!  My pictures are here!!!!"

I ordered a slew of pictures online early this week, and I have been waiting on pins and needles to get them in the mail because there's few things I love more than honest to goodness pictures I can hold and touch and feel since I never, EVER print out the billions of pictures I have taken with my camera.

Except, when I got to the mailbox, my pictures weren't in the mail.  It was just a bill (yuck.) and a lamesauce movie from Netflix (John Wayne again, Honey?  Really??).

Ugh.

I went back inside, bottom lip out in a pout because I like to really play it up when I experience a let down.  I was as disappointed as a kid who thought the ambulance whizzing down the next block just might have been the ice cream truck. Yes, it was that disappointing. (I'm nothing if not severely dramatic, folks.)

And so Spring Cleaning 2011 commenced sans an open up and pour over 111 prints break, and we put our heads down and powered through the solid five hours of cleaning and purging and hauling and diapering saga that is spring cleaning when you have an almost one year old in the joint.  It was a juggling act to be sure, but the Hubs was home, and he is the MASTER juggler when it comes to keeping Newbie entertained while being productive.  I don't know how he does it, but does it he does.  Ha.

I was panic-stricken this morning when I woke up to a messy house and realized our appointment to meet with our realtor to sign papers and take pictures of our house was TODAY.

ALERT!  ALERT! SPRING CLEANING: CODE RED!

Over the course of the next five hours, the ever-mellow Hubs nick-named me "Chicken Little".  While I ran around freaking out about every last thing on the to-do list, he calmly helped with the laundry, painted the ceiling, and manned both Opie and Newbie with ease.  WHAT THE WHAT?!

What he didn't realize was, the sky really was falling, and we really only had five hours to pull off an ever loving spring cleaning miracle.

And we did.

One sore throat, six loads of laundry, and three cans of Pledge later, this house has never looked better.  Never mind that all of Newbie's toys are hidden in the basement, half our belongings are stashed away in various closets throughout the home, and pictures of the house won't actually be taken until next Wednesday.  That's right, you heard me: next Wednesday. 

*sigh*

Ah well, it doesn't matter because BOY HOWDY this place looks nice and FIE ON IT if there's a single dust particle left around here.  (I like to toss around some Shakespeare every now and then.) I most certainly inhaled every last piece of dust that has ever graced this house this morning, and there's not a speck to be found.  (Hence, the sore throat.)

So here we sit.

In a clean house.

Post Spring Cleaning 2011.

With a pile of toys in the basement,

a pile of clean clothes in the closet,

a pile of there-is-nowhere-to-put-this-so-I-will-put-it-here in the other closet,

a schmattering of touch-up paint jobs on the walls,

and one stinking tired mother.

Somebody get me a bed.

Here's wishing you all a happy Spring Cleaning wherever you are, and the audacity you'll need to get it done...because LET ME TELL YOU, it ain't easy. 

xoxo,

Chicken Little