Eight hours, EIGHT HOURS! That's how long it took to get the Christmas tree out of storage and decorated and all the glitter and dust vacuumed from the living room after I finished with the tree. That's more work than I've done in one day in a long time! Amazing what can be accomplished when I get off my lazy butt and get busy! I was pooped, but very satisfied. I went to sleep smiling.

It didn't feel so good that I'd like to do it everyday, but I'm doing a repeat today on the back porch, which, for all practical purposes, is a front porch because it's the main entrance to the house. Residents and guests come from the street through the garage to the back porch and into the house. The front door is rarely used because it doesn't face the street, but now it and the front porch are clean and decorated. Confusing? Yes, but that's life in the condos at Woodlake.

Being the messy person I am, it takes something like "company coming" to make me clean house. I hope I don't fall into the same inertia that overtook my mother in her last years in her house. After Daddy died in 1996, Mother didn't clean her house again. Actually, she quit cleaning house after Daddy went to the nursing home 6 months prior to his death. Living alone and eating most meals out, she didn't make much of a mess. She did take out the garbage, change the sheets on her bed weekly, wash her undies, and recycle old magazines by taking them to the nursing home, but there was a thick layer of dust on everything in the house, lots of molded food in the refrigerator, and dirty dishes in the dishwasher that had been there long enough to mold.

Her standard excuse came to be, "I called the maid service to come clean, but they said they couldn't come until next week." She was very depressed, but in total denial, so her personal habits were erratic and irrational. She should have been moved to assisted living much sooner, but I waited until her car insurance was cancelled before I took action. Ricky and Benji, you have my consent to step in sooner than we did with your grandmother, if you realize I need help and don't get it for myself. And if I resist, just show me what I wrote on this blog. Of course, if I'm like Jack, I'll probably deny it.

I told Pam and Jean to go on to the gym without me. Once I build working momentum, I need to take maximum advantage of it. With Mike doing his workouts in the AM, I need to be doing mine in the PM. I could get more done around here, and cut down on the conflict, too. Maybe I can get enough done this morning to not need major effort for a week or two. He's having lunch with Ron and going to his house this afternoon. That should give me plenty of uninterrupted cleaning time.

Since I've discovered all kinds of new settings on my camera, I'm anxious to take Christmas pictures, so you should be seeing those soon. But I am forcing myself to get work done before playing, a very unnatural pattern for me. I hope y'all are having more fun today than I am!