Cleaning...

Today was really warm, so I decided to steam clean the downstairs carpet.  Treated the spots first, then steam-cleaned the rug.  Got all the bunny items cleaned up and stored away.  Did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom.  Scrubbed walls, replaced water filters, cleaned the steam cleaners, cleaned the tracks for the window and sliding glass doors, etc.  It is nice to have a day to do something like this.  (With my old job it was really difficult to get time to clean like this.)  Long day, but the hard work keeps my mind off sadder things.  This has been a really long year, and these last two months have been one shoe after another dropping. It is amazing that I think things can't get worse and then something else happens, and another thing happens, and yet one more thing happens.  I have ceased thinking that this is as bad as things can be, because it could be so so so much worse.  But God has been teaching me a lot and I have changed and grown so much in these last two months.  Whereas I used to have a meltdown with so many problems, it was only a few minutes of tears as I prayed about it and then started taking positive and constructive action to find a solution.  And these many problems have been teaching me to be thankful for what is truly important in life:  my faith, a God that never abandons me, that my health isn't as bad as it could be, I have a roof over my head (at least for the moment), food to eat.  I know this is where God wants me to be for the time being and I trust that He will take care of me.  It's not easy, to be sure, but God is faithful.

Here is the floor.  It is actually cleaner now than when I moved in!  Those two little stains in the center were here when I moved in and they won't come out, but I got many other stains out.  Now for it to dry, and then tomorrow morning I can put the couch and end tables and such back.  :)

Now it is time to sit down and grade papers.  This is my back porch, and I put a little candle in the stone basin and use a fork to toast marshmallows and make s'mores and enjoy the sunset and the trains going by.  I can get away with a fork instead of a stick since candles don't put out much heat, unlike a fire!