Ding, Dong My Husband's Gone

Of course I don't mean forever (that would not be cause for celebration); just the weekend. When I was asked recently by someone where J was going, I felt a blush rise in my face because I realized that I didn't know for sure. I only knew that it was for a military training and that, more importantly, I would have the car and the bed to myself for four days and three glorious nights. Please don't get me wrong, I obviously love sharing a life and home with my dearly beloved, but when you take two not-small people in a queen-sized bed and then add a body pillow and a seven-month's pregnant belly it's nice to have some time to stretch out and have some solo time every once in awhile. J hasn't even had any overnight shifts in awhile, so this is real treat for me.

Selfishness aside, I had decided that I would surprise my husband with a super neat and clean house upon his return. We have overlapping visitors coming into town starting Wednesday, so our 'guest' room/room of the three c's (crafts, cosmetics, candles, and the recent addition of items intended for Baby C) is in shambles, including a recently purchased used dresser that I'm re-painting bright green for H so that at least one of the new items in his room is for him, as the rest will be in anticipation of the baby. I already have the paint and supplies purchased and ready to go, now I just need the will.

Here is my to-do list for today and tomorrow morning:

1. Clean our bathroom
2. Clean H's bathroom
3. Sweep and Mop kitchen floor and entryway
4. Empty, load and run dishwasher
5. vacuum living room and hall
6. Shampoo the carpet in living room, hall and H's room
7. put away all miscellaneous 'C'rap in the loft area
8. vacuum loft area
9. remove hardware from dresser drawers and prep for painting
10. prime dresser
11. paint two coats on dresser
12. contact all interested parties from Craigslist re: entertainment center, as we now have two since I bought our new one before our old one was officially sold. Arrange for pick-up of said entertainment center
13. Purchase new crib mattress and assemble crib in anticipation of L coming with Baby O
14. re-assemble dresser with new hardware and install in H's room
15. Laundry
16. Wash Linens
17. Shower
18. Meet friends for dinner
19. Clean our bedroom (because I'm like a teenager and have to clean my room still due to piles of fabric and other supplies for various projects in-process)
20. Figure out solution to shoe rack that keeps falling off closet door, leaving large pile of shoes in closet making proper entry impossible.
21. Dust
22. Vacuum all furniture

Tasks accomplished thus far:

1. Two cups of coffe with Fat-Free Vanilla creamer consumed (after making H fresh buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, as am bona fide domestic goddess)
2. 2+ hours of PBS kids viewed with H
3. Biore clear pore strips applied
4. Said strips removed approximately 15 minutes later
5. Satin Hands treatment applied to hands
6. Teeth brushed
7. Bleaching trays installed in my mouth
8. Said trays removed 45 minutes later
9. Fed H lunch
10. Created list for mom's club meeting that I'm facilitating on Tuesday
11. Attempted to take handles off dresser drawers leaving chunks of wood behind; realized was going to be much larger task and would need to purchase sand paper, contrary to all instincts that said "just paint over it".
12. Checked email multiple times; realized am not popular as have almost no messages
13. Applied primer coat to dresser (Check!)
14. vacuumed living room (Check, again!)

Ahhh...I love days filled with productivity. It's not often that I get to accomplish so many self-grooming tasks! H is having his (not so) quiet time now, so I guess it's time for me to check 'shower' off my list. Oh, and I did run one load of laundry, but that doesn't count as a checked item, since there are several more.

Looks like I'll be up late tonight and working hard tomorrow. The things we do for love!