OCD Miscellaney

So I sent off the second draft of Princess X - which should hypothetically mean that I could come up for air and fart around on the internet (or wherever) for a bit; but while I have this momentum going on, I'm taking a few days over here to really go eyeballs-deep in spring cleaning.

It's a little late in spring, yes. But this is the first chance I'm getting to take a serious plunge.

For you see, by "spring cleaning" I don't mean "use extra soap." I mean, I'm cleaning ALL THE THINGS. All of them. Like, nitty-gritty OCD crap like pulling out the automatic soap/bleach/fabric softener dispensing trays in the washing machine and scrubbing them all down because yuck, mildew and soap goo buildup. (It's a front-loader; you have to swab the whole damn thing out every once in awhile because it's prone to these things.)

Since yesterday morning, I've cleaned out every shelf, drawer, closet, and cabinet in this house - and I've subsequently taken seven full bags of garbage to the curb. (Trash pickup tomorrow, yay!) I've also washed down the laundry nook, including tidying/clearing the shelves and (as mentioned) washing out the washer and dryer; washed down all the kitchen cabinets for they were seriously disgusting (and they're white, so they show everything); cleaned out and washed down the fridge, took out all the trash cans and hosed them down (then left them to dry in the yard, assuming it doesn't rain anymore overnight); washed all the linens and towels and all the remaining laundry; did all the dishes, and even run the pet bowls through the dishwasher on their own cycle; and run about six bags of household goods and whatnot to Goodwill.

Tomorrow (and I'll note this here to give myself some structure) I need to clean both bathrooms top to bottom; run my shower curtain through the washing machine with some Oxyclean and a towel because it's beyond scrubbie-brush help anymore; dust all the usual stuff; dust the irregular stuff - including the blinds in our bedroom and bathroom, then rub them down with some fabric softener sheets (helps keep dust from collecting on them); clean all the baseboards and trim because it's all positively revolting and likewise treat it with the fabric softener sheets (same reason); pull all the boxes I've been hoarding out from under the daybed in my office and either break them down or put them up in the attic; except for one of the boxes, because I need to load up some stuff I've collected and mail it off; vacuum everything; wash down all the floors.

Then on Saturday, I head to the nursery and pick up some more plants, then get started on the yard. Everything needs trimming. EVERYTHING. And more than a few things need outright pruning, pulling, and replacing.

No news on the patio, yet. Weather delays, and so forth.
I despair.

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But hey, baby birds. Four of them? Maybe five? I don't want to bother them too much, though I'm still (carefully) watering the basket they're hanging in, from the edge farthest from their nest. I'll stop once they get enough mobility to flutter out and get hurt. I'd rather have dead purple flowers than dead purple finches.





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In unrelated-to-anything-important news, I'm about to make a product plug. It's not something I do very often, and I'm not getting paid for it or anything - I'm just charmed when something works like it's supposed to, and does a nice job.

In short, I got a foreign rights check, threw caution to the wind, and treated myself to one of these: the Instyler. I'd seen and read a lot about them, both good and bad - but I'm always on the lookout for some new tool to do battle with my fine, rumply (but not properly wavy) hair.

People either love this thing or hate it - and I'll be the first to admit, there's a bit of a learning curve. But once I'd played with it a couple of times, I got the hang of it; and the results are really quite lovely: a smoothed/tidied look without the lank vibe of a straightening iron. Behold...my results this morning, on hair that was washed last night, topped off with a little mouse, and slept upon whilst still damp. So you KNOW this rat nest wasn't a sleek bed of roses when I got started.





I'd furthermore like to note that it's hella-humid here right now - and even though I spent the day doing housework with my hair in a ponytail, when I run a brush through my hair it still looks very nice.

So...there you go. The tool's a tad pricey, but not wildly extravagant - and if you have fine hair, or hair that neither wants to be straight nor wavy, you might want to give it a try. Internet lore suggests that it's also very good for textured hair, but that's not my area of expertise; so do your own research, and come to your own conclusions.

Give it a shot, if you're adventurous. Skip it if you're not game to learn new tricks with an instrument that could set fire to your head.