nesting

I was all set to go to Word on the Street Sunday, then I decided to stay home instead. I love WOTS, and was looking forward to going and enjoying it as an ordinary participant for the first time in years, having given up helping with the Poetry Tent. But Saturday evening I began to get a strong feeling of resistance, and I realised that I wanted to be at home on Sunday. I tried to talk myself out of it: "Come on, it will be a beautiful day. Your friends will be there. Free readings. Thousands of good books and magazines. Come on!" But the feeling just got stronger. I knew that Andy and Fiona would be away all day, taking Andy's mom on an adventure to Stave Lake, where she lived as a little girl. I knew that Alex would be at work all afternoon. I would have the house to myself, and it would be a beautiful day.

So, I went to church in the morning, then came home, changed into my oldest jeans, and stayed home. I made a gorgeous salad for lunch, and read some of Saturday's paper. Then, as soon as Alex left, I put on my iPod and attacked the house. So now the cat box is changed, the floors are vacuumed, there's new shelf liner paper inside the cupboard under the sink, the computer desks are de-cluttered, the living room has been dusted, all of the stuff lining the hallways and stairwells is temporarily out of the hallways and stairwells, there are fresh candles in all of the candle holders, the bed linens have been washed and changed, and the linen closet reorganized (well, the top shelf anyway). There was also a delicious spicy chicken, veggie, rice stir fry for supper and an apple crisp. I am happy about my choice. Something about staying home and tending the house was very satisfying. After a month of pell mell hurry hurry and very little time at home, I got a sense of order being restored. I felt centred and relaxed.

I am not a clean freak in any sense of the word, but the act of organizing, de-cluttering and some cleaning settles me down. Cooking helps too. It's weird, but I have to go with it. Music and solitude help, and I have to be in the mood. The bonus is that our house is cozy and tidy and comfortable, and there are delicious leftovers for school and work lunches this week.

As proof of my sanity, I did not get the bathrooms done or the floors washed, and I do not have a burning desire to complete this part of the task. I am not THAT compulsive.

question: what do you do to shake your whim whams away?

mompoet - I will go to Word on the Street next year.