Day 4

I made it back home yesterday, but didn't do much until today. Today my goal was to tidy my bedroom a bit. Well, "a bit" is an understatement as my room was an absolute mess when I began. I had textbooks strewn about everywhere and discarded papers lying on the floor, bed, desk, and somehow even in the laundry hamper. Unlike most men, I don't leave dirty clothes on my floor, but there was a laundry basket with clean, yet-to-be-folded clothing sitting near my bed. I had my work cut out for me.

I started first by picking up books and replacing them on the makeshift wire bookcase I had by the door. I keep my recreational books on the wooden bookcase by my closet, but all of my academic text books go near the door so I can have them within arms reach when I'm typing at my desk. It makes paper writing go much more easily. I had textbooks from my summer term and both of my fall terms (my program is divided into a different term schedule than the rest of the university). None of my winter books had arrived in the mail yet, but I kept the top shelf free for them so they'd be more reachable later.

After picking up books came the task of sorting through and either recycling or filing the assortment of papers that seemed to cover my bedroom. Most were easily recyclable. They were either old worksheets that I wouldn't ever need to study off of again or supplemental lecture material that professors had given out but never actually covered. The few essays I had lying about were immediately placed into a three-hole notebook so I could look at them later as examples of how bad my business writing was when I started my program. Even in the few months since we started my writing has improved dramatically. These essays will hopefully prove useful in the future.

After cleaning up the loose papers I had on the floor I folded my clean laundry and crammed my clothes into my dresser. I had to roll some of my t-shirts to put them in between the rows of neatly folded shirts I already had set up. The dresser was built for me when I was about 5, and my clothing was a lot smaller back then. I never seem to have as much room for my clothes any more.

It was about 3pm when I finished with my laundry. I took a short break for a strawberry smoothie and some science fiction TV. Even though I'm just watching television, it's nice to be in another room for a bit. The people on the TV also give me the illusion of not being alone when I'm at home, too. It brings a little shred of sanity back in to my long days of lonely cleaning. Yes, my family was still home, but they were once again watching football downstairs. I love football, but after so many games I can't remember which team is which or who is who on the starting line. I try to keep myself down to one game per week rather than the three per day my brother watches.

After downing the last spoonful of my sweet ambrosia smoothie (it was really that good) I trekked back downstairs to finish the job with my room. I had yet to clear out the clutter from under my bed and vacuum my floor. I figured it would be best to clear the bed first so I didn't pull dirt and grime out onto the vacuumed portion of my carpet by mistake.

I knelt down and then flopped on my belly. The dust bunnies had set up a picket line under the edge of my bed, but I brushed it away with little effort. I was outnumbered and, as evidenced by the sneezes that followed, outgunned by the bunnies; but I had the size and was confident that I would win the day.

I grabbed two snickers wrappers from the far corner under the head of the bed and rescued a stuffed puppy from the dust bunny guards at the other end. I surveyed the field of battle for a minute more and then pulled out my secret weapon. The dust bunnies tried to run from my vacuum and I'm almost sure now that I left a few survivors. Like their larger flesh and blood counterparts, they breed like ... well, you know ... so I guess I'll have to crawl once more unto the breach sometime in the near future.

I vacuumed the rest of my room in record time. The last time it was this clean was three months ago, when I started my last term. The next few months would see it fall once again into disarray as I suppressed my neat-freak persona to focus more on classes.

I only spend a few hours a day in there anyway, so it's not the most important thing for my room to be spotless all the time.

And my eyes are usually closed for those few hours.

Maybe that's how the dust bunnies do so well taking over my room. It's hard enough to catch them conscious.

Day 4 of 100 - Summary: A day of pre-term cleaning.