Bless the Carpet Cleaner

That was the only thing that I was blessing on Monday. You just saw the stack of dishes that was amassing in the sink. Well, the kids were on a roll over the past few days as it was ... I honestly don't think my brain has chosen to remember the hairy details of it all. The culmination of it all happened when Jared was trying to Skype with us from his hotel room in St. George. The kids were running around the room, ignorant that I was trying to tell them anything or that their dad was trying to talk with them. Next thing I know, I hear a lound crash behind me. I smiled at Jared, told him good night, then shut off Skype and let the punks have it. Yeah, the she-beast also know as me became a tower of terror. They had managed to knock over a plant, freshly watered none the less, and crack it's pot right down the center. There was a pile of mud, right in the middle of the front room carpet.

Yes! Early bedtime. I told them that I didn't want to see them until the morning. Guess Koria didn't count the middle of the night as an exception, or Kimball either. I saw both of them about four times between 11:00 p.m. and 2 a.m. That's when they really knew I was mad.

I had to clean up the mud mess by doing some carpet cleaning. Vacuuming was of no effect.

I was looking for an excuse to make myself steam clean the carpet anyway, so I decided to move all of the furniture into the kitchen and do the job right. I awoke Tuesday morning to shouts of, "Hey, Mom, it's morning now so we can see you again AND come see the obstacle course we've made with the furniture in the kitchen!" I put the pillow over my head.

It took quite a few passes for this bad boy to start lifting, but in the end, it's a lot better than ... a giant mud stain.

Due to an extremely windy and cold day outside as well, I looked out the window just as I was about to get the carpet cleaning underway. Can you feel my joy as I saw our garbage can, tipped over by the wind, garbage flying through the yard? I ran outside and did a roadside pickup, then returned to find out that the carpet cleaning solution that I had just filled had somehow leaked all over the front room tile. Awesome. The carpet cleaner only broke down on me once during the two-hour cleaning session, so after I manage to fix it and finish up the hallway, I took a bath. I stunk. Imagine bad b.o., wet carpet smell, and roadside garbage and you have a pretty good idea of how I smelt ... and felt. I don't like Mondays and I don't like dishes.

How's that for uplifting?

When it was all said and done ... well, I was glad it was done.