Fall Cleaning Day 1 and our Family Camp-Out

We started right after breakfast on cleaning the shed. Took everything out, swept it, threw out all the junk, put back in all the good stuff, and organized it. Then we started on our bedroom. Not a deep cleaning, more of a get-ready-for-deep-cleaning cleaning. You can't clean clutter. It's hard to clean around clutter. You can't even organize clutter. We got everything off the floor put away or thrown away, decluttered all horizontal surfaces, removed all the debris on the bookshelves so we can actually get at the books, put everything back in the closet and dressers that belongs there (it's a tight fit--decluttering those is part of deep cleaning) and ran the vacuum. Finished before lunch.

After lunch, we brought the boys' winter clothes up from the basement and had them try everything on. Then we packed all their summer clothes away and put winter clothes in drawers and closet. Found that GL has been hiding dirty laundry in his drawers, mixed with the clean--again. That partly explains why their room has had its own B.O. lately.

We try to have a family camp-out every year in September. The week after Labor Day is usually ideal: the weather is still usually pleasant, but not too hot, and we have the campground pretty much to ourselves. This September was too busy. Every day MB had off, we had to be somewhere else. We had planned to go camping tonight, until a cold front moved in, with near-freezing temperatures predicted. So we decided we could have a campfire in the backyard, but forgo sleeping outside. So after we got the boys' clothes put away, I dragged out the portable fire-pit thingy. When you get a good fire going, the radiant heat from the bottom of it is enough to kill the grass underneath, so I set it on the walk on the north side of the house, trying to position it not too close to the house, but not under the big tree. Then a strong wind came up. I went inside and checked the weather report: wind from the north at 21 mph, gusting to 39, with scattered showers. November's not a good month for pretending you don't have a house. Sometimes October isn't, either.

So we ate inside. We had chips and dip and brats cooked on the stove rather than over an open flame, but still pretty good. GL was bummed about not camping out, so after supper, BB set up the tent in the living room. First time he did it all by himself.

Then we all listened to The Johnny Cash Children's Album, which I 'd just got from the library. The boys enjoyed it, and we did, too. Over the last couple of years, I've been finding more and more Johnny Cash songs that I like. What I want to know is, why don't the people who are always trying to tell you how great Johnny Cash was ever play any of the good Johnny Cash songs?

I think before bed, we'll toast some marshmallows over the stove again and make s'mores. It works better than you might think.