And I’m pretty sure this is due to some hellacious allergens out there at the moment since other people in the metroplex are complaining and I’m not showing symptoms of anything else. I do feel completely wiped out, however, and the Brit said I was somewhat hot and not in the sexy way.

So basically I slept in, then when I did get up (because unless I am just this side of Death’s door I can’t stay in bed any longer than ten hours) I relaxed for the rest of the day while the Brit headed off to his D&D game. I didn’t even install the new piston in the main bathroom toilet yet. And yes, it’s called a piston—it’s a Kohler toilet with complicated flushing dingies but they laaaaaaast. The piston will literally take a minute to install, but I want a clear head to do this (and to not feel like passing out if I’m bent over for longer than thirty seconds).

I’m hoping that this will clear up by tomorrow because 1) I have stuff to do and 2) the weather for next week is literally going to go up and down thirty degrees over a handful of days, plus there will be A Lot of Rain. I would prefer it if my sinuses were behaving themselves while all that nonsense is going on.

To be honest, there were no grand romantic gestures here, but neither of us were in the mood for such gestures, nor do we need them. The Brit and I are ridiculously affectionate all year round so we don’t need an official day for those kind of activities. Also, flowers need to be put out of range of the J Crew which is problematic, and we already had chocolates. *shrug*

So today pretty much consisted of working, changing out J.J.’s peed-upon bedding, fetching Thai for dinner, and generally relaxing. We may go see Ant-Man: Quantumania this weekend, and we counted Sunday’s dinner at Lita’s as our dinner out so we did get some date night activities which was nice.

Mrgh. I got all of the numbers crunched for the taxes so as soon as we get Lyndon’s W2 I can fill out the accountant’s worksheet and run everything out to their office. Actually, I should have him log on and see if he can download a copy since we should have received it by now.

The fact that I’m getting all of this finished in February instead of my usual March or early April astounds me, frankly. I guess I’m serious about making 2023 run on rails.

In other news J.J. is still alive, still happy, and still peeing his bedding at least three times a day. We’ve also moved up to two sponge baths a day (mainly to clean his undercarriage and make sure he doesn’t develop any sores or irritation from the pee). He’s so lucky I love him.

Last week I was talking with my sister and she asked me if we had ever considered downsizing since we have this big house for just the two of us, “And I don’t know how you manage to keep it clean.”

I laughed hollowly because, yes, I would love to downsize to a one-floor house with no pool. But outside of having to move for a job the only way I will ever be able to talk the Brit into downsizing is if we can find a place with enough back yard space to build a very, very large workshop so he can keep all of his stuff.

But that’s a matter for another day. When it comes to cleaning the house, I have to admit that I slack a lot of the time unless I know someone’s coming—it’s not filthy or a hoarder house by any means, but I don’t bother that much about dusting every day, and sometimes stuff can build up until I get a wild hair and decide to put everything away.

As of this year, however, I’ve started a Sunday morning ritual that has really stood me in good stead. Now, mind you, this won’t work if you have kids or someone waiting for you to get up but I figure there’s always kibble in the bowls so the cats won’t starve before I can make it downstairs.

Ever Sunday morning, before I leave the bedroom, I clean the master bathroom. We have a fairly large one with a separate little toilet cubicle so this is my cleaning plan:

• Sweep the floors
• Wipe down everything in the toilet cubicle with a damp cloth
• Clean the toilet
• Wipe down the counters/cabinets/tub/shower enclosure/windowsill
• Use the old hand towels to polish the mirrors and dry off anything that’s still damp
• Tie up the cubicle garbage bag and toss; put new bag in the bin
• Empty the litterbox
• Mop the floor (this is a major project because I wash and then rinse, so this is a once-a-month step and the rest of the time I spot clean)

It takes me about thirty minutes, and by the time I’m done the bathroom is sparkling and smells great. I’ve been doing this because for the longest time the master bath received the least attention because it’s one of the rooms only the Brit and I see and I had so many other rooms to clean, not to mention so much other stuff to do. But I finally got fed up with always having hair in the sink and toothpaste spatter on the mirrors so I instigated this ritual. It’s also why I’ve been organizing the bathroom drawers over the last few weeks, and why I’ll be doing something similar to the undersink cabinets in the near future. If nothing else, I will always have one room in my house that my female ancestors will approve of.

So now you know how I start my Sundays. And now if you’ll excuse me, I must go and do the taxes. Whee…