Have you ever been in a place where you just feel frustrated, maybe defeated, and possibly even a bit depressed? I’ve been there.
Lately everything has just piled on top of me.
Sometimes everything seems wrong
It’s winter, and winter and my mood rarely get along well.
My baby is nearly 5 months, still grumpy a lot of the time and still waking at least once in the night to eat. Each time he wakes I’m up with him 20 minutes to an hour. Jason worked something like 3 days the entire month of January and money is tight.
It all adds up to some serious frustration on my part. Jason is home and can do lots of the little things that a new/old house requires. Problem is, those little things take money and he isn’t exactly bringing in enough to do that.
All week I’ve sat and stewed. Rocked my grumpy baby and stewed some more. Sometimes it’s easier to just stew than than try and change things.
This morning I’d had enough. I went to the basement to do laundry (it never ends with 3 boys!) and while I was down there it all threatened to crush me. The never ending tasks, the lack of funds, and the dirt.
I suppose you could call it a “pivotal moment”, something HAD to change. And while there wasn’t much I could do about my lack of sleep, lack of money etc., there was something I could do about the basement.
I had Andre 3 weeks after we moved here so aside from hubby building a laundry counter and plumbing in a utility sink, the basement had very little done to it.
Changing what I can
So today I cleaned. And I mopped and mopped and mopped.
The lower basement has stick down fake flooring and it’s coming up in places so I just did the best I could. The edges of some pieces still look a bit dirty though.
Once I put down my $10 Marketplace outdoor rug, and cleaned up the boy’s toys, that area looked pretty good.
The floor in the original basement has been painted at least twice and the paint has worn off in many places.
It looked more brown than blue. I ended up spraying water onto the floor, scrubbing over it with my mop to sop up the mud and then spraying the floor again.
No idea how many times I rinsed out that mop pad. But the results were fantastic. The floor isn’t pretty, but it’s clean! I would say clean enough to eat off of, but paint chips aren’t exactly good for you, or so I’ve heard!
It took several hours but I didn’t do all of it at once (remember the grumpy baby lol). Although, he had a good morning as the next photo will show, and slept for 2+ hours straight at naptime!
The thing is, the more I cleaned, the better I felt! After I got the floors clean, I then cleaned up the sink and counter, dusted (yup basements need dusted from time to time as well), and organized the utility room.
Sometimes something just needs to change. I couldn’t change our finances, I couldn’t change my grumpy wakes-in-the-night-all-night baby, I couldn’t change the huge list of repairs that need done. But I could clean the basement!
Seriously though, let’s just take a minute and appreciate that floor. It used to be pretty much grey where the paint was, and brown where it wasn’t!
I’ve wanted a sink in my laundry area for years and this house had the perfect spot for one. Last fall I found a new utility sink for pretty cheap on marketplace and Jason made the counter and stuff for me.
Also, that photo of a little girl and boy in the tomato patch? That’s my brother and I. A fertilizer company used it in their booth to promote their product and once the event was over they gave us the print.
It’s printed on a foam board and when mom found it in her storage she thought I might like it! Haha! Looks pretty cute hanging there. 🙂
I’m tired and sore now, but I honestly feel so much better!
What do you do when you are feeling overwhelmed and depressed about everything that’s just not going right in your life?
I think being a mom made me forget how cleaning/organizing an area could help me feel so much better about circumstances, even if it is just for a bit!
A bit about my mop
I’ve been a Norwex rep for 3 years now and always liked the mopping system but after moving here and dealing with all this mud… Well let’s just say I’m in LOVE with it now!
If you want to learn more about it, you can visit the Norwex website, or comment below and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
I’m sorry that things have been stressful lately, but the floor looks amazing!!! Praying for you. <3
Thanks Amber! Things will get better, they always do, winter just doesn’t always treat me very well 😉
You really encouraged me. I have been down from this winter and circumstances also. Its good to know that im not alone. Hope you post more
Aw Stacy, it’s so easy to feel alone when we are struggling and that’s exactly what the devil wants. But most of us struggle from time to time. I’m glad to have been an encouragement to you! And yes, I’m hoping to start posting more again. We’ll see how it goes, but I’ve really missed writing so I want to make time for it again.
Wow! You made a big difference with that floor! Well done! Winter can feel tricky for me, too, especially when it’s too cold to be outside. February always feels like a very long month. March will be here before we know it, and then April… 😉 I enjoy gardening, so looking at seed websites and planning for Spring can help me feel a little less grouchy. -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
For being the shortest month of the year Feb certainly can feel long 🙂
You’re so right, just doing something/anything can lift your mood, especially when it’s something that will continue to give you pleasure. Just think, now when you contemplate heading to the basement to do laundry, you won’t have that feeling of I’m-depressed-because-cleaning-it-up-is-just-one-more-onerous-task. Instead, you’ll know that your clean and neat laundry area will make doing this chore more pleasant!
Absolutely! Now I’m contemplating buffing up the loose paint and repainting the floor. My mother told me she had several cans of floor paint 🙂 We’ll see…
This article was very uplifting! Thank you.