Spring cleaning

I barely noticed when spring officially arrived, because I was waylaid by the flu. The fever is now gone, but the cough and the congestion remain. Despite that, I'm feeling better and it's time to say goodbye to the mildew and clutter of winter and say hello to renewal.

The house is getting cleaned today, and all the germs and dog hair will be gone when I get home tonight. I can't wait. (The muses have really been shedding badly since they had baths two weeks ago, and I've been too exhausted to push a vacuum.)

But there's no cleaning lady whom I can pay to sort through the clutter of my to-do list. Here's a sampling of what's on my mind for the next month:

• I'm extremely close to being done with the revisions of the first three-fourths of Prairie Fire, then I need to tackle the ending.
• I need to focus on a special project I'm working on for my friend Jerilyn -- probably have to reschedule with her AGAIN.
• Once Prairie Fire is done, I need to jump into the Hunting Lodge/erotic project.
• Next week I start my acting for non-actors class.
• In three weeks, I need to collect Four Seasons contest entries from the first-round judges and prepare for the final round of judging.
• In 23 days, it's the one-year anniversary of my Dad's death.

That's not even the full list, just the major items.

I did a quick Google search for "spring cleaning" and found this LA Times article. I like it because it takes a literal and spiritual approach to spring cleaning. Some of the tips it offers can apply to my to-do list, I think. To pull from the article:

• "Get started by writing a list of all that needs to be done ..."
• "Then have a cup of Earl Grey to lower your stress."
• "Then make a list of all the products or tools you need..."
• "... choose between these two strategies: Do difficult before easy (you'll sail through the day after getting the nastiest job out of the way) or easy before difficult (so you'll be buoyed by quick results)."

Check back with me later and see how I'm doing. Since I already have my list, the next step is that cup of tea, and that list of needed tools might require some shopping... Oh, wait a minute: Did I just add to my to-do list?