Dismayzing

Dis·mayz·ing  

/disˈmāziNG/

Adjective Causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing, while at the same time causing (someone) to feel consternation and distress. Startlingly impressive and depressing.

I just made that word up.  It's the perfect word to describe the dust that has settled over the main level of our house.  Consider for a moment your horizontal surfaces, including the most minute, irrelevant, and tiny among them.  Now consider your vertical surfaces, for even they are not exempt from the dust.  The dust defies the laws of physics in addition to defying the laws of civility.  I have been cleaning all morning, and I still am not even halfway finished.  Further, I've discovered that cleaning one surface has the annoying effect of redistributing the dust into the air where it can settle once again on those surfaces you've already cleaned.

Here are some images to give you some idea what I've been up to this morning.  I've wiped a section so that you can see the dust.

My cabinets, being the "mission style", have that little edge where the dust is trapped between the outer board and the face of the cabinet.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get that clean.  Mike, being a detail-oriented engineer, is often good at coming up with ideas about those little crevices.

Also, my cookbooks, their spines, and their tops are covered in dust.  I imagine if I were to open them up, I'd find dust between the pages.  One wouldn't think that would be possible, but I've learned a new level of possibilities this morning.

And then there are the drawer pulls, which are coated from every angle.

Even the glass panel on my oven has dust stuck where the oil from our fingers is clinging to the glass.

This next image is the corner of the breakfast bar.  It's already wiped off, so it isn't looking too bad.

Now here's the kicker...this is the underneath side of the countertop.  How is it even possible for dust to stick there?

Of course, my furry pal has been helping me every step of the way.

And you'd better be quicker than that if you want your picture in focus.

So, I did some more cleaning while I was writing this post.  Thus far, I have cleaned the kitchen and the laundry room, and I've wiped off the surfaces of the living room and dining room furniture.  I still need to pack up the fragile stuff for the carpet to be laid tomorrow.  And let me tell you, I am already pooped.  I probably still have a couple of hours of work left to do.  But how bad can it be?  I did get a new vocabulary word in the deal.

For now, I think I might lie down and take a nap.  I'm betting I can get a furry friend for that too.  Oh, and never mind what I said about eating off the floors.  They're all dusty now.