Passover Planning

Okay, this is what I was talking about the other night when I was suffering from caffeine-induced insomnia.  Passover starts the last week of March and it's already almost the middle of February.  My house could politely be described as a mess.  We clean for Passover so that we don't have any crumbs anywhere (because we have to get rid of all leavened products for the duration of the holiday).  Generally, people also do a lot of other cleaning and tidying at the same time because it helps you find the leavened stuff (called chametz in Hebrew).  Right now, I'm hard pressed to even find any horizontal surfaces in my home (including most of the floor) because everything from my daughter's room is all over everywhere.

I have bins of Barbies and stuffed animals, trays of art supplies, boxes of school projects and clothes, her globe, baskets of books, etc. etc. all over my living room.  Most of the bins look like they've thrown up their contents.  Then, I have her little table in the middle of my kitchen, the chairs in the living room, her comforter across the foot of my bed, her hanging clothes in my closet and her laundry on the floor by the foot of my bed. Oh yes, and her lamps on my dining room table.

My Dear Child's room is still empty and taped off.  My Son-in-Law got to the point of replacing the ceiling drywall but found that it didn't all meet up evenly and that he couldn't find a place to sink some of the necessary drywall screws.  His dad was in town for just a day or two, so didn't have time to work on it but the problem apparently also affects the kitchen floor upstairs.  They need to remove the new drywall, do something up above and then replace it.  Of course, after that the drywall will need taping, mudding and sanding (at least a couple of days, what with the mud needing to dry in between).  Then he's going to texture the ceiling (which I loathe, but he says he can't do an even enough job to look totally flat, so the texture is necessary) and repaint some of the upper parts of her wall that got damaged during the process to date.

Unfortunately, his dad won't be back until after Eldest Daughter has the baby (any day now, so he'll probably return within the next couple of weeks) and I can't put in the new floor until the ceiling is finished.  I don't want paint or drywall compound or drywall dust all over my new floor!  And the floor isn't a single evening project.  Did I mention that I can't put anything back in the bedroom until both ceiling and floor are finished?

The original plan I made for Passover had me finishing the floor and refilling her room by Jan 31st, spending the next 2 weeks on the living room, 2 weeks on the foyer and 3rd bedroom (including tiling the floor, moving furniture and assembling a wardrobe we've had for about 2 years already), 2 weeks in the master bedroom and, finally, 2 weeks in the kitchen (and adjacent bathroom) and also included doing tiling and replacing cabinets and counters!

Okay, it was ambitious.  Very ambitious.  I'm now at the point where I should be finishing the living room and I haven't started anything because of the whole situation with the bedroom!  I'm frustrated and that's part of what's holding me back.  Realistically, while I can't do many of the things I'm supposed to be doing (or should have already completed) there are small areas where I could do something.

For example, I could clean off the mantel and a couple of the bookshelves.  I could try to clear off the chaise longue (although I'm not sure where I can put DC's coats) and I could buy the wooden frame from IKEA that is meant to hold her bins.  I could assemble it, empty and clean the bins, then only put cleaned and checked toys back into the bins.  Then those toys would be off limits until Passover (the hard part).  I could also go through her big bin of toys that's been sitting in storage and is currently in our 3rd bedroom.  Most of those toys have been outgrown I think and maybe I could get rid of a bunch of them.  Then any toys I'm not willing or able to clean for Passover could go in the bin.  Those toys could be played with in the interim and then the bin could be sealed shut and sold for the duration of Passover.

On the reno front, I could rip out the carpet in DC's room and lay the DriCore (because it doesn't matter if it gets paint or dust on it).

So, here's a basic revised plan, week by week:
1. Starting Sunday, work on accessible areas in the living room and do the floor prep in DC's room.  Work on the bins and toys.
2. Work on the living room areas that are revealed when I move the toys.  Clean up the part of the foyer where we put the shoes & DC's backpack.  Once Hubby reorganizes the shed, move the boxes that belong there out of the foyer.  Rip out carpet in 3rd bedroom and move big items around in it.
3. Tile & grout the floor in the foyer and 3rd bedroom.  Move the furniture into their final places.  Build the single wardrobe.  Move my grandmother's trunk from beside the table into the 3rd bedroom.
4. Work on the master bedroom.  Do floor in DC's room (by this time the ceiling had better be fixed!) and move all her stuff back in.
5. Finish the master bedroom. Finish the living room. Start work on the kitchen, beginning with table area and corner by bathroom. Clean fridge.  Box up stuff to be sold for Passover (regular dishes, pots, etc.).
6. Continue work on the kitchen, whether I'm doing a reno or scrubbing out the existing lower cabinets.  Do reno the upper cabinets at least so we'll have a place to put the Passover food (since the pantry cupboard is the one that fell apart a few months ago). Clean stove.
7. Finish up the kitchen on Sunday the 28th and start cooking for the seders (Monday & Tuesday nights).

Just looking at all of that is pretty scary.  Remember, we're also going to have a new baby upstairs, I'm planning to go to the house for a couple of days during the 2nd week, Dear Child is off school until the end of the Olympics, she's having dental surgery on Feb. 25th and we'll be busy with Purim on the 28th (of Feb.).  Oh right, and I work!  But I don't have any better ideas.  If I don't at least try to work this plan I won't be ready at all and what will we do then?  Move out for the duration of Passover?

So, plan the work, work the plan.  Rinse and repeat.