Spring Cleaning

Yesterday, it was 80 degrees here.  We spent enough time outside for the kids to develop a bit of pink.  Then, we opened the windows throughout the house and wiped blinds and windowsills and baseboards.  We actually moved furniture to vacuum behind it.  This cleaning intensity could be inspired by the feeling that the living world outside is coming alive in so many new ways in the springtime, calling us to make our inside space fresh in a new way, too.  That sounds beautiful enough to be true, except that most every other year, I do not do a special spring cleaning of our house.  After all, the weather is lovely here in the spring.  The cherry trees, which line our street and the lake in our neighborhood, are in bloom.  The birds are back from their winter hiatus.  Nature woos us to her and we eagerly surrender. 

So, why is this year different?  While I didn't know it was a consequence, I blame spring cleaning on adoption.  We are waiting for the arrival of a new little person.  There have been many approvals for families adopting from Rwanda in the last couple of months, some "before" us and some "behind" us in regard to when our dossier arrived in Rwanda.  That leads us to believe that our "turn" is coming.  In response to that reality, I scrub, I organize, and I vacuum and I really hope it's not too much longer, as I am sure to run out of things to clean.