Infrastructure grants improve more than the province's roads
Lindsey Kuglin When I first heard about the gazillion dollars the province gave to municipalities for infrastructure maintenence, I had no idea how much it would benefit me personally.

Thanks to the McGuinty government, I got a good start on my spring cleaning this week.

Early Monday morning, I was peacefully falling back into dreamland after seeing my husband off to work, when I was snapped out of it by "BEEP BEEP BEEP SQUEALLL!"

My over-skittish cat's eyes turned to saucers and he jumped off the bed and into his 'safe corner'.

I looked at the clock - 6:30 a.m... ugh.

I craned my head out the window and saw a gigantic excavator backing off of a trailor and onto the road just outside my house.

Cursing the roads crew for robbing me of my extra hour of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed.

Grumpy as ever, I got out the broom and swept the bathroom and upstairs hallway.

"Hmm... 6:40. I guess I'll sweep downstairs." So that took me to 7 a.m., which means that I still had a half-hour to kill before I started getting ready for work. Being the evil sister that I am, I sent my brother in Alberta, (which is two hours behind) a text message that said "good morning!" (Heh heh)

So, in the remaining 29 minutes I found matches to all the lonely socks on my bedroom floor, I paid some bills online, sent some emails to friends and family who are probably offended by my overdue response, and I got all of the previous night's supper pots scrubbed.

Who knew the Ontario government was so generous? Not only are they footing the bill for a major overhaul of many of the province's roads and bridges, they've also given me 30 hours of extra time, assuming the road will take a month to reconstruct.

By the middle of May, my place will be so clean, I'll be able to serve the premier a thank you supper off my floors.

I hear Gibson Street residents will also get those early morning wake-up calls. With $1.2 million set aside for the street, I don't imagine the project will be over too quickly. I'll bet by the fall, Gibson Street households will be among the cleanest in the county. I'm going to keep an eye on that. It could make for an interesting news story.

I know as the month progresses, I'll be hard-pressed to find things to do. My place isn't that big, so there's only so much housework a girl can do. I guess, I could start a blog. I've always wanted to, but could never find the time.

Maybe it'll happen if the outdoor noise isn't too distracting. I could take up knitting again, but I can only make scarves and dish cloths, and I don't think I can even give away any more scarves or cloths. There's no way I'll ever try to do another crossword again either. I barely know any of the answers and I get really frustrated when I have the wrong answer written in indelible ink.

So I guess once the house is spic-and-span, I'll be able to get some extra reading time in.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks to the Government of Ontario, for expanding my horizons with books, getting my house clean, and ultimately, depriving me of that little bit of slumber.

On second thought, maybe I'll just invest in some earplugs.