clean my house

New vacuum for christmas! I’ve filled up the canister twice and so far I’ve just been in the living room. :)

I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon hanging wash on my newly strung clothesline. The sun was warm, the cool breeze and the windchimes were the only sound. I was really upset about the broken dryer but it turned out to be a blessing. I normally spend Sundays in the dark, dirty garage drying and folding laundry. The beautiful outside has been there this whole time, and this weekend I embraced it and felt good about cleaning for my family.

I have this great microfiber mop that can be machine washed. I have great kitchen floor tile that looks like sand in shades of tan (so it hides dirt). The problem is that I couldn’t tell the tile was getting gradually dirtier. The little indentations in the tile were filling with mop water over time that was slightly sticky and dirty. When I mopped the other day, I really looked at it and saw the problem.

So I got a floor scrubber brush at the dollar store. OMG, I scrubbed a tile with just water (it got a bit soapy from the residue) and it’s bright and beautiful! It took about 6 minutes a tile, but that’s just because it was built up for so long. So now I can’t have anyone over until I can get them done a few at a time. I’m not going to go crazy and spend a whole afternoon on my hands and knees. But it feels great to get started. And when the boys get in trouble and need a time out or to give me back some energy, they do a square. :)

Well, we had our inspection Monday and so much got cleaned out and organized! Not too much got stuffed somewhere. I can see some areas that got a “good enough” once over and could really use some more attention. But the house hasn’t looked this good in forever and it’s a pleasant surprise to walk in. :)

I have a deadline! Our home inspection is May 27th and the adoption social worker is going to look in every room, drawer, cabinet, and shelf. She’ll look in the garage and yard, too. How have I let the time slip away? There is so much to do!

1. I need to make everything presentable. That means clearing out clutter, making some hard decisions to give away, organizing, and cleaning.

2. I need to locate everything on the hazard list and lock it up. That includes letter openers, scissors, nail polish, razors, bathroom cleaners, liquor, advil, etc.

I spent last week going through the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and living room. Those are pretty much ready now—not perfectly organized or clutter-free but safe and presentable. I started one bathroom and will continue on one drawer at a time this week.

I have been working fairly steadily on this. I’ve donated several bags of things, I sold several things on craigslist, and I gave some things away on freecycle. I made great progress on cleaning out my office/storage room to make it into a nursery. That meant I had to arrange our room and under the stairs to put some things. I helped my youngest son get his room in order… the new bookshelf and taking down his mini pool table helped a lot. Tonight I’ll put away the painting supplies I’m done with so far.

Nothing gets a person to clean up like having company! We had a big birthday party for my son this weekend and the house looks good. :) There was stuff on the kitchen counters that I’d gotten used to, and it looks so nice and empty now. The porch was full of the kids junk and now it looks so big. The bag patio is swept, the lawn is cleared of toys, and the entry way is opened up.

I still have more to do everywhere I look, but I am feeling better about the house. More peaceful.

Today I did the flylady.net mission of cleaning around the toilet with some all-purpose cleaner. I didn’t enjoy it but amazing how much nicer it looks now.

I also did part of the home blessing hour: vacuumed, dusted, took out trash, and will change sheets tonight. It really doesn’t take long. The living room is looking better than before the holidays. :)

This afternoon my husband helped move some carseats and camping gear that I put in big contractor bags out to the shed. There is so much clutter piled around since the holidays.

Sunday is laundry day so I’m working on that, too. It usually takes me until Tuesday but I’m going to try and finish tonight.

Over the weekend I worked on the pantry, laundry room, and the boxes of toys and clothes in between them. Now I can actually step into the pantry, all the laundry supplies are on the shelves, and the toys and clothes are sorted and either in plastic bins, the trash, or donation boxes.