It's that time again; time for fall cleaning. Its at times like this when I can identify with Lily Munster, mistress of the mansion except she likes her cobwebs! Alas, tis no mansion at all, but rather a small, quaint, rickety old mountain home that leaves much to be desired in constant repair and upkeep. These very old homes that were built with whatever was handy at the time back in the days of slavery, have many hidden places where attrocities can settle in and take up housekeeping much easier than a newer home. This place is such a money pit. It will never get fixed up right at the rate we are going so I often fantasize about having a volcano erupt wiping this stupid house off the map. One thing I hate about this big cleaning ceremony of mine is that no matter how hard I work, you can’t tell I cleaned anything, unlike a new home where everything bounces right back all shinny and new. Then I come back down to earth and realize there are people out there with no homes and loosing their homes every day so I had better count my blessings and stop complaining and start cleaning. I'm not a total slob and I do dust, mop floors etc. but with fall cleaning, I'm talking about the big stuff, the full monty; the dangerous stuff.
Twice a year I do a major cleaning in my house, spring and fall. It's the kind of cleaning that no one really likes to do or even think about, but it's inevitable. If there is any grease, grime, or yukky nasties hiding, they are about to be exposed and meet my wrath. This is the super deep cleaning of all the things that are either let go during the course of regular daily clean ups, or just gone over with a light wipe up. This is going to be so bad it calls for rubber gloves. The oven will be taken apart, the refrigerator scrubbed out like new. I'll either paint the bathroom or use explosive devices in there, but one way or the other it will be a nice place to seat your tushy when I get done in there. That reminds me, I have to buy a new toilet seat, again. I don’t know of anyone else that breaks toilet seats on a regular basis like we do.
We all know we have cooties in our homes lurking about and we also know where they are and where the real dirt is hiding. I get in complete denial and choose to avoid this gruesome task for as long as possible, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and face the evils that lie within. If any dust gremlins or creatures have taken up residence inside my piano they are toast. I'll be cleaning room by room, moving big furniture like a linebacker for the Rams in record time. I’ll stand back armed with my can of Fabreeze in one hand, can of Raid in the other, silver bullets strapped to my chest and a vampire stake tucked into my jeans. I'm incognito. They'll never know what hit them.
Closets are involved, every closet, and that usually provides for some very scary measures. I’ll have everything pulled out of every closet in the house. Not to worry, I have a cross, and an exorcism in place for those closet beasties. Whatever I been hoarding this time in those closets is about to come forward and identify itself. My hidden dust bunnies are about to start hopping down the bunny trail to my vacuum. My curtains will be down and washing while I will scrub windows inside and out. I hope they don’t fall apart. Things that broke will be fixed and things that need mending will be mended. I am about to have the biggest mess you have ever seen. It never ceases to amaze me that I have to make such a mess just to clean up a mess. Go figure. I just can’t wait to wash the living room walls down. That should be very special. Oh no, I just remembered I have to clean the cabinets out too and defrost the big freezer. :arg! :arg! :arg!
This cleaning ritual is a prelude to welcome fall into our home. Soon, our fall decorations will be coming out of storage and it would be a major sin to decorate a house that has not been properly prepared to receive them. To me, it's like people who put up outdoor Christmas lights when their yard is full of junk and the kids toys. So that's the method to my madness; to start with a really clean pallet.
After the cleaning is done, out will come the fall decorations, Halloween decor, and then the Thanksgiving decorations, followed by the big one....Christmas. To me, these decorations are like old friends that I haven't seen in a year's time and I get excited unwrapping them out of tissue and placing them all around. They are more than "things." These decorations are part of our history as a family and hold memories, so they are special. There will be some things handed down from my mom, and of course plenty of things the boys made which are priceless. I know I’ll fall apart and have a good cry, as I unravel them from the safety of their Rubbermaid containers and miles of bubblewrap.
The rooms will be warmed up with throw rugs, pillows, scented candles, and Afghans draped across the couch to cover up with on chilly autumn night. The big crock pot will be plunked on my kitchen counter and the cookie jar filled with seasonal offerings, most likely compliments of Mrs. Pillsbury. Dan will no doubt be making cookies to look like pumpkins. That kid eats a pie a day so an assortment of pies will be baking in the oven daily thanks to Sara Lee. Ok, so I'm a cheater in the cooking department sometimes, but there is no mistaking my home made soups and stews. The music man will come to tune the piano which means I had better allot some time for practicing new pieces and brush up on the good old family requests. Come winter, I do play more than any other time of year since I'm stuck inside a lot.
This is the weekend of our Mountaineer Harvest Festival. This is the weekend where everyone will be getting out their hay bales and decorating them with scarecrows and pumpkins and mums. So I guess I had better get cracking around here so I can get my stuff out eventually.I figure I should be done with the entire frazzle in a week or so, then I can finally go forth and conquer and bring out the fall decorations if there is anything left of me. Maybe I’ll just post pone this until next week……….
Happy Fall Yalls from the Mountain.
Twice a year I do a major cleaning in my house, spring and fall. It's the kind of cleaning that no one really likes to do or even think about, but it's inevitable. If there is any grease, grime, or yukky nasties hiding, they are about to be exposed and meet my wrath. This is the super deep cleaning of all the things that are either let go during the course of regular daily clean ups, or just gone over with a light wipe up. This is going to be so bad it calls for rubber gloves. The oven will be taken apart, the refrigerator scrubbed out like new. I'll either paint the bathroom or use explosive devices in there, but one way or the other it will be a nice place to seat your tushy when I get done in there. That reminds me, I have to buy a new toilet seat, again. I don’t know of anyone else that breaks toilet seats on a regular basis like we do.
We all know we have cooties in our homes lurking about and we also know where they are and where the real dirt is hiding. I get in complete denial and choose to avoid this gruesome task for as long as possible, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and face the evils that lie within. If any dust gremlins or creatures have taken up residence inside my piano they are toast. I'll be cleaning room by room, moving big furniture like a linebacker for the Rams in record time. I’ll stand back armed with my can of Fabreeze in one hand, can of Raid in the other, silver bullets strapped to my chest and a vampire stake tucked into my jeans. I'm incognito. They'll never know what hit them.
Closets are involved, every closet, and that usually provides for some very scary measures. I’ll have everything pulled out of every closet in the house. Not to worry, I have a cross, and an exorcism in place for those closet beasties. Whatever I been hoarding this time in those closets is about to come forward and identify itself. My hidden dust bunnies are about to start hopping down the bunny trail to my vacuum. My curtains will be down and washing while I will scrub windows inside and out. I hope they don’t fall apart. Things that broke will be fixed and things that need mending will be mended. I am about to have the biggest mess you have ever seen. It never ceases to amaze me that I have to make such a mess just to clean up a mess. Go figure. I just can’t wait to wash the living room walls down. That should be very special. Oh no, I just remembered I have to clean the cabinets out too and defrost the big freezer. :arg! :arg! :arg!
This cleaning ritual is a prelude to welcome fall into our home. Soon, our fall decorations will be coming out of storage and it would be a major sin to decorate a house that has not been properly prepared to receive them. To me, it's like people who put up outdoor Christmas lights when their yard is full of junk and the kids toys. So that's the method to my madness; to start with a really clean pallet.
After the cleaning is done, out will come the fall decorations, Halloween decor, and then the Thanksgiving decorations, followed by the big one....Christmas. To me, these decorations are like old friends that I haven't seen in a year's time and I get excited unwrapping them out of tissue and placing them all around. They are more than "things." These decorations are part of our history as a family and hold memories, so they are special. There will be some things handed down from my mom, and of course plenty of things the boys made which are priceless. I know I’ll fall apart and have a good cry, as I unravel them from the safety of their Rubbermaid containers and miles of bubblewrap.
The rooms will be warmed up with throw rugs, pillows, scented candles, and Afghans draped across the couch to cover up with on chilly autumn night. The big crock pot will be plunked on my kitchen counter and the cookie jar filled with seasonal offerings, most likely compliments of Mrs. Pillsbury. Dan will no doubt be making cookies to look like pumpkins. That kid eats a pie a day so an assortment of pies will be baking in the oven daily thanks to Sara Lee. Ok, so I'm a cheater in the cooking department sometimes, but there is no mistaking my home made soups and stews. The music man will come to tune the piano which means I had better allot some time for practicing new pieces and brush up on the good old family requests. Come winter, I do play more than any other time of year since I'm stuck inside a lot.
This is the weekend of our Mountaineer Harvest Festival. This is the weekend where everyone will be getting out their hay bales and decorating them with scarecrows and pumpkins and mums. So I guess I had better get cracking around here so I can get my stuff out eventually.I figure I should be done with the entire frazzle in a week or so, then I can finally go forth and conquer and bring out the fall decorations if there is anything left of me. Maybe I’ll just post pone this until next week……….
Happy Fall Yalls from the Mountain.
OH! Zac's room is in the works. He's co-slept and we (and he) are about ready for him to have his own, big boy room. Steve has given up his Tonka Mecca in our spare bedroom and has moved his office (and beloved Tonkas) to the room off of the master bedroom.
