What does your family do on a day off?

First of all, I just paid $3.00 plus tip for a cup of hot chocolate at the coffee shop inside the grocery shop to celebrate a week of eating well. I can hardly get it down – yuck.  I guess I stick to my cheap Swiss Miss and add my own redi-whip.  Call me a cheap-is-better hot chocolate snob.

My cleaning OCD is about to begin.  This time of year brings out my very detailed, almost neurotic side.  I think it is all in the attempt to pull off the “perfect” Christmas for my family.  I will blog about that when I have more time to ponder on why I have an infatuation with perfect holidays.  Anyway, under all the decorations is a VERY (and I mean VERY) clean house.  Right now, it looks as if a tornado went through it – this will be a major overhaul.

    

What means clean to you?  Dusting to me is just pushing dust around.  To get wood furniture really clean, I have to break out the Murphy’s Oil Soap.  And I wash everything, I am talking the floor boards to the cupboard fronts, to the window sills to the tops of my kitchen cupboards.  EVERYTHING gets washed down, or else it feels like a fake, taking-the-easy road job.  Dusting is what my kids do for me when I need a 5 minute spiffing up.

Vacuum around the furniture?  I think not.    Move it and get the carpet where it was.  While you are there, wash the baseboards behind it.  Here is another idea, while you are moving furniture, run to the store and grab a Rug Doctor.  I get that serious.

Bathrooms can take me hours.  No soap scum, no mildew, no hairspray layer will be left when I am done.  I wash the hand soap bottle, the shampoo bottles, the clock on the counter.  As I tell my kids, “if someone has to come behind you and finish the job, you sucked.”  Ok, I might use a different wording there, but the same idea.

I clean out cupboards, closets, line up the pantry labels (thanks to my cousin Janell pointing out that wonderful attribute of a well-organized pantry.)  The pantry will be another day.

And no, I wont come do your house, you wouldn’t want me to, really, you wouldn’t.  It isn’t a healthy thing – my kids have already moved from sharing the living room with me down to hide in the safer basement – they know I will start in the kitchen.  They know to stay out of my way!!

My goals were the master suite and the tri state area (my kitchen, dining room, living room area.)  DONE!!

Cleaned 5 drawers and some cupboards too – didn’t get to the pantry

Yep, moved all the furniture and got under it and behind it

No more clean laundry piled up, no more inch of dust, all clean bedding!!

 Guess who is the happiest of all?? 

The girls enjoyed donuts in their PJ’s! And finished the peanut butter balls! 

The boys had a scout day – James’ day started at the VFW, honoring local veterans and the boys ended their day delivering 1/2 of their $1300 of popcorn.  What a job! 

It was a fun day!  Fun in the way of accomplishing much.