Maybe I'm Just Backward

I never really seem to want to clean in the Spring, when you're "supposed" to Spring Clean. Well, I mean, I do want to. I imagine sparkling windows and dust-free nooks and crannies, open windows and fresh air breezing through the house as I disturb all of the winter's accumulated dust.

But it's darn cold in the Spring.

This year, it stayed winter-jacket-needed-for-pulling-weeds-cold until June. June! (Needless to say, with the successive heat waves during July, August and early September, and the sudden onset of knife-edge crisp Autumn weather in mid-September, I'm feeling seriously gypped. Where did my mild seasonal transitions go? I got maybe six days total since January.)

While it's not quite as bitingly cold now, I at least have that programmed need for frenzy at this time of year. It's the time of year that you scurry around and get new clothes and shoes and coats and all for everyone before school starts since there are tons of great sales going on, and when you tidy up the yard, and don't have to mow anymore (Vern dearly loves this time of year ;o), and you can turn your attention to more indoors. Time to feather the nest, bring out the russet and deep orange and brown deckings. The forest around here turns a deeper green than summer, and the mountains start to show golden among the green.

And I start to feel like doing something again.

So here's what I did today:



Beautiful, isn't it?

What was that? . . . . Oh? . . . . You say you don't see anything but a builder-white corner of the ceiling? But that's it, darling. It's white!

While taking a damp rag to the wall (lower down, below the left side of the photo) in order to make sure it was ready for my oldest to get to work patching the myriad tie-tack holes and scratches he put there a while back (why is it that boys are so fascinated with how they can use new acquisitions to destroy customize their surroundings?), I got to looking around, and went after some cobwebs and dust up in the corner. And then I saw them.

Remember this? Yep. Teal strikes again. This time, it was small crayon strikes on the ceiling. Don't ask me how my oldest got them there . . . although I have my suspicions. (A nice, springy bed is directly underneath that very spot.) So, I spent some time with the Dawn and dish scrubber again, and got them off the ceiling.

As I was scrubbing, I realized the walls could use a wipe down, and so I got my trusty friend, and we went to work.



Yes, Swiffers are good for something other than sibling fights.

So, after attacking all the walls and wiping down the tops of the door trim (can I just say ICK!?), I'm feeling better, and I think it all looks better. Sure, you couldn't really see the dust before, but you would have been amazed at the color of the water after I rinsed out that brown washcloth you see above.

So, then I set the 8yo to work filling all of the holes and scratches. He seemed like he was doing pretty well, so I went on to other things. Namely, blogging. (It's good to sit after an upper body workout like I just did. ;o)



(lol. My almost-4-yo DS just came out looking worried and announced: "I jus' got smackle on my hand," holding out his left palm to show me a tiny white smudge. He then promptly went to "wash it wif LOTS of soap and wahter." Gotta love that little guy.)

So, as we've been trying to sell the house, and repeatedly scrambled to get ready for showings (of which we've had a fairly satisfactory number, considering the market) I've come to one solid conclusion: there's only one way to keep the house clean for any reasonable amount of time once I've finished.



Yep. (The TV went on to greener pastures, i.e. somewhere it will be watched.) The kids occasionally watch a DVD, or we have fun over at YouTube. Mostly, though, we listen to the radio on it. (Which is my favorite, because it doesn't interfere with blogging, et al. ;o)

And just so you're all reassured, I'm feeling better (finally!), and am beginning to get a hankering to knit on some socks. (As soon as I can look at the yarn without feeling nauseous, I'll be back in action.)