spring cleaning

Well, that laundry pile that i intended to tackle on Tuesday is still there. It's not quite as large, well, maybe it is, just with different articles now. Laundry is a never-ending journey. This morning I awoke with a strange impulse. A couple of them, actually.

The first of these strange impulses was to thoroughly wipe down the exteriors of our kitchen cabinets with Clorox wipes, including baseboards. I don't do that often enough, and white shows a multitude of spills.

Next, it was time for the windows. You see, I've been fighting clover mites around our windows. It happens every spring, and has something to do with all the clover in our yard (which is a lot less this year, I might add.) When the exterminator came a couple of years ago, he said the only thing we could do would be dig a little trench about a foot from the exterior of our house. um, no... I don't remember if he said something should be spread in it, but somehow this little trench was supposed to act like a barricade against the mites. The other option he gave was to wash the windows with windex (or the generic) on a regular basis. Well, you regular blog friends can guess how often I voluntarily wash windows. (Not very.) But come spring, the clover mites and I are at war. A few times a week, I take a clorox wipe and get rid of the pesky critters that have gathered around the window cills. (They are always worse after a lawn treatment, which hubby did yesterday. Kill their food, they come running.) Today I did a good cleaning of the main windows in the living areas downstairs, including the inside and outside of the storm door. (You can imagine the multitude of finger prints Baby Bear leaves as she peers through the glass.) A neighbor even honked as I washed the front windows. I bet he was as shocked to see me out there doing that at 9-something a.m.

Oh, and I'm not done. I was ashamed that I didn't tackle my fridge before having company this week. It just didn't clean itself for some reason. So, I emptied out all the science projects, wiped down the glass shelves, and am no longer worried that Baby Bear will get sick from touching the bottom shelf as I open the door (I hope it's not too late.) Tech Mom would have had a blast showing Monarch and Purple Princess slides of the microorganisms which had taken up residence on the shelves and in old food.

Last, but not least, the kitchen floor got a good sweep and swiffering. I think a thorough mopping cleans better, but I find that the swiffer is an acceptable "in between" solution that requires far less effort on my part. Plus, I like not having to clean out the sink after I'm done... just toss the maxi-pad thing attached to the mop into the trash.

Baby Bear definitely seems to be fighting something. Could just be teething. While she slept well last night, she has been on edge all day. She is currently napping in her crib. (I'm so glad she hasn't figured out how to climb out of it yet, like her cousin Juliana.)

I've got an itching to plant some flowers out front... we have a $10 coupon for Lowe's that expires tomorrow. We may just have to find $25 worth of plants and mulch for the flower beds. That shouldn't be too difficult.

Even though a casual observer might still think our house is a wreck, and rightly so, it feels good to know that some of the grime was tackled this morning. Especially now that I've showered.

Oh, I forgot to mention that before I tackled the windows, I removed larger bits of aluminum foil from the bottom of the oven and ordered it to clean itself. Two hours later, it finished its' task. I can't remember ever cleaning the oven since we moved here, which is pathetic. Not to mention disgusting. I remembered a horrible stench from the oven in our apartment that came out whenever I set its' self-cleaning mode. Thankfully, our oven did smell half as badly as I expected. Makes me wonder what was living in the nooks and crannies of that old electric-coil-range.