It's Clean, NOT The House

So, today was my first day off of five and I figured I would knock a few rooms down and when I clean, it means deep and down to the ground cleaning and sometimes it means deep and down and can't get back up on my own, but today, I was able to position myself near a table to help pull myself up when I needed up.

Yuck! I didn't realize how dusty my kitchen and dining room curtains had gotten since I put them up last summer. I am talking grungy, not to mention the kiddo's sit by the window and there was food spots on the wall behind them, the window and I know I just wiped down that area a few weeks ago. Arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh! Now I know what they do when I leave the table...FOOD FIGHT!

So, I got the inside kitchen window washed, the window frame inside and out and the runner in the kitchen. The dining area has 3 windows and a sliding door, those were all scrubbed shiny clean again, curtains removed, the walls washed down, the baseboards scrubbed, the floor scrubbed, we have a very nice formal dining set (yes,we eat there everyday why save the good stuff?) and it is wood, so it had to be cleaned and wiped down with furniture polish and new towels placed on the seat (I said we eat there everyday, I didn't say I was crazy) to keep them clean.

When that was done, I scrubbed down the floor, cleaned the outside of the sliding door, moved the table at a different angle, cleaned the place mats and table cover, washed the glass on the built ins and called it a night!

Nah, I didn't push myself at all. I don't do things like that! HAHA!! As I said, this house will be shiny when I go into the hospital and at this rate, I may be there sooner than expected! Tomorrow Papa is home and I will have him move the stove and fridge out so I can do a good cleaning behind them, scrub out the fridge, iron the curtains and get them re-hung and probably take a long nap.

I am bringing up the paper shredder tomorrow from the basement, well, I am asking for it to be brought up and then I am going to get serious about cleaning out my desk and my junk drawers in my file box. The living room was recently given a deep cleaning, so it will be shredding miles of papers and tossing into the green pile miles of catalogs and magazines that I put back for one reason or another and never do anything with.

The windows will be pretty easy because the fireplace tends to get smokey grime around them, I wipe them down regularly during the winter. The fireplace is hopefully finished, it will get all cleaned out and the doors will be removed and cleaned, the windows all washed and maybe, just maybe if I am lucky, I can get hubby to check the basement for the trim paint for the door and I will paint the frame.

We discussed today getting some cellular blinds in the living room that have the top down bottom up feature (discount blinds is having a great sale on them) since they are on sale and then I can lay or sit in the living room when I come home and see outside without people seeing me inside in my jammies!

I want to get drapes and a rug for the living room, but so far, I haven't found the perfect color combination for my living room which I like and can set my mind to.

Any whatsits, my meds are kicking in and I am getting sleepy, so good night all!

Sunday Dinner and Does it Matter

Okay, I guess the title of tonights post could be a bit confusing, so let me clarify. YES! Sunday dinner matters or Monday, Thursday dinner whichever night your family is able to sit down and eat together, it matters!

Tonight's dinner is baked Ziti, a festive green & red salad, French Bread & chocolate cake with vanilla icing. All served in festive brightly colored bowls, baking dishes and a pitcher for raspberry lemonade, yum!

The serving dish and pitcher are from the Oneida Sunset Bouquet collection and I have always loved the cheery oranges, reds and greens, it reminds me of an Italian countryside or at least dinner in Italy of which I have never been, but so be it!

Normally, I toss the salad but since today's theme was festive, I wanted to leave the tomato and red peppers on the top for color sensation. You could easily do the same with a plain colored bowl, the trick is to add color!

For desert? A fudge chocolate cake with vanilla icing and a pink heart per the kids request since Valentines day is getting so close.

We don't normally eat this way, but is becoming a fun thing to do and the kids always ask after church what we are doing for Papa for dinner.

So, back to the other question. Does it matter? Today I felt pretty good for a change, you know what is coming don't you? I cleaned my living room from top to bottom, dusting, washing soot off the fireplace, window frames, wiping doors down, swept the floor, washed baseboards, dust mopped the same floor I swept and then mopped.

All of this, while fixing dinner and getting Sunday baths out of the way.
As I was down on the floor wiping away the baseboards and feeling the pain but ignoring it, I wondered, does it really matter if my baseboards are dirty? Does it matter if my walls are dirty? If it does, who does it matter to besides myself?

I am the type of person that if I know I have company coming to visit or coming from out of town, I will be washing windows in 10' of snow. I haven't always been that way and I don't know why I am. Over the years, Jerry has hired me a variety of house cleaners and I have gone behind most of them and cleaned where they didn't. Does that surprise you?

I used Toadally Clean in Arizona, they were absolutely worth the money I paid for them and when they were done the first time, I knew I didn't have to clean after them, they were meticulous. I was on bed rest in a cast, but trust me if I thought my house wasn't done right, I would have sat on the floor and redid their work! They were amazing.

The other house cleaner I used was a friend from the Carolina's named Wanda who cleaned a very small apartment for us when we were working 6 & 7 days a week, 12 hours a day with a 2 hour drive time. When she cleaned, you knew it because when you walked in the house smelled so fresh and clean!

I am looking at the possibility of back surgery and I wonder, who will clean the house when I am down? Jerry can't, he will be working and thankfully so 6 days a week and taking care of the kids, he won't have time. My family? NOPE!! A house cleaner? Not here, not in this area, I have seen their work.

I am thinking right now with my back and legs hurting more and more that it might benefit me to hire a local teen to come in on Saturday to sweep and mop the top floor and basement and maybe dust. This will give me time to see if I like their work and time for me to let go of this silly obsession I have.

I used to tell Jerry when he complained about the dust under our dresser that if we had guests who mentioned my dust bunnies I would give them the dust mop and now I obsess over those bunnies.

So, a clean house is great, but does it really matter if my baseboards have dust on them?

Enjoy dinner and the peppers are exceptionally crisp and sweet this evening and the baked Ziti, well it has some Italian sausage in it that makes it..magnifique!