It’s October. Which means it’s Fall. Which means it’s time for pumpkins, football, leaves falling, cooler weather and all the beautiful colors. For so many of us– it’s our favorite time of year. But, it’s also time for a-not-so-favorite time of the year–Fall House Cleaning. Growl! It’s so beautiful–I want to be outside! And if it gets too cold to be outside I want to just sit in my chair and look outside. That’s when the little friendly reminder hits me. My windows are so grimy from all of the rains and winds and sticky hands touching them all summer–I can barely see through them. As I sit in my chair, I notice that areas I dust around are getting so thick with dust that it’s actually causing the stuff on the shelves to hover. And the floors–oh my goodness the floors. Dyson doesn’t make a product for what I have happening here.
When we built our home 7 years ago, I was so grateful that I made a commitment to God that I would do my best to keep it nice and that twice a year (spring and fall) I would try to get it looking as brand new as it was the day we moved in. Even now, I can feel your smirks.
How could I have know then that my two little toddler boys at the time would grow up to much bigger and messier boys and make it their sole mission to destroy everything nice, new and clean. Alas, the commitment has been made, SO it’s time to do the thing.
This week I started with our basement–just wiping down my walls and baseboards and using one of those cool scrubby thingies –Magic Erasers –to get all the scuffs, dirty hand prints (is that blood?!) and such off. But, as I made my way around the Rec Room area I came to a dead stop as I looked up and realized I had come to the….GULP…..window wells.
Now, for those of you that don’t have below ground basements–you couldn’t possible understand why my palms started sweating and my heart started thumping in my chest. These windows serve one purpose and one purpose only–to scare the living snot out of me. Everyone knows that anything below surface level outside contains creepy crawling horrors. A thin little piece of aluminum is NOT going to keep them away. The only thing keeping those little terrorists out of my home is a locked double pane piece of glass. To open it and come face to face with whatever monsters might be out there……I mean, how bad can a little dirt on the windows be? Can’t I just spray them down with a hose or something? Somewhere in my mind, my mother’s voice beckons me to put on my big girl underpants and face the dreaded task. So, donning my most protective gear, I headed out into the unknown.
I can’t even begin to describe to you the heebie jeebies I got and the shrieks that emerged from me if a leaf so much as rustled. I would rather spend the night in a haunted house with Freddie Krueger, Jason, and Pennywise as roommates than clean window well windows.
There is not enough medication or therapy on the planet to sooth my freaked out nerves. I’m happy to report that there were only two gigantic spider terrorists sited and sad to report that they are no longer with us. I have a hard and fast rule for anything crawly, buzzy, or slithery; you are welcome to live out your days in peace and harmony BEYOND the border of our home. HOWEVER, once you choose to cross that line, you are considered a trespasser and will be destroyed. I am NOT in the relocation business.
Anyway, the saga continues–next week: The boy’s bathroom– I’ll be ready…
I usually take a good month or so to do my deep cleaning–going floor by floor. If you have a good system that you have found, please share–you can leave a comment on the post or sign up for email and I’ll share your ideas. Here’s my Fall Cleaning Checklist:
I hope you can get yours done without shrieks, screams and need of therapy.
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