I just swept under my sofa. This is what I found:
I have to see the silver lining here: a complete pair of shoes?!? I can’t recall two of the same shoes ever ending up under the sofa at the exact same time. These happen to be water shoes that haven’t been used since, um, well, it’s been a while. And they don’t currently fit anybody. But still . . . .
I can’t tell you how much I am digging this “all my kids in school” thing. You should know by now that housework is not my favorite thing to do. I’m not one of those lame people who says that and then spends all her time cleaning anyway. No, I really, truly hate cleaning my house. I avoid it as much as possible. I have to tell you, though. Cleaning your house when the kids are all gone is great. Like, super amazingly great.
I turn my ipod up to 11 and get to work with a garbage bag and scrub brush (with a little dancing thrown in for good measure).
Yesterday I gave the kitchen a big fat spanking while I listened to The Ting Tings (highly recommended music for cleaning and generally getting your groove on).
The house actually stayed clean for a whole two hours until the hordes returned. But two hours is good. Normally as I clean there is a wake of people pulling things out and tossing toys everywhere. So you can see how even a few hours of cleanliness is a miracle.
Do you have a tile floor? If so, stop (STOP!) what you are doing (reading blogs, obviously) and go get your credit card. You need to buy this broom:
I know what you’re thinking: “Uh-huh. Sure, Jennie. That looks totally lame.” But trust me. This will become your new best friend*. Plus it’s only $10.
Do you have obnoxious grout? Does it mock you with its bionic crumb-hording powers? Can you simply not get all the dust and junk out of the nooks and crannies? This broom is the answer! (it works on any floor: hardwood, even carpet. It’s brilliant at removing pet hair. But tile is my bête noire, and I’m guessing if you have it you hate it too.)
You can sweep with this thing, mop with it, whatever. It’s made of rubber (I know. Weird.) but I like to say it’s made of pure awesomeness.
Get it at the Flylady shop for $10 (I think shipping is another $6 or so. Just pay for the shipping. Don’t be a cheapskate and try to find something similar that costs less somewhere else. Because that’s a waste of your time.)
P.S. Extra brownie points if you know where I got the title for this post.
I mentioned earlier how I like to be showered and ready before my kids wake up. This is not because I am disciplined (so laughable!) or have my life together. It’s because showering while Ada and Jasper are up and about leads to nothing but trouble. As I found out yesterday. This is what I saw as I walked into the family room after getting ready yesterday morning. Evidently the game cupboard had been ransacked:
If that wasn’t awful enough, the babies (they’re not really babies. They are two and three. But the children are divided into two parts: the big kids and the babies. It will remain thusly for the rest of their lives) also came across my basket of mismatched socks. Of course it has about 200 socks, all without a significant other. What fun are socks in a basket? They are somehow more entertaining strewn across the floor.
The girls’ room is a mess. Do you think I cleaned it up today? If you do, you must have never read my blog before.
Of course I didn’t clean it up! I installed my new bathroom light fixture instead ($27.67 on ebay, thank you very much). Remember the old one from last week?
DURING (somewhat scary looking):
Lest you think I’m completely incompetent, here’s a picture of the actual light turned on:
Some days I just seem to get nothing accomplished, no matter how busy I seem. On days like that I have to celebrate the little tasks. Otherwise, it’s just too sad. Yesterday’s big accomplishment was the removal of a Nerf dart from a really high up ledge in my house. It’s been there since Finn’s birthday (March!), when he got the Nerf gun.
Like most houses built in the last twenty years I have a two-story entry hall. Boy, do I hate these! Yes they look nice and spacious, but they are a pain to keep clean (how am I supposed to dust those knick-knacks that are 14 feet from the floor?) I am just dreading having to change the lights in the chandelier. I don’t have a ladder that tall. What am I supposed to do? Anyway–notice, if you will, the pointless little ledge toward the top of the picture. Do you see a small black thing sitting on it? That would be the Nerf dart that has been mocking me for many months.
I have been trying to come up with a plan to get that damn dart, but most involve jumping for it, followed by a hard tile-floor landing. Not worth it.
I finally thought of a solution. I got a really long extending paintbrush pole and screwed the Webster onto it. (The Webster is the cobweb removal device that I have to use on a regular basis lest Mister find out that there are actually spiders living in our house. Don’t laugh, he has major spider issues. OK, you can laugh. Especially if you see him find a spider. He completely flips out. I don’t want to say it’s hilarious, but . . . it is.)
Victory is mine!!!
