Spring Cleaning Week #4ish

SIDE NOTE: Happy birthday to my awesome niece, Morgan, and my mom!!! Not that either reads the blog. ;-)

Last week's spring cleaning adventures were derailed with some intensive tearing apart/painting/re-decorating of the dining room. Now I know why it took me so long to get the project done! Exhausting!! So, while I did tons of cleaning, none of it was necessarily of the spring cleaning ilk; hence why I didn't feel it right to post any to-do lists when I, myself, wasn't holding up my end of the bargain.

So, where we left off, we had worked on any and all windows, the fridge/freezer, any downstairs bathrooms (none here!), and finally headed upstairs (or, at least, the "traditionally upstairs" places for those of you with a smaller or one-level environment) to like the office and main bathroom.

That said, here's our "to do list" this week:

- Play "catch-up." You know what I mean. Anything on the lists so far you haven't done (or anything that may need a little extra time -- like, picking up and vacuuming the living room again). Here's your get-out-of-jail-free card. Let's git 'er done.

- Bedrooms. Vacuum/sweep/mop floors. Shake area rugs. (Does anyone else get a dirty look, no pun intended, from the neighbors for shaking rugs outside? Dude, seriously? Well, excuse me for cleaning my house.) Clean ceiling fans. Vacuum lampshades and your mattress. Dust EVERYTHING. Wipe down walls and woodwork. Wash sheets, pillowcases, comforter/blankets, and curtains. (TIP: Hang those puppies up IMMEDIATELY straight from the dryer. Avoid ironing at all costs!) If you feel up to it, go through your "winter clothes" and switch stuff out for spring/summer stuff. Oh, and move everything out from under the bed and vacuum/sweep/mop there, too! Think about allergies, folks.

- Organizing. Y'know that office crap from last time? File it. (Ugh. My nemesis. Filing stuff.) Go through your linen and general storage closets. Go through all the books on your shelves and analyze whether you a) will read them, b) need them for future reference, or c) will read them again if you already have. Purge. Make a pile to donate. Keep a bag aside for any medicines that have expired (and keep an eye out for a prescription drop-off day at a local police department or pharmacy) -- this keeps it out of our drinking water, folks!! Make a list for any organizational helpers you may need, such as bins, shelves, racks, boxes, etc.

- Look around. Your house may have an extra room or two that I haven't mentioned. (I'm not talkin' basements here. That's a whole other story.) So, in your living space, analyze if there's anything left to do. Do one more walk-through to pick up, or do a quick vacuum, or a once-over with a dust rag or window cleaner. (For some reason, my TVs are endlessly filthy, and I haven't a clue why. Other than the fact that we have a toddler who apparently likes to pick Big Bird's nose. What a friend.)


That's it for now! If you want, you can officially call your spring cleaning done. If you want to go more in-depth (anything I missed, go nuts!), save it for next week. Otherwise, once I've caught up with my to-dos, I'll be sharing some "spring cleaning" (um...organizing) for some non-living space places. Read: The basement and garage...dun dun duuuuuunnnnn.

What better than a public statement on your personal blog to keep you accountable? Eh? Eh? nudge, nudge