Work Day

I am hearing that alot lately!!! My family is eating better than they ever have. Yesterday I made 2 loaves of bread, one white and one garlic herb. They turned out wonderful. I also "whipped up" a double batch of homemade spaghetti sauce. Niki and Linda both gave me recipes and they were pretty much identical! I used a garlic press for the first time in my life. Sad, I know.The sauce simmered in the crock pot all day and we enjoyed one batch with our spaghetti dinner and I froze the rest. Kyle was concerned when he saw no Prego jar, but he liked my sauce too. I can see why everyone who scratch cooks has a night of leftovers...my frig has some very precious food in it. After all that work, I do not want to throw it away! I have spent ALL of today cleaning. Every room got a once over with a dust rag and the vacuum. The kitchen was in pretty good shape, but Charlotte washed the floor. I worked on several loads of laundry and then did a deep clean of my bedroom. I decided I need to create my deep cleaning schedule for my Home Management Binder. Those jobs that need to be done quarterly, seasonally and yearly. I started with my bedroom. I did a deep clean first and then I looked around. I wrote on a piece of paper every job that needs to be done in that room EVER. I have a beautiful piece of furniture in my bedroom. It is not a part of my bedroom set. It is a solid oak entertainment center. It gets a dusting every week, but there are lots of things about it that get ignored. In my schedule I added glass clean the pictures on the top, the bottom drawer to be cleaned out, and my personal library which is held there, needed a dusting and reorganizing. It was awful dusty even though it has a door. These things do not require attention weekly or even bi-weekly but seasonally it should be done. Speaking of the pictures on the top, some of my favorites are there. This one is my ALL time favorite picture and I love the little frame. I took this from my hospital bed the day Kyle was born. Remember how I told you in my last post that TJ looks like his Daddy at 2? Well here they are. The resemblance is remarkable. Even the same mannerisms.

Another area in my bedroom is a beautiful shelf above my bed. It holds my Passion of the Christ book and a couple of prints from the movie. Pretty graphic but I love them. It was VERY dusty up there. Another thing that was put on the monthly schedule. Curtains and mini blinds. I really did a number on my bedroom curtains. A few months ago I decided I would wash them. I had only ever vacuumed them using my attachments. I threw them in the wash and then the dryer. OH MY GOSH!! they were a MESS. I had to press them about 50 times to make them look half way presentable. They match the quilt on my bed (store bought...GASP!) so I did want to use them. I found the "DRY CLEAN ONLY" tag on about the 10th pressing! I put the vacuuming of the curtains (or as I found out, drapes) on my monthly list and the mini blinds also. Then I put my mini blinds on my bi-annual list to have a deep wash. The ceiling fan along with dresser drawers, doors, woodwork, and cleaning behind and under furniture were also put on the schedule. I will do this in each room over the next week or so, taking full inventory of what needs to be done to completely cover the needs of the entire room. Then I will put together a schedule so things will be spaced out. Not all over so that I have a load of work all the time. A couple of months a year will be busy, in the spring and fall. The Copper's Wife website will have a new homemaking section in the future that will be helpful. Until then I will make due with this schedule. After today, I will have a restful Sunday. After church I will hit the sewing room to get the napkins done and maybe cut my apron for the apron swap. So how do you schedule your seasonal cleaning?