Oooh, sparkly

I have been deep cleaning my kitchen for the past several days and it's been wonderful. I have cleaned up every "hot spot" surface and kept them free of clutter for almost a week now. You know, they're those places that seem to always be covered in things . Things to be put away or given away or thrown away. For some people it's their mantle. For others a coffee table. Well, for me, in my kitchen, it was the top of the microwave, next to my coffee maker, the top of the fridge and my dryer. (Washer and dryer area is in the kitchen.) Wow, that's a lot. But no more! It's so nice to have those areas free of clutter. I almost feel lighter with all that stuff gone.

I'm also planning on re-organizing my storage for my laundry area. I have some great storing systems in there but I'm using them for the wrong things. I need to have anything I use daily or weekly in there and everything else moved upstairs to the storage room. (We have finally decided to keep Ana in our room until she can share with the twins and move the desk from our bedroom to the spare room to have it an office/storage area.)

I've also been able to get some deeper cleaning done. I have found that if I clean out the sink for the kids and let them play with toys in the water they're in heaven, and fully occupied, for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, though it is an activity that requires much supervision (and lots of towels). Tackling some small jobs lets me stay with them but still be productive. So far I have been able to clean my baseboards, wipe down all my appliances, doors and cabinets, clean the stove and hood, scrub every corner and hard to get to place, and clean and organize the bathroom. We'll play again today, the microwave is calling my name.