So, I'm out of class for good and tomorrow if my graduation from college. I had a night to celebrate with a movie and a personal-sized pizza, and then another night to spend with visiting cousins. Both were wonderful. Now, however, I have to have a cleaning day. The family is arriving sometime this evening (along with the hubby) and I have all day to get the house back in order.

I always tend to let things go when I have the house to myself. It doesn't help that I had exams or that I'm exhausted from carrying around a growing baby that is now the size of a cantaloupe. But, anyway, I'm not a clean freak when I don't have to worry about anyone seeing the house looking like a tornado ran through it. Part of the reason I do this is so I can actually have a cleaning day.

I'm one of those strange individuals that finds cleaning soothing. I set aside a whole day and do the laundry, dust, vacuum, clean the bathrooms thoroughly, organize anything that's been a little out of whack, and so forth. I love it. If Clark's home, it doesn't work as well. He's always in the way or trying to do something to "help"
but it's just frustrating because I was planning to do it. Don't worry. He understands. He can't clean when I'm in the house, either. So, we make it work one way or the other.

Cleaning requires the right supplies. There have been times in our marriage where we had to improvise one thing for another. Like, we didn't have enough Windex so we added water to the bottle and said it would work. We were out of mop-head covers so we sprayed some bathroom cleaner on the floor and went over it with paper towels. It's been interesting. Luckily, I had all the proper supplies today.

I'm still working, of course, but if you're someone who wants to give the house a thorough clean, here are the supplies I suggest you have ready for use!

Bathroom:

- Sponges
- Broom
- Mop (traditional or a swiffer with wet cloth-covers)
- Paper Towels
- Comet
- Windex or a Clorox bathroom-cleaner spray

Bedrooms/Living Room/Den/ etc.:

- Vacuum
- Pledge + dusting supplies
- Windex (to clean windows, TV screen, etc.)
- Carpet powder (if you have pets and want to get rid of any smells that may be lingering, they spell special powder you can sprinkle on the carpet before vacuuming and I LOVE it)

Kitchen:

- The precise same products as you need for the bathroom!

I'm pretty sure you can figure out what to do with all the supplies, but try to make the cleaning relaxing rather than stressful. Play some loud music, have the TV on, or something that keeps you moving and focused on what you're doing rather than why you're doing it!