Monday Morning Coffee

Good Monday morning! I hope your weekend was just as you planned and then some! That is precisely what our weekend was - what we had planned, and then some! Saturday morning, I started on what I had planned to do, which was to wipe down the counters and other items before we began decorating for Christmas. Well, the kids have a saying around here. They say, "Mom's in one of those moods! She's in the zone!" Meaning, I was in full-on cleaning mode! The more I wiped, the more I saw, and when I reached the stovetop, I decided to remove the filters in the range hood and wipe them off too. 

Oh. My. Goodness. This house is about eight years old. I would bet that those filters had never, ever been washed. The amount of grease on them was unbelievable. I filled the sink with Dawn and water and let them soak. Then, I scrubbed. And scrubbed. And...well, you get the idea. I finally got to the good-enough-for-now point and moved on. Eventually, we got the place clean and the tubs out and spent the remainder of the afternoon decorating for Christmas! When the garlands were hung, the candles lit, and the lights twinkling, I took a long, hot shower, put on my Christmas pajamas, and snuggled collapsed on the couch.

Cleaning those filters got me thinking about some of the grown-up things I never knew until others taught me. Do they teach you in school to remove filters from your range hood periodically and soak them to remove the grease? Here are a few things I thought of that I want to make sure my kids know, which may not be learned through a textbook.

- My mom taught me that in addition to changing or emptying the vacuum cleaner bag, you should take a pair of scissors every now and then and cut off all the gross hair and stuff that is stuck wrapped around the beater bar. Who knew?

- My parents stayed at our house when we were first married, and checked our air conditioner filters. Apparently, we didn't know you were supposed to remove those cardboard filter things occasionally, as they can become clogged with dirt and dust. Again. Who knew?

- When I was first married and teaching, Steve's mum used to come and visit and do my ironing. She was the BEST ironer in the world. She told me something that I still think of to this day when I am doing laundry. She told me in the kindest way ever that if you shake your wet clothes when you take them out of the washer before you put them in the dryer, you will find they don't wrinkle nearly as much. She was right!

- One time, a super nice man I had known all my life, who was an appliance repairman, showed me something that, while gross, is really useful to know! My dishwasher was not working properly, and didn't smell the best. He showed me how to remove the filter on the bottom of the dishwasher and clean it under hot water! I had no idea! Now, I do that a lot, and my dishwasher works beautifully.

Please add any helpful tips you have that people may not know about. I'd love to hear more!

In other, less icky news, today's walk was cold and clear. And the most November day of November days.

November outside. Christmas inside. Turkey day planning and Christmas gift wrapping. These are those days, my friends. Enjoy! 

Cosmo is always the first student in the classroom.

Have a great day!

Billie Jo