Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wonder Wife Power Tool: Microfiber Cloths

I'll admit it: I am having a serious lack of inspiration. Much like the time I was experiencing back in June, when I wrote the awful, terrible, boring post below this disclaimer. Anyway, it's been sitting in my Drafts folder for a few months now and instead of writing another one like it (which I'm bound to do, considering that I'm feeling just about as creative as I was when I wrote THIS one), I figured I had to either delete it or post it.

So, what was I going to do? ....Waste all the work I put into writing such a boring post, or risk being mocked by my readers for it? Hmmm. WELL, mock away, folks. Since I'm posting it, you can see which train of thought won out. After all, I do such little work that what I manage to accomplish should not be wasted. Am I right?

So, without further ado.... a post about wash cloths.



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You guys would have laughed at me if you'd seen me this morning, staring blankly at my computer and trying desperately to think of SOMETHING interesting that had happened to me recently. What can I blog about? What in the world can I blog about?

What indeed? Here are some of the topics that popped into my head:

1. How coffee is so much better with heavy whipping cream than with milk.

2. How we've had rain forecasted for ten days yet each day has been as dry as a bone, and everything is dying except the weeds.

3. How I need to get the oil changed in the car.

4. How still really love my vacuum.

5. How I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving.

6. How cute my dog is. (Like you want to hear about that again.)



BO-ring.

I tell you, there's not much going on that's excitingly blogworthy. So I sat here at my computer and looked around the room, and I felt a strong urge to blow off the blog and just clean.

And then I thought, why not tell them about what I use to clean?

Let me tell you one thing first: I HATE cleaning! I love a clean house, but I hate the process. Or at least I USED to hate the process. Why? Because I wasn't doing it efficiently! Let's say I wanted to clean the two windows upstairs in the loft - get the glass clean, wipe the scum out from under the windowpane, and clean off the windowsill. Now, previously, I'd haul up a bottle of Windex, the vacuum, a roll of paper towels, the trashcan, and the squeegee, making who knows HOW many trips, to then use eighteen sheets of paper towel as each swipe cleaned off only a portion of the dirt.

NOW (oh, now!) I fill up a bucket of HOT water, pour in a little white vinegar, and grab two or three of my handy-dandy microfiber cloths... and that's all. I do the glass first with the clean, hot water and a cloth, then move onto the gunk around the window, rinsing my rag in the bucket and wringing it out each time. When the water is dirty and the windows are clean, I dump and wash the bucket and throw the cloths in the laundry basket.

When I talk about microfiber cloths, I'm not referring to some super-duper-fancy rags that you have to purchase from Sharper Image. I've seen them at the dollar store, but surprisingly they were cheaper in the automotive section at Walmart... if I remember right (this was a couple years ago), I spent $5 for six cloths. I bought a couple packs, so my stash is always full.

There's something about the way they clean that is so much better than regular terry-cloth rags. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for why they pick up dirt instead of push it around, but I don't know it. All I know is that instead of buying different specialized cleaners, I can just use my microfiber cloths with some hot water and vinegar and get the same results!

Since the cleaning process is simplified, I enjoy it more. There's something invigorating about it. So you know what? I'm out of here.

I think I see some dirt on the baseboards.

-Maeg

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Nature's air conditioning... FALL. Coming soon.

The days are getting cooler, and there's absolutely no way to describe how excited I am about that. This morning, in fact, I actually opened a window and LEFT it that way for an hour. A-MAZING.

When the mornings start getting a bit crisper (and I DO mean 'a bit'... it's still summer here after all) it triggers all sorts of little happy feelings for me.

  • Coffee tastes better (yes, I'm still drinking it). It's warmer and richer.

  • The grass is covered in beautiful dew and the spider webs look incredible. With my new hiking boots - purchased for me courtesy of our Montana trip - the dew doesn't soak my socks, and I can trudge all over the field with Bo.
  • My pathetic flowers begin to perk up now that they've found reprieve.

  • Sometimes, after a rain, the unmistakeable smell of autumn drifts on the air. You know what I'm talking about.
  • Our morning jogs are more energetic in the cool air, which happens not to weigh a hundred pounds per square foot due to its humidity.
  • And while I know it's not that time of year quite yet, the cool morning air allows the voices of holiday elves to carry on the breeze... and I can hear them! Thanksgiving is coming... Christmas is coming!
  • The dream of a fire in the fireplace is coming alive again!

What makes YOU happy (or sad... is there anyone sad about seeing an end to summer?) about the changing seasons?

-Maeg