Yikes!

My two best buddies are coming on Monday for an over-nighter. Ladies Night! Bob has to go on a 4 day fishing trip (Bob hates business travel but one of his work buddies is showing up for it so he has to go) so I invited the girls up for shopping, eating and swimming. It's funny to have known each other for so long because it will be us three girls and one two year old boy. We've always said that he may become too feminine hanging out with us but, this is one masculine little boy. He loves the men in his life and puts up with us women and our shopping. He thinks he's coming to help Uncle Bob build at the other house. We have told him he won't be here but he insists UB needs his help. I hope he isn't too heartbroken when Bob isn't here.

This leads to the state of my house. I thought for a few hours of hiring a crew to come in and clean but then I feel weird about people cleaning my stuff. I'm thinking I should get over it ;)

Both women have cat allergies so there will be the general de-furring of the house - which is not usually a big deal because they are normally only here for a few hours and we visit in the living room. Bedrooms need to be broken down and every surface needs to be cleaned. I did this a while back - Bob was all, WTF? Do you do this all the time. Uh, no. About once every 6 months I move all the furniture in the bedrooms to clean and about once every 2 months the living room/dining room furniture gets moved so the floors can be washed properly. Normally this wouldn't be such a problem and I would be on top of stuff but because of the work I have been doing at the other house, let's just say things have begun to get lax over here.

Bless the ladies' hearts, they said not to worry about cleaning because they wouldn't know what to do in a clean environment. Course, I don't want them catching the plague, which I am sure is lurking somewhere in the mess of this house. The good news is that I have tagged the husband for the lower level of the house.

He put in a 1950's diner kitchen in the basement and I told him, I have one kitchen to keep clean so this puppy is yours. The dust on his stuff down there is an inch thick because he hasn't been around this place in ages. I think he regrets putting it in but I think he is happy to help me around here for a few hours - at least he better be ;)

On that note, I am going to go shampoo the carpet in my den - darn cat.

Book news - I am reading Palmer and can't remember the title but it was written in 1991 so I thought I would have read it already. Nice surprise, the heroine has all the power so far. We'll see if this gets flipped.

Oh, and I probably won't blog on Monday or Tuesday - just so you know.

Also in the interest of copying most everything Maili (it's the sincerest form of flattery but if it bugs you tell me to get lost!) some related links:

I have this book and I wash my hardwood floors in tea. I never have streaks or mop marks afterwards. My husband thinks it's a hoot and asks if I need a certain type of tea to do this. Yeah, he's a laugh riot.

Queen of Clean

(since I have the book if you have any questions you can ask me ;))

Aaahh, a site about organization, yum! If only I would do half of what they suggest. I really think a dumpster would be my best bet.

Organized Home - holy crap, they have a free printables section! I'm in trouble now.... must clean the house ..... cannot surf all night long ......

Bissel Green Machine - this is the machine I am about to use. This thing has saved my life too many times to count. It's noisy but if it can get the spot and the smell out of the carpet then I am a happy camper. Just for those of you who have pets or small children. I tried to use the big shampooers but, OMG I couldn't handle it so I went and bought one of these ($70 Can) and it is exactly my speed. Now my friends borrow it when they have pet messes to deal with. No I have no interest in the company at all - just cool that it's so small and it works.