Deep Cleaning

So my son and husband left yesterday for a men's retreat in Yosemite.  It is strange in a couple of ways.  First, the fact that my son is actually an adult male that can go on a men's retreat.  Second, that fact that there are no men in the house.  It is not that there are always a male here, but while they may have been out at during the day working or such, they were here at night.

Anyway, with everyone gone, I decided that I should do some cleaning.  I started on my kitchen and cleaned half of my wood cabinets, wiped down counters and backsplash, washed dishes, rearranged things on the walls, and inside some of the cabinets.  I put some caulking stuff in the casement window that I don't open to help with air leaks.  There is so much more that I want to do in there. The problem is I don't have a direction.

So here is a list of things I want to do in there:

• Inventory pantry items
• Clean out all the drawers
• Clean cabinets out and get rid of excess items
• Clean the carpet
• Clean the other half of the cabinets on the outside
• Clean the oven
• Clean the stovetop
• Clean all the windows and window sills
• Put up new items on the walls

For bigger projects:

• Put in new flooring (which would include a hallway, laundry, and bathroom too)
• Paint walls
• Put up new curtains
• Replace windows
• Re-do counter tops
• Refinish cabinets and drawers
• Get a new dishwasher

Each room in my house is the same way.  Having an older home has such charm, but there is so much that needs to be done.  I know just owning a home there are things to be done, but having lived here for 16 years and some of these projects were things we were going to do a year or two after moving in.  Well, I'm really ready to start now.

Tomorrow is church and then in the afternoon I will tackle more of my kitchen.  I plan on wiping down the rest of the cabinets, cleaning the stove and oven, and rearranging what is out on the counters.  It seems like every horizontal surface tends to gather stuff.  The only way to keep this from happening is to get out of the habit of saying I'll put something away later.  I need to just put things away when they come into the house.  If it doesn't have a place then I need to make one or not keep it at all.

My goal is to clean the carpets sometime this next week.  And then start on the office/dining room area.  Wonder if I will actually be able to do it.