Spring Cleaning

I can tell when I work a lot, because I don't have much time to write much here! Yesterday I finally only had a few projects, so I decided Sarah and I needed a day of fun.

The days have lately been: wake up, go to school, come home, eat, get ready for bed , sleep. So she stayed home from preschool, and we took off to the big mall in Sarasota. Once there, we had a very nice lunch, just relaxing and chatting. After that we had tickets to go and see the new "Horton Hears a Who", which was very good, by the way. We have been reading Dr Seuss (click on the name to find out who he was in Swedish, most Americans are very familiar with this icon!) all week to get in the mood!

After the movie we did some shopping and then we headed for the indoor playground where Sarah played for almost 2 hours with two boys her age. They had a blast, and all that running around was just what she needed.

Tired but happy we then got some groceries and went home. It was raining pretty bad, but we had to take the dogs for a long walk, they had been home alone all day. So we wore our rain jackets and brought out the Bamse umbrella and went for a walk. We also brought some bread so we could feed the ducks. The dogs were what we call "rain crazy" when we got back from our almost 1 hour long walk. They ran around like they were on speed or something... Then we had a cozy night with home made salsa and chips, cuddling down in front of the TV and listening to the rain outside... A great day!

Today I am suppose to clean and do odds and ends around the house. I say suppose, because I am sure it will be mixed results on that. I have a couple of very good movies on my computer that are begging to be watched.

But I am also expecting two deliveries today. One is the dogs flea medication. I found a flea on Bob the other day, and if you see one, there are going to be more! Luckily he is almost naked on his belly, and his butt hair is very blond, and that is the area where fleas like to hang out. So they are easy to spot before they become a real problem! The thing with flea medication is that I don't use it regularly. I consider it a poison, and don't want it in my house. Plus, Bob has always been a sickly dog, so I don't want to put any harsh stuff on him unless I have to. And a flea on his butt means I have to. The stuff (I use Advantage) is pretty effective. But when I apply it I like the dogs to be freshly bathed and dry, and the entire house to be "flea sanitized" which means extensive vacuuming and washing of ALL blankets and other linens that might harbor fleas or their eggs... Luckily fleas don't bite humans unless they are desperate... so we are OK. But I think fleas are extremely disgusting!

Just listen to these dog flea facts:

A female flea can lay 30-40 eggs in just one day. When your pet gets fleas, eggs fall off the animal, wherever it goes in your house. In approximately three days, these eggs hatch into worm-like larvae that move away from light and downwards, usually deep in carpet pile. After 7-18 They spin a protective cocoon around themselves and develop into adults. Inside the cocoon they are almost impervious to insecticides. It takes between 5-14 days for fleas to develop inside the cocoon, after which they are triggered to hatch in response to vibration or the carbon dioxide exhaled by a passing host. But in the absence of a trigger, they can survive inside the cocoon for up to nine months.

Another reason why I hate carpet, it is just a big hiding place for fleas! And when you live in Florida fleas are a constant unfortunately... Here is a picture of the actual floor we chose, even if it is difficult to see the color like this...

Armstrong Colestone in Taupe

My SECOND delivery is of my highly anticipated Shark Steam Blaster. Now when we are getting all tile I want something better to clean our floors, and a steam mop sanitizes the floors with just water. And because it only uses water, the sealant on the grout won't be stripped. This particular model also comes with an array of attachments, so it have many uses, not just a floor mop. I found a great deal on it online! Normally it sells for $160, but you can found it on sale for about $100. I found one on iKitchen.com that cost me only $68 after free shipping and a 10 % off coupon! Not bad... For you living in Sweden I have good news, they have the same model in Sweden for about 897SEK.

So naturally I am expecting to be doing a lot of steaming all over the house today! It is suppose to be great to get into nooks and crannies you normally would have a difficult to reach. I can't wait to try it!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!