Spring Cleaning

Does anyone do this anymore?  I remember as a child, my mom was a Spring-Cleaning-Fanatic.  I was charged with washing baseboards, sorting and putting away my "winter" clothes, and washing windows every April.  

I haven't sorted out clothes by season in ages, but have always done a spring and fall muck through our wardrobes to do the Goodwill toss.  And as our drawers are getting difficult to close again, it would seem we're at this stage again.

But aside from the obvious (cleaning, sorting, organizing), I haven't really thought about what spring cleaning means now that we're homeowners (yes we were homeowners last year, but were a bit lost in the fog of having an under-one-year-old).

It's become glaringly obvious that our windows need washing.  And because we have wooden windowsills (that people keep telling me we're "lucky" to have now that vinyl is the standard - I continue to dispute that point), Seth has the lucky job this summer of sanding down the peeling paint and re-painting all the exteriors.

And the other day while sorting through some papers and whatnot, I rediscovered the "home guide" the previous homeowners had left for us.  Quite a handy guide actually, it gives you a checklist for each month of certain things to do... you know, change air filters, get ducts cleaned, routine checks on appliances - all SORTS of things that we have NOT been doing over the past 2 years of residence here.

So as the weather gets warmer and the to-do list is getting longer and longer and cluttering up my brain, my goal for this weekend is now to simply get a game-plan organized for us.  What we want to accomplish this summer - projects we think we can tackle, renos and repairs that need to be done and the fun seasonal things (like planting a vegetable garden!) that I really want to happen.

I expect we'll have far loftier expectations of things that can get done.  But I figure it's smart to get the hubby involved in the actual list creation, so maybe he'll feel ownership over getting some of the things done?  Yes?  Hopefully?  

We'll see...

xxoo.S

PS - any hints on starting a garden from scratch?  I'm planning on taking the shortcut of planting seedlings instead of just seeds.  But should I go rent a rototiller?  Or just digging up the ground will be enough?  And what's the best option for the "walls" of the garden?  I really have no idea.