Hi everyone. I'm Ronnie and I'm Jessica.
And you're listening. To clean with me.
The podcast where we walk you through cleaning your house.
Thanks for joining me. In today's episode, I'm going to
discuss. The topic of getting ready for
the holidays and I'm also going to talk you.
Through washing your dishes. And cleaning your kitchen.
So let's get right into the episode.
It's time to gather up any. Dishes that you.
Have around the house. Maybe you have a?
Glass on a night stand or a forgotten plate on the dining
room. Table or other cups or dishes.
Elsewhere in the house, it's time to gather.
Those. Up.
Maybe you have? A dirty.
Pot or pan or both and you need to get those soaking right away.
Basically just gear up for your. Dishwashing session, whatever
that. Means for you.
And of course, as always. If you're ahead of the game.
And you've been keeping up. On dishes, kind of.
Cleaning as you go. Which is always the goal.
You can just work on cleaning surfaces in your kitchen.
Or even. Organizing a cupboard pantry.
Or drawer or. Sweeping and mopping the floor,
washing windows, there are all sorts of things you can do in
the kitchen. But for a lot of you, I'm sure
you have some. Dishes to do.
And that might be why you clicked on.
This episode so just. Be working in your kitchen.
Starting with. The dishes while I.
Talk about kind of what we do for the holidays and some things
that help. Me avoid stress.
During this busy season because. The whole point of holidays.
Is to enjoy yourself, not to get.
Stressed out about it so you. Do need to be organized and?
That's that's what I'm going to talk.
About today. I remember when my grandmother
on my mom's. Side passed away.
One of the things we were kind of going through some of her
stuff and something that interested me was an old
notebook. That she had and.
It was where she was. Planning on.
What to do? During the.
Holidays like what to? Buy and you know.
Her her Christmas lists. And things like that, you know,
ideas for entertaining and. It was interesting.
How she was writing. Everything down in this notebook
and we can all learn a lot from that.
You definitely need to be systematic.
I mean some people. Have simpler holidays than
others. But for a lot of us, we have a
lot of. Shopping to do and maybe even
hosting some events at our homes so that can involve cooking,
cleaning, purchasing. Supplies.
All sorts of things. And then there's.
Also travel. You may be preparing to travel,
so I'm going to talk. About all of that, maybe you
have. A drying rack.
To empty, maybe you need to get a pot or a pan soaking.
Maybe you need to empty? Your dishwasher.
Or maybe you're already. Plugging away on dishes just be
working on. Dishes, whatever.
That means for you. Or at least be.
Working in your kitchen? While I talk.
Even though this is kind of a topical episode, I want.
To keep you in the kitchen and keep you motivated.
So first, let's talk about. Thanksgiving, my husband and I
are. From a different state.
So his dad and. Siblings are there.
My mom and dad and one of my siblings is there and so we're
kind of. Off in the state.
By ourselves, so to speak. Our middle.
Daughter who's an adult does. Live in our town?
So. What we normally do for
Thanksgiving. Is we host it, it's usually.
Just my husband. And I and our four youngest
children. The three.
That live. Here and then our adult who
lives in the same town and last. Year she brought her.
Son. This year she has two kids, but
this? Year we are going.
To be going out of town for Thanksgiving, which is something
we haven't done in. Years, but we are going.
I mean, we've gone back to our hometown.
Fairly recently, but we haven't. Done Thanksgiving there in
years. So.
This year instead of. Preparing for cooking a meal
here we're preparing to travel, but you may be.
Getting ready to host. So I wanted.
To talk a little bit. About things we do.
For that. When we prepare for
Thanksgiving, it's not a ton of preparation.
But that's usually. A time that I kind of take
inventory and think about whether or not.
I have enough glasses. And whatnot.
If I don't do it at Thanksgiving, I do it at.
Christmas, because we usually. Have company from out of town.
Especially Jessica and her. Family.
Usually come for Christmas. And sometimes my mom and her
husband also come so. We do start to think about
these. Things at Thanksgiving as.
Far as like do. We have enough drinking glasses.
Is there anything that we need to kind of restock in our
kitchen as far as. Candles.
Serving dishes, Glasses. Things like that we tend to
break. Glasses throughout the year and.
Then get new ones. During the holidays, and I've
talked about this in other episodes, a lot of times during
the. Year we are just, we buy.
These jam jars that. Come in a kind of a Mason.
Jar style glass with. Mug with a handle on it.
And so when we run out of the jam.
We wash that. Out and use it as a.
Glass They're really cute glasses.
It's a. Brand called Blackburns.
It's not available everywhere, but if you live somewhere that
has Blackburns. Jam it does.
Come in a really cute little jar glass thingy.
So that's a thing. Throughout the year.
But then for the. Holidays we like to get.
Glasses. That are more classy.
Or festive, if you will. So that's.
Something to think. About, it's also a.
Time that we think about deep cleaning.
Our house. In preparation for guests.
Obviously our middle daughter comes over.
All the time, but when we're getting ready to have out of
town guests. Which for us is Christmas.
It could be Thanksgiving. For you.
That's when we start focusing more on.
Maybe small household? Repairs, cleaning baseboards and
blinds. If we haven't done that in a
while, I've been better. About that lately, obviously
the. Goal is to.
Do these deep cleaning. Tasks throughout the year, but
there's. Something about having company,
especially overnight. Guests where you start to see
your house. Through someone else's eyes and
you notice. Little problems whether it's.
You know, a broken door handle somewhere, or a forgotten
baseboard that hasn't been dusted in a while, or a dusty
laundry room or something like that.
Whatever. We all have different areas
that. We kind of let.
Slide in our homes. And so that's something to think
about. So hopefully by now you're in
the throes. Of washing your dishes just.
Keep plugging away on those. I will.
Say that lately it's been a little bit of a struggle.
Because I was I was perfectly happy with washing by.
Hand and. Because my dishwasher doesn't.
Seem to be working right. I was perfectly happy.
With. Hand washing.
And I'd gotten kind of into a rhythm of doing that and keeping
up on it because hand. Washing forces you to keep.
Up, I think, a little more than you know.
Dishwasher washing, but. Then all the sudden life threw
me a curveball and my kitchen sink is not getting much
pressure. My husband already took.
Apart the faucet, but he's. Going to take apart more stuff
underneath. To see if there's a clog.
Somewhere but. Combining hand washing with.
Very low pressure. Is kind of nerve racking because
I'm not a super patient person and.
So less water pressure means it takes longer to to fill the
sink. And to rinse.
The dishes so it's been a little tedious so if.
If you're. Unhappy with the fact?
That you've got a hand. Wash your dishes just.
Be thankful. That you.
Probably have more water pressure.
Than I do right now be plugging away at those dishes and then
when you. Do finish your dishes.
Start cleaning from the tops, top down.
Wipe down those upper cabinets and upper appliances like you
know, your microwave. If it's above the stove or your
stove hood. Your cabinets on days that
you're washing things. That are up higher.
Of course you want to. Start up there.
And then clean the countertops you always want to clean.
From top to bottom. But a lot of you are.
Still plugging away. On dishes, maybe you had to
empty reload. And run the dishwasher.
And now you're hand washing some stuff or you're hand washing
several sink loads. I definitely bought some paper.
Bowls, I had decided. That I only needed.
Disposable plates. But in light of the low.
Water pressure I also. Got some?
Disposable bowls to. Lighten the load of.
Washing dishes, so I'm not trying to be negative.
About washing dishes. But the IT the.
Water pressure. I'm going.
To be so grateful. When we get that sink fixed, I
think he's going to work on it tonight.
So he'll definitely. Get a reminder.
Let's put it. That way.
When I'm done recording. So this year.
We were invited to. California for Thanksgiving and
so things we're doing. To prepare are just.
Simple things like talking about what we're going to bring, we're
still kind of in the. Planning stages as far.
As. What we're going to eat on the
way there and stuff like that. Though.
There will be a final shopping trip.
But I've started. Making a list I'm.
Really big on having. Some type of app?
In your phone where you kind of, you know, kind of a notepad.
App. Or something like that where you
make lists. I do have a pack list that talks
about what I usually pack. As far as clothing?
And toiletries and things like that.
It just helps relax. Me when I can kind of go.
Through that list after. Packing to make sure.
I. Brought all the usual stuff.
We had a travel. Trailer, but now we just have a
camper on the back. Of our truck and.
So. I am planning to bring like
sandwich stuff and snacks. For the trip there.
Since we do have a small refrigerator and cabinets for
that kind of stuff. And then of course, I'll be
consulting with my. Pack list.
When I'm planning my outfits and whatnot.
So we're kind of still in the just.
In the planning stages where I'm starting to add things to my.
List I definitely. Recommend that if you're going
to be. Traveling to have some type of
a. List of.
Things you need to bring and then also.
Things. You need to do just before
leaving because if you're like me, you might get stressed when
you're getting ready to. Leave the house like.
OK, you know, did I? I don't know.
Have Did I lock all the doors? Did I water the plants?
Did I? Give the caged animals a couple
different. Water sources and extra food,
things like that. We have my middle daughter here
in town. To.
Take care of things. But there might be.
Things that. You have to do as far as.
Making arrangements and things like that.
So it's good. To have a checklist.
You know, things to, things to make.
Sure you pack. And things to do before leaving
the house. Maybe you're making arrangements
with giving someone a key, you know, staying at your house.
To take. Care of the animals and.
Stuff like that. So.
Definitely that helps relax me. And it also.
Encourages me to start packing in advance when you get a few.
Days. Out from a trip?
You can start. Packing your favorite outfits.
And whatnot, OK. And you're not going to miss
them. You know, just for a few days.
Another thing is your shopping list I.
Have a separate app for that I. Used to just.
Do the notepad app. But I have a.
Grocery shopping app, which is kind of convenient.
Because it's easier to check. Things off the.
List with just a. Click and I add other things to
that. List.
That are not food. Like just basically.
Stuff I would pick. Up at Walmart, like if I needed
new drinking glasses to entertain guests or something.
Or a new ladle. Or something that would.
Go. On that.
List. And then kind of my to.
Do's would go. In one of the notepad.
App lists it would. My to do.
List as far as. Things to to clean around the
house. Would be a separate.
List from the pack list, but I kind of keep these same lists
and just edit them because. Let's face it, we're.
Doing a lot of the same things when we're expecting company or
packing for a trip. Another list that I make.
This time of year. Is my Christmas shopping list
and my kids don't know. About this or whatever but.
When I start getting ideas. About gifts for them.
I put it in a note in my phone and.
My phone's. Password protected.
So they can't. Access that.
Even if they wanted. To and.
Yeah, your spouse probably has access to your.
Phone or knows? Your password we.
Definitely do that, but. I don't put, I'm not going to
put what I'm getting. My husband.
On there and I know in the past. I said that we.
Don't exchange gifts, but we are planning to do it.
This year with each other as well.
Yeah, as far as surprise gifts. And stuff.
Definitely having. That on your phone keeps someone
from seeing the. List and you can.
Start, you know. Adding to that that.
List. That's a fresh list every year,
typically. But other things like.
Pack. Lists and cleaning lists.
You can just kind of keep adding to and editing those same lists,
so I definitely recommend utilizing the Notepad app in
your phone. OK, by now you might have.
Your dishes done the. Majority of you probably.
Do no judgement. Here if you're facing a dish
master right? Now maybe you have a handicap in
the kitchen right now like your. Dishwasher is not working.
Or your water pressure's low. Or.
Something like that. That one's probably just.
Me but. Something could be.
Slowing you down right now and you might have a lot.
Of dishes to do or maybe. You've just been busy or you've
been sick. Life happens sometimes.
We have tons of dishes. But.
For the rest. Of you, it's time to move on to
cleaning the surfaces. Of your kitchen if you're.
Overwhelmed with dishes? At least just give your.
Countertops and stove top. A swipe, but for a lot of you.
It's time to just clean. The surfaces of your.
Kitchen from the top down. Your cabinets, your large
appliances, your small appliances, your lower cabinets.
After you get the. Countertops wiped down, and then
of course you're going to want to sweep.
Your floor. You might want to wipe down.
Walls switch plates maybe? You have a pantry.
Floor that's cluttered. That you need to.
Clear. Maybe you need to?
Scrub a baseboard or two. Because you want to.
Get a jump start on deep cleaning especially.
If you're going to. Have guests for.
Any holiday. This time of year.
You know, maybe you're not having, maybe you're like us and
you're going somewhere else for. Thanksgiving, but you're having.
Someone. Else you're having people over
for another holiday. Get together later on in the
season, so just a reminder there.
Don't say of. All of your deep.
Cleaning. Till the end especially.
OK, if you're. Going to be cooking and serving
food you never want. To deep.
Clean your entire. House at the same.
Time when you're cooking. I mean if you do.
That you definitely need to. Have the whole crew.
Working. If you've got teenagers and a
husband helping you, that might. Work like hey keep.
An eye on this. Well.
I go clean something in the back.
Or whatever but. In most.
Cases it's best to. Do your deep cleaning.
Up to. A week in advance, and maybe
even start two weeks in advance chipping away at things.
That way you just give your house.
A quick once over on the day. That.
Your company is coming. You see what I'm saying?
For example, things like if you're having overnight.
Guests and this episode's about the.
Kitchen, but I'm just. Kind of putting some ideas.
In your head. To prepare you if you're.
Going to have. Overnight guests at any point?
We're not even sure. Exactly what we're doing.
At Christmas. Just yet, but scrubbing.
Bathtubs and showers can. Be done like.
Up to two. Weeks in advance typically and
there are other things that you'll you'll need to do like
you know the day. Before or whatever but.
Those. Deeper cleaning tasks like.
Scrubbing baseboards. Bathtub showers.
Can be done further in advance, You know, cleaning out a back
bedroom that's been cluttered and turned into a storage.
Area or whatever. You know you're going to want to
think. About adding things like.
That to your To Do List. Now the key to staying sane.
Through the holidays is to do a little bit.
Each day and not procrastinate and I will say that I am guilty
of. Procrastinating on Christmas
shopping? Most of the time, but I'm
planning to get started soon. I I'm.
Recording this episode early. In November and I'm planning to
get started soon. Some of you are.
Probably saying. I get all my Christmas shopping
done in August. I don't.
Think that really works with teenagers though, because.
Kids kind of change what they want and.
If you. Get all their gifts.
Months in advance they're going to be into like different.
Hobbies by the time. Christmas comes along or they'll
start asking you for things. I only want one thing this year
and it's like, oh. No, I already.
Bought you something I don't know.
That's a fear. That I have.
I mean, I don't want to shop too far in advance.
But. At the same time, I need to work
on, not. Saving it to the last minute.
I will admit I do the. Bulk of my Christmas.
Shopping like in a couple of days, you know, maybe a week.
Before Christmas or. Even a little.
Closer I get pretty. Close.
And I do it. Over the course of a couple of
days, but I'm. Trying not to.
Do that this year. I am trying to break it up a
little bit more. Both.
Breaking up the expense and the the time commitment of it.
Also I'm planning to make some handmade.
Gifts so I'm. Planning to get started on that
on the trip some of you might remember.
About a year ago. I became obsessed with loom
netting. I kind of slowed down on it, but
I'm back into doing it a lot. I think it's just.
Fun in the fall. When the weather.
Starts to get. Cold to be knitting.
It's also. A good hobby for me because I'm
in the car a lot. Like.
We drive a long. Way to church and.
Also we. I tend to ride.
Around with my husband, just on random days.
But I do it at. Least once a week where I go on
like a work road trip with them and that.
Gives me something to do while I'm just.
Sitting in the truck chatting with them.
So it's it's super. Convenient, I've just got.
Like a tote bag ready to go. With my loom knitting stuff and
I've got. Three different.
Projects going to choose from that I can, you know, work on.
I've got ones I work on at home, I've got ones I work on it on
the road. But my point is, I don't want to
wait until I'm down to the. Wire to start.
Making handmade gifts. So I'm just throwing some things
out there that might help you prepare and no judgment.
Here if you like to shop. At the last minute, I definitely
kind of lean that way and we'll see.
If I actually get. Some of the gifts.
Purchased early. The things I'm buying.
Because. It's something I say.
Every year. And then I don't end up doing
it, but right now the main. Focus is.
Preparing for our Thanksgiving trip and there's really not a
ton of preparation involved. I mean, we've already.
Purchased a camper SO. That's the that, that's.
Making it easy, we can start. Putting things out there.
In the camper and stuff like that and I've got that.
Pack list that I always refer to.
And I think I'm going to create a new.
Procedure list just for. Leaving town and making
arrangements and things like that and making a new note in my
phone for that. Hopefully you are.
Cleaning the surfaces of your kitchen, don't forget.
To of course wipe down your countertops stove.
Top clean out that sink. And maybe you also need to wipe
down your table chairs. A high chair.
If you have a. Little 1:00 and then of.
Course the the finishing. Touch is always to.
Sweep and mop your kitchen, maybe after.
This you'll you'll. Put on a few songs.
While you do that. Sweeping and mopping I.
Hope you. Got a lot done.
During this episode. I hope I've given you some food.
For thought. On preparing for the holidays,
01 other thing. That.
My mom used to do, which I thought was a neat idea.
She. Would wrap a box of chocolates.
And put. It under the Christmas tree.
In case a neighbor or some other acquaintance.
Showed. Up with a gift.
Someone she wasn't expecting to exchange gifts with.
Then if that happened, she would grab one of those unmarked gifts
from under the tree. Oh, here's yours.
And give them that. Box of chocolates.
I thought that was a neat idea because sometimes a neighbor
can. Surprise you?
They bake. Cookies.
Or done something else and it's. Just nice to have.
Something to give them in return.
It's. Also a good idea to just be
prepared for. Things like white elephant.
Gift exchanges. Christmas parties at school.
Church whatnot. Another thing.
To think about. Some of you may or may not.
Already do this, but a lot of. Students now give.
Gifts to the teachers. And then your kids.
Going to feel. Left out if they.
Have nothing to. Give so.
Even if you're just. Getting each teacher a small
candle or something like that. And yes I've seen the tik.
Toks where teachers. Complain about things like mugs,
candles, blah blah. Blah, but I feel.
Like candles are consumable. So it's not like.
A mug where they're going to accumulate too many mugs.
I like getting mugs. Because at our house.
They end up breaking after a while so people are welcome to
give me mugs. But teacher gifts?
Are something to think about gift exchanges.
You know. Have a few little.
You know, food gifts on hand. Those always.
Work. For gift exchanges, White.
Elephant. Gift can mean like different
things to different. People like there's, there's the
kind of. White elephant gift exchange
where you're supposed to. Bring something like super weird
and I feel. Like that type of.
Gift exchange isn't common anymore, you know, like you get
something silly. Like a chia pet or?
Just some other gag gift type of thing.
I feel like that's not as common some people when they're.
Talking about a white elephant gift exchange.
They're talking. About a game.
Where people can either. Open a new gift or you know.
Steal quote UN quote. Steal a gift.
From someone else and like, you know, open that there's that
game and sometimes with that game all the gifts are nice.
None of them are gag gifts or anything.
It's all something useful. So my point is when you're out.
Christmas shopping you may. Want to get a?
Couple extra items if it's in your budget.
Just to kind of be. Prepared for things like.
Gift exchanges or just receiving gifts that you weren't
expecting, not that you. Always have to reciprocate.
When someone else. Gives a gift, but it it sure
feels good if you have. Something to give in return.
Another thing I want to give you a heads up on is posing for a
family photo and making a Christmas card.
Even if it's just something that you post online, you know, maybe
you're not going to mail out. Christmas cards.
A lot of us. Don't end up doing that, but I
have been known to. Pose with the.
Family and then be like consider this your Christmas card or
something like that. And I realize not all of you
celebrate Christmas. But I'm talking about the.
Holidays that we celebrate. And what we?
Do but it's. It's definitely nice to.
Pose every year. Oh, here's.
Another thing that I do and just be working on your kitchen.
Floor as this episodes. Coming to a.
Close but. I like to print some favorite
photos. From throughout the year, you
know, maybe pick one of each person or something to kind of
update. Those cluster frames.
The type of frames where you can put a bunch of small pictures in
them. Sometimes the.
Holiday. Season when you're going to be
having guests. Over is a great.
Time to kind of. Hang up some updated.
Pictures. Whether you're putting them in
the same frame or buying more frames, and that's something
that I tend. To procrastinate on but.
You know, maybe going through your social media throughout the
year, picking some favorite pictures and then uploading
them. To the website of your favorite
photo. Developing place whether you're
doing it by mail or you're picking them up at like
Walgreens or Walmart, it's easier than it sounds I.
Procrastinate on it. A lot of times my adult.
Daughter Jessica, my oldest. Well, you know Jessica.
A lot of times Jessica will. Kind of help me.
With with. That and because she's good
about doing that. So that's just another thing.
To think about, I'm trying to help you get a.
Jump start on things. To do for the holidays it.
Also might be time to think about what you're going to wear.
I kind of have a. Go to white sweater that I wear.
You know, around Christmas time because it it to.
Me it feels Christmassy. And you know, I could get some
cheap Christmas earrings to go with it or something and I'm
good to go. I hope you got your kitchen
cleaned during this episode. And I hope.
I've at. Least inspired you to make A to
do. List whether you're.
Preparing to to. Travel to have people.
Come to your house. Or.
Just just to exchange. Gifts special special thanks.
To our financial supporters, by the way, we're going to be.
Having a special guest. On the show and.
That episode will be. Coming out on Wednesday, we're
going to be interviewing. Tidy Dad.
We're super excited about it. And we just know you're going to
enjoy. The episode so.
Definitely TuneIn on Wednesday for that.
Happy cleaning and I'll talk to you soon.