It's time for fall cleaning, y'all.

Major cleaning isn't a once a year event taking place in the spring.  After a summer spent bringing the outdoors in and before you close yourself in with your dirt, you need to clean things.

• If you have outdoor furniture, clean it and store it.
• If necessary, swtch out screens for storn windows.
• Get winter coats and other heavy clothes out of storage.  If you have kids, see if coats and boots still fit.
• Clean vents and have your furnace serviced if needed.
• Flip mattresses.  Decide when to switch to winter weight bed coverings.
• Clean windows and launder or dry clean curtains as necessary.
• Clean carpets and rugs.
• Do a general uncluttering.  Get rid of things that are broken or rarely used.
• Do through medicine cabinets and discard old cosmetics.  Take expired medications to a pharmacy for safe disposal (Do NOT flush them.  It's bad for the water table.)

Basically, it's time to do all those annoying cleaning chores you like to put off.  But if you do them now, you won't have do them while you're trying to prepare for the holidays!  And that's a good thing. (tm Martha)