I recently performed a high-flying, death-defying act sans a net…all in the name of house cleaning.  Note the circled window below.  (This picture was taken before our landscaping upgrade.)

That single solitary window has been my archnemesis for the last 2 years.  It’s the window in our 2-story foyer.  The good news is it floods our entryway and second floor landing with tons of natural light.  The bad news is it’s difficult to clean.  As in, it has never been cleaned since we moved in 2 and 1/2 years ago.  At least, the interior side has never been cleaned.  It’s easy enough for me to pop out of the adjacent window (to the left) and hobble across the porch roof to wipe down the exterior pane of this foyer window.  But inside, it’s a totally different ballgame.  That is, until last week.  I dragged Handy Hubby’s extending ladder into the house from the Man Shed.  Then I patiently waited…and waited…and waited…for Handy Hubby to “spot” me on my mission.

Okay, so it kinda freaked me out that Handy Hubby decided to leave his “spotting” post and walk upstairs to snap a picture of me in action.  (Seriously, it might look like I’m smiling but that’s really an “Eeeee!  Get back down here!”)  Normally, I’m not afraid of heights but Handy Hubby thought it would be fun to repeatedly ask me if I had locked all the ladder extension joints.  I was 99.9% sure that I had but that other 0.1% had me shaking in my shoes.

Besides cobwebs and smeared glass, I discovered spider and ladybug carcasses.  That damn windowsill was an insect graveyard!  I don’t recall any other windows in our home attracting so many bugs to die in their sills.  It must have been the profuse light drawing them hither to their final breaths.  (Insects do breathe, right?)  Anyhow, I gladly swiped all the bugs, cobwebs and grime away.  I also retrieved an elastic hair band that my 5-year-old had whipped into the foyer light fixture months ago.  (You know, he likes to pretend my hair ties are slingshots.)  In doing so, I realized how dirty the light was and dusted it off too.  Heck, why not?  Since I was already up there and all.  Nothing like killing two birds with one stone – metaphorically speaking – although I am scared of birds for some reason.  Maybe it’s because they’re always pooping on me.  I know what you’re saying…it’s good luck to be pooped on by a bird.  But I don’t think the person saying that has ever been crapped on by a seagull ACROSS THE UPPER LIP.  I have.  While lying on the beach.  It’s runny and warm and outright disgusting.  Poop-staches are not lucky, people! 

But I digress.  I now have a clean foyer window and light fixture.  And one more hair band for ponytails.

For more details on how I clean my windows, go here.