Ok, so you’ve got friends coming over in an hour and the house is a wreck.
What do you do? If you’re my Hubs, you break out the leaf blower. Sad, but
true. The beautiful man that I married cleaned our house one sunny afternoon
with the leaf blower. From what he tells me (I was at work and he took the day
off), he strapped on my dad’s trusty safety goggles and started at the front
door. He then blew every last piece of dust and dog hair through the house and
out the back door. While the house had never been cleaner, I had to beg him to
repaint the ceiling in the living room, as leaf blowers have a nasty tendency
to leave a black residue when used indoors.

With that lesson learned, I have come up with my own list of kamikaze
cleaning tips, which I hope will be as helpful to you as they have been to me:

· Make your bed and do your dishes. This is a housekeeping staple, and it’s
as true today as it was in 1962. Plus, you never know when you’ll need to toss
coats and purses on the bed. And who really wants a guest wandering into your
bedroom to retrieve their coat, only to stand agape at the mountain of dirty
clothes and random stuff on your bed?

· Where will your guests be congregating? Focus on those areas only. If
they’ll be located in the living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom, for
example, then don’t give the kids’ room a second thought. Just close the door
and pray your guests don’t smell the week’s worth of dirty laundry under the bed.

· Never underestimate the appeal of your bathroom. If you have soft, fluffy
towels set out, ample guest soap, and sparkling chrome, you’re golden. Make
sure to close the shower curtain so your guests don’t find themselves staring
at all of your beauty products while they’re using the loo.

And above all, keep a smile on your face and act as if you have the whole thing under control…they’ll never know the difference!