Thought for the day...

The less you have the less you have to clean.
I grew up in a house that was FULL. Every horizontal surface was covered with something: nik-naks, dirty dishes, bottles of medicine, mail, magazines, cookbooks (don't know why my muther's specialty is sloppy joes) and various other forms of crap. Even the floors didn't escape, dirty laundry was just another kind of carpet.
One of my chores growing up was dusting. I hated it because it took forever to pick up the junk dust it, dust under it, dust around it and put it back. The only place I didn't dust was my muther's room. Why? Well, she is allergic to dust and her theory was that when you dust you kick it up into the air which made her miserable but if it just lays there undisturbed it wouldn't bother her. Huh? She is allergic to mold and mildew too and applies this same theory to give you any idea as to what her kitchen and bathroom look like.
Even until recently I still had some nik-nakky things out (candles, picture frames, etc). Well, my MIL came over last night and remarked how bare our mantle has gotten. We are down to one 3-wick candle. I commented how this was a result of Gryffin being able to scale the recliner and pull things off of it. Yeah, it does look a little sparse, but the best thing is that its cut my dusting time dramatically. I think the next dust catchers to go are my 'vintage' candy jars from above the kitchen cabinets. Then my cookbooks and a couple lamps that aren't even plugged in. Soon I plan on the only thing I have to pick up before I dust will be what ever Mike keeps on top of the computer desk and an alarm clock.