Battle of the Bugs!!!

This year we are doing Thanksgiving at our house. I'm loving the idea that I don't have to travel during the holiday and can stay in my own home and relax. Of course, I wanted the place to look as nice as possible for when my in-laws arrive. The past few days has been a marathon of detailed cleaning. We even painted the sunroom so that it has a clean, fresh coat. (that's something we've been meaning to do for months anyway, this was the perfect excuse to stop putting it off!) Today my task has been cleaning the outside of the house. Now, keep in mind that we live back in the woods. It gets dirty here, y'all. And there are bugs. And there's not exactly a home owner's association to make sure our house stays pressure-washed and sparkling. Also, we rent, so there isn't the same level of pride in caring for every minute detail of the home. Now, don't get me wrong. Our house is not disgusting or overrun or anything like that. But the outside just hasn't been scrubbed in...Idk...maybe ever. So, today I took to it with a bucket of soapy water, a scrub brush, and the hose. So far I've done most of one side of the house. It's the carport side and the side which we use the most often for entering, exiting, and hanging out. Aside from the manual labor, the dirt, and the fact that it's 80 DEGREES here, the worst part of this whole ordeal has been the BUGS! And you know how I feel about bugs. (If you don't know--I hate them!) It seems that between each piece of vinyl siding lives a spider. And that spider is not too happy about me spraying and tearing down his home. Really I only saw about 4 or 5, but I know there are others out there...too scared to show their evil little faces! I opened up a box of Frisbee horseshoes and found two massive cockroaches. I couldn't even bring myself to step on them because they were so big. If they were in the house I definitely would have done it, but since they were outside...I just shrunk away and watched them scurry off into the yard. Yeah, I know. They'll probably come back for me later. Great.
So, I'm scrubbing, spraying, sweating, on guard for a bug to appear at any moment, and there are gnats buzzing in my ears! GNATS! In NOVEMBER! What, do they hibernate under ground when it gets cold out? I was pretty sure they had all migrated or died or whatever they do when the weather dips below 50 degrees. But wherever they went, it obviously wasn't far, because now that it's 80 out here, they are back in action. Ridiculous.

Well, I guess I better get back to it! Still have the front porch to deal with. *sigh* And then it's time to shower and look presentable before the in-laws arrive this afternoon. All I can say is my husband better be impressed with how clean the house looks! (He had to work today...I guess I should give him SOME credit!)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! :)

~Christy~