Cove Cleaning Recap Days 1 and 2 (Tutorial Tuesday: How to Stay Busy 6/8/2010)

I realize you may not be interested in my cleaning/painting the entire house, but in preparation for viewings and such, it's taking up my entire time. So, without this, there would be no blogging. And I'd like to have a record of it all so I can see progress and not give up! I've written before how cleaning is something I'm still learning, so bear with my Yay Me posts for the next 3 weeks. It's quite an endeavor for me! So here's how to stay busy:

Sunday:

Arrive in the evening and immediately wear yourself out by sweeping the master bedroom and hallway carpet, whisking away all the dirt and fuzzies left behind from the move. Be thankful for your sweet little brother who, after driving 5 hours to get you all home, declutters the room and hall while you sweep.

Eat the hot pisupo your bro fixed (yum!) and then go shopping for cleaning supplies. Get home just in time for Baby Boy's bedtime.

Go against your better judgment and scrub and declutter the countertops. Do a load of dishes in the dishwasher. Then stay up until almost 2AM, your mind racing with how much there is to do. Finally blow up your airbed and collapse in a wakeful sleep until Baby Boy (who was bad and climbed out of his crib) comes to find you in the morning.

Monday: 

Find a bathroom that was left messy and then not used for almost 2 months. Fellow swiffer fanatics, you may wish to avert your eyes. 

Eek! Totally my fault because we  were in such a rush. Gross.

Clean it.

Oooohhhh....

Aaaahhhhh....

Any tips on how to get that caulk on the bottom of the shower squeaky clean? Scrubbing is so not working. I'll be re-caulking it, but want to make sure the black stuff is good and dead before I do that.

Stop to feed your always-hungry-but-being-so-good-and-playing-while-mama-cleans boy. Complete with makeshift table a la Uncle Resa. Toa loved his turkey 'manitch'.

Get interested in fermented foods and research like crazy in your downtime. Order a kombucha tea scoby and kefir grains to start growing bacteria for fermented foods. I admit, there's an ulterior motive. I've read numerous accounts of fermented foods ridding the body of toxins and adding beneficial probiotics to your diet. Ridding toxins. As in people have eradicated crazy allergies that came out of nowhere using fermented foods. Yes, poor selfish me, I'd like to eat shrimp and nuts again someday without them killing me :)

Kefir grains

Kombucha scoby. Yay! Two varieties of my very own bacteria!!

When they arrive, get a strange thrill (akin to a kid playing with a chemistry set for the first time) when you set them aside to ferment and multiply.

Kefir grains working to make ordinary milk into a probiotic allergy fighting machine.

Kombucha tea fermenting on the counter. One week to fizzy, allergy fighting, metabolism boosting tea.

Stop playing with the bacteria to feed your good boy again. Isn't he a sweetie? He showed me a new skill: eating with no hands. Yes, my poor son had a sandwich for breakfast and lunch. Hey, it was easy.

On to the stove. Whoa. I had no idea I left it so bad. My poor stove! It has served me well. My poor bro could've had a grease fire on his hands and been all alone. Ack. I felt horrible thinking that. And for the record, I had no idea those burner thingies could be removed and cleaned. Duh. Anyway, I know now.

*Trumpets* Tada!!! Amazing what vinegar and hot water can do. No more icky grease. No more trippy white stuff hanging from the inside of the lid. See what I mean? The burner thingies are gone. They're getting a good soak. In clorox. Ha!

Make teriyaki cabbage chicken stir fry in an electric skillet because the stove is (obviously) still at the spa.

Feed your boy dinner, wipe down the counters and put up your feet. It's been a long day.

Tuesday:

Today I'm scrubbing the kitchen cabinets, stove and the baseboards in the master bedroom and bath. Oh yeah, and every time I pass the guest bathroom, I scrub a little at a time of the bath tub/ shower walls. Is there such a thing as a vinegar headache? Because I think I have one. I know this is a rambling tutorial and it doesn't really teach how to do anything, but oh well. It's what's going on right now. More photos tomorrow (oh lucky you) if I can figure out why my camera refuses to read my SD card after I loaded up the last of these photos. Happy Tuesday, folks!