I am still in the process of cleaning my kitchen. This process started last weekend... Friday, June 27. We cleared out all of the cabinets and put everything into the living room and dining room. Yesterday and today, we are scrubbing the cabinets themselves.
I am not thrilled to admit that we have a cockroach problem. Now, most people in SC have bugs in their houses. Ants, spiders, and of course Palmetto Bugs. Most people in SC have a cockroach now and then. But not like us.
And so, I am using every natural and unnatural method I can to get rid of them. My son Joseph has wisely suggested that if you poison them, they grow stronger and we are probably contributing to the destruction of the planet. One day the world will have nothing but cockroaches, Easter grass, Christmas tree tinsel, and Peeps. And so we are exploring natural means to repel and possibly kill (yeah, right) all of the cockroaches.
OK, so killing the cockroaches is only step one. Cockroaches are very sentimental. Every month, they join a Cook's tour of Cockroach cemeteries and toilets. They get their little cameras and take pictures of the place Uncles Albert thru Zebadiah died. Then they stay. If you want to get rid of cockroaches, you have to clean up all of the cockroach poop and pieces in your cupboards, cracks and counters. I am not kidding. One single cockroach leg wedged in the wheel of the drawer pull and BAM!!! Here come the tour buses.
This job is harder and grosser than we had expected. Joseph gets to clean the upper cabinets because he is tall and I am not. Mark cleans the shelves that come out. I clean the lower cabinets, because I can. I sit on the floor when I can, but mostly I am kneeling on a towel wondering why I thought ceramic tile floors were cool and scrubbing deep into the recesses of cabinets. The good part is that my cabinets are all white, so I can see when they are clean. The bad part is that the cabinets are white, so I can see when they are dirty. Oh well.
So we worked for several hours yesterday and will (the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise) be finishing today. Then we get to wash every dish, spoon, and pan; throw away pieces and parts that don't go to anything; marvel at the cool stuff we have (panini anyone?); put the flour, sugar, rice, beans, pasta, more pasta, and more rice into glass containers; and rearrange all of this so that we can cook & eat in our kitchen once again.
I seem to say this a lot, but: Wish me luck.
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Half way through the year
Look, it's July 1. Where has this year gone?
I sit here at work with a sinus headache, trying to concentrate. This isn't happening. It will be ok. I am a firm believer in OTC medication, and I've taken Corisidan BP for colds. I don't know if this will help, but I also have chocolate and tea. One way or the other, I'll feel better. Or not.
I am still considering my goals, as I set them last January. It is interesting to me that the least defined goal, the one I was pretty sure wasn't going to happen, is further along than the others. I am organizing my house.
I am usually able to organize one or two areas of my life at a time. My house has always been the lowest priority. That is unwise, since your house is your base, your sanctuary, your home. Its comfort or chaos can affect your whole life.
So now, I am slowly weeding out junk. It isn't being a Junk Junkie, and harder to quit, especially if you have raised your kids to think that some day a broken Star Wars light saber might be fixed and come in handy. If I try to throw out too much (or give it away--- it doesn't matter), I start to hyperventilate. I am convinced I have just handed over something that will show up on Antiques Roadshow. "Yeah, the lady just handed it to me, and it's worth $10,000. All I had to do was clean off the cat poop."
I am not really very far in the junk junkie department, really. But what I have done is organize books on bookshelves and set up a shelf/desk system in my kitchen, which is my work area. What this means is that if I want to pay a bill, I can find the bill, the checkbook, a pen and (and this is a biggy) A STAMP. If I want to pay on-line, I can look in my book and find my user name and password. If I want to write a letter to a friend... oh, wait, what did I do with that address book? Ok, well, I'm working on it.
This weekend, after the July 4th barbecue, after my sinus headache goes away, after I finish this book I'm reading... I will clean my kitchen cabinets, put stuff in these cute glass containers I bought, throw out pieces of blenders I don't have and warranties for telephones with dials I don't think I've ever owned. I will put the three different bottles of chili powder, four bottles of cinnamon, two bottles of something without a label back on a shelf and USE them.
Really.
I sit here at work with a sinus headache, trying to concentrate. This isn't happening. It will be ok. I am a firm believer in OTC medication, and I've taken Corisidan BP for colds. I don't know if this will help, but I also have chocolate and tea. One way or the other, I'll feel better. Or not.
I am still considering my goals, as I set them last January. It is interesting to me that the least defined goal, the one I was pretty sure wasn't going to happen, is further along than the others. I am organizing my house.
I am usually able to organize one or two areas of my life at a time. My house has always been the lowest priority. That is unwise, since your house is your base, your sanctuary, your home. Its comfort or chaos can affect your whole life.
So now, I am slowly weeding out junk. It isn't being a Junk Junkie, and harder to quit, especially if you have raised your kids to think that some day a broken Star Wars light saber might be fixed and come in handy. If I try to throw out too much (or give it away--- it doesn't matter), I start to hyperventilate. I am convinced I have just handed over something that will show up on Antiques Roadshow. "Yeah, the lady just handed it to me, and it's worth $10,000. All I had to do was clean off the cat poop."
I am not really very far in the junk junkie department, really. But what I have done is organize books on bookshelves and set up a shelf/desk system in my kitchen, which is my work area. What this means is that if I want to pay a bill, I can find the bill, the checkbook, a pen and (and this is a biggy) A STAMP. If I want to pay on-line, I can look in my book and find my user name and password. If I want to write a letter to a friend... oh, wait, what did I do with that address book? Ok, well, I'm working on it.
This weekend, after the July 4th barbecue, after my sinus headache goes away, after I finish this book I'm reading... I will clean my kitchen cabinets, put stuff in these cute glass containers I bought, throw out pieces of blenders I don't have and warranties for telephones with dials I don't think I've ever owned. I will put the three different bottles of chili powder, four bottles of cinnamon, two bottles of something without a label back on a shelf and USE them.
Really.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Goals 1 and 3
I have established my 2008 goals. Numbers one and three are ready. Number two is going to require some honing.
Number one:
I will be healthy as defined:
1) BMI <25
2) Cholesterol range good
3) Thyroid good
4) BP good with medication
Number three:
I will become an enrolled agent
Both of these are on a pretty chart with an action plan & resources needed. I feel pretty good about number three. I feel OK about number one, even though it's a variation on the same goal I've had for 35 years.
Number two is harder. I will organize & clean my house.
This is hard for several reasons.
Like "being healthy," it requires a change of habit in order to sustain any changes. Unlike being healthy, it requires the cooperation of my household, who share my current sloppy habits. While some of them are more than willing to cooperate (at least in theory), some are comfortable with the disorder. They don't even want to change.
A second problem is that having a clean and organized house has become a great specter for me. It's the THING that stands between me and happiness. You know what I mean? If I lose weight, I'll be happy. If I get my degree, I'll be happy. It's the THING that lets me put my life on hold, spending energy planning for after the THING (craft projects, baking, writing). But life goes on even with the THING in the way, and I need to find a way to do what I want and need to do now.
The third problem may be related to the second. I can't get rid of things. I donated boxes of stuff to a yard sale which was not very successful. Instead of immediately calling the Sunshine House to pick it up, I decided to go through it one more time to see if I might need something. Not only did I come home with all of my junk, I ended up bringing home other people's junk as well. Admittedly, I got a nice baby bouncer for Gabe, but at what price? My "den" is now almost as packed with boxes as my "workshop."
So this goal is about more than cleaning my house. It is about freeing my mind and giving myself permission to let go. And while I understand this in theory, it does not make it any easier for me to throw or give away things.
In the next week or so, I'll set as my goal to find a way to make the Goal more concrete, measurable, and sustainable. Wish me luck.
Number one:
I will be healthy as defined:
1) BMI <25
2) Cholesterol range good
3) Thyroid good
4) BP good with medication
Number three:
I will become an enrolled agent
Both of these are on a pretty chart with an action plan & resources needed. I feel pretty good about number three. I feel OK about number one, even though it's a variation on the same goal I've had for 35 years.
Number two is harder. I will organize & clean my house.
This is hard for several reasons.
Like "being healthy," it requires a change of habit in order to sustain any changes. Unlike being healthy, it requires the cooperation of my household, who share my current sloppy habits. While some of them are more than willing to cooperate (at least in theory), some are comfortable with the disorder. They don't even want to change.
A second problem is that having a clean and organized house has become a great specter for me. It's the THING that stands between me and happiness. You know what I mean? If I lose weight, I'll be happy. If I get my degree, I'll be happy. It's the THING that lets me put my life on hold, spending energy planning for after the THING (craft projects, baking, writing). But life goes on even with the THING in the way, and I need to find a way to do what I want and need to do now.
The third problem may be related to the second. I can't get rid of things. I donated boxes of stuff to a yard sale which was not very successful. Instead of immediately calling the Sunshine House to pick it up, I decided to go through it one more time to see if I might need something. Not only did I come home with all of my junk, I ended up bringing home other people's junk as well. Admittedly, I got a nice baby bouncer for Gabe, but at what price? My "den" is now almost as packed with boxes as my "workshop."
So this goal is about more than cleaning my house. It is about freeing my mind and giving myself permission to let go. And while I understand this in theory, it does not make it any easier for me to throw or give away things.
In the next week or so, I'll set as my goal to find a way to make the Goal more concrete, measurable, and sustainable. Wish me luck.
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