Cleaning Day 2 (Day 1 was nothing)

Day 2 of cleaning. I woke up this AM with a terrible hacking cough, stuffed up nose, pounding head, and just feeling miserable. You know, a stay in bed day. I anticipated a 4.5 hour day to finish off my deep clean job. Sherwin Williams kindly offered me the use of their in-store 4 ft. ladder so I wouldn't need to pay $65 for something I only needed for one day.

I got to the job at 7:30 AM. Great!! Early start, early finish. I hauled my one million and ten cleaning supplies in, dreading the 9 blinds still awaiting me. I started on the hallway blind, going over each slat one by one with a wet paper towel-TEDIOUS!!! I decided at that point I was going to ATTEMPT to clean the kitchen blind, which was smaller, in the bathtub, like everything suggests you do(This is why people only charge $29 for a houseful of mini blinds, I will assume). MESS, MESS, MESS....and in my opinion, it didn't clean so hot either. Nowhere near as good as my painstaking slat by slat routine that was slowly killing all muscles and joints in my arms.

I took a break and started back on the master shower that I hadn't been able to finish the day before, as I had run out of a certain cleaning supply. QUICK TIP: for an exceptionally scummy shower use Lysol Deep Reach or lime and rust toilet bowl cleaner. Squeeze on, use a scrub brush to lightly work it in, then let sit 20 minutes. When you go over it with a rag it comes off like a charm.

Back to work on the blinds, I decide to take the dining room blind DOWN to clean it on the floor. Great, it only took 30 minutes versus 1 hour. Climb my ladder to put it back up. As it snaps back into the runner the bottom swings out and I look down as in slow motion this beautiful blue wine glass starts teetering. I held my breath as I moved towards it, praying I would catch it in time. Just as it looked like all would end well, with a final second, it shattered.

I did the professional thing and called the homeowner. At this point I was somewhat unprofessional as I was close to tears and trying to fight them back. I offered to pay for it and she insisted that no, I didn't need to as she has broken one already and they had them for 8 years. I felt HORRIBLE. Mind you, this is after yesterday where I needed to call her and let her know that her toilet seat somehow snapped off in my hand. (She had forgotten to tell me it was broken.)

Fast forward to 3:30 PM. I am rushing, trying to get everything accomplished by 5 PM. Ran out to the car to get my mop bucket, checking to make sure the door wasn't locked behind me. Apparently I pulled it shut from habit, and apparently it is one of the doors that even though it is locked from the outside you can still go out it...you just can't get back IN it.

Lovely....just lovely. I was wearing bummy clothes because I didn't intend to see anyone and was working with bleach. Like, clothes NO ONE sees me in....EVER. My hair was a mess all over the place, and, even worse, I was SHOELESS. I was ready to mop the floor so I took my shoes off a few minutes earlier. I ran around the house, looking for an unlocked window. The ground was SOPPING wet from the nice weather(read 40 degrees) we have had the last few days. Of course!!! No unlocked windows. I locked them as I cleaned them. GENIUS!!!

My last ditch effort was to run to the neighbor's house. My phone, keys, EVERYTHING, was inside and I had no way to contact the owner at this point. Of course, they don't know their neighbors so I called my husband to see if he could help me brainstorm....oh, out of the store for 15 minutes.

Well, I spied the realty sign in the homeowner's yard with a phone number on it. That's right, there is a lock box on the door!!! Decided maybe I could call them, they could call the owner and get the ok to 1)send someone out to let me in (owner works 40 minutes away), 2) give me the combination to the lock box. I called the realtor's and told them my dilemma. She didn't even hesitate, and after verifying who lived there, GAVE ME THE COMBINATION!!!!! Dead serious. I did have to wait in between for her to take a few calls. I am hoping one of the calls was to verify that I was indeed SUPPOSE to be getting into her home.

I finally finished Day 2 with 1 bathroom break and no food again...at 5 PM.

I came home to sick children and a sick self, and very little sleep last night. I am very thankful that the job is done, my vacuum is paid for, and my husband is coming home early to take care of us all.

And by the way, $200 wasn't enough.

Good day!!!

New Year's Resolutions

I have never been a real fan. I have composed my LISTS throughout the years, but I never got the point. I mean, you screw up your PLAN all year long, then beat yourself up over it, then make a new one, and the vicious cycle starts all over. There is sooo much more to life then that....at least I think so. I prefer to set goals through out the year, rest them, revamp them into more realistic ones, and not discourage myself with my many failures.

I prefer to set new goals every day, week, month. So much in life changes day by day that it just doesn't seem realistic to set a goal at the beginning of the year and expect to make it happen...or...this mommy brain to REMEMBER it.

So this year I have 2 goals. One, to remember each day is just a stepping stone and to continually challenge myself to grow closer to God and my family. Two, to save all my receipts of what I get with grocery money, and every month or so re-evaluate what the grocery budget is buying and where it is going.

I think I can handle that. The rest of it? I will take one day at a time and work on things as they come along. I refuse to set myself up for failure and then, at the end of the year, see how miserable I did.

Have a wonderful and Happy New Year, and whatever YOUR resolutions....I hope you meet them.