My laundry room

I really wanted to have a slightly different post for tonight.  I had truly hoped to have my laundry room FINISHED.  After all, Chris had spent a full afternoon gutting it, and 2 of the kids spent some time picking up anything he missed, so "all" I had to do was the actual cleaning of it all.

I went in there today and swept the hell out of it.  If you happen to think that spiders and their puffy little whatever-they-are are denizens of hell - and I kinda do - then that's a literal statement.  Ceiling, walls, window frames, door frames, floor, behind the washing machine and dryer, under the water heater platform, carvings on the linen dresser, all of it got hit with the broom today.  Took me a full half hour, and that room is hardly the size of a room.

But that was only the foundation of the issue, apparently.  I was rather disappointed when I went to enter the tasks into my POA and found that the only lines I could actually mark off were cleaning the dog bed and blankets and cleaning behind the 2 machines.  I still haven't washed, wiped, or organized anything.  This is why I've not yet spammed y'all with after photos, even as drastically different as it looks already.  I'd hoped to get further today, but tomorrow will have to do.

A small triumph

I *finally* really tackled something.  And naturally I come to tell y'all about it and I find myself half an hour into a 2 hour image upload maintenance for Blogger and pictures are disabled.  So if you want to see pics you'll have to check my photo gallery (link in sidebar), the last 5 photos.

We have this "desk".  I use the term loosely because it's badly proportioned and arranged and is basically unusable as an actual desk, as in to sit at, even without a computer.  It was A's for quite a while to just store stuff on but then she got a big art desk and didn't need it (or have room for it) anymore.  Since then it's been in the corner of the living room holding some books and some of B's larger school stuff and the board games.

It's been bugging me for a while because in addition to being badly designed it's also not terribly well made.  The bottom shelf, both sides, and the slide out "keyboard tray" (which no one could really use for a keyboard) were all coming apart and it was only a matter of time before the whole thing collapsed.  Nothing was missing or broken, the pegs had just come completely apart, and the tray was off the track.

I got some wood glue - don't know if it'll help anything but it makes me feel better - and forced everything back together on the bottom.  I cleaned it off the best I could, everything but the paint splotches.  It's simply not worth the time or effort to try to get those off and it's not a showpiece or anything so they stay and I'm not fussed about it.  I found a disturbing amount of junk under it and got rid of all of that.  I moved the books to another bookshelf and put what was left on the upper shelves away from E, dusting off as I went.  I wanted to get rid of those guitars (Rock Band and Guitar Hero) altogether but I don't have anywhere else to put them so I did a cursory dusting of them, what I could reach.  I should've mopped or scrubbed or otherwise cleaned the floor while I had the desk out but I was somewhat limited in time and frankly didn't feel like breaking out more tools.  I can get under it now without moving the desk so I can still do the floor later when I do the rest of the room.

So there's my first big push...only 3 1/3 weeks into PCCX.  Yay?

Name That Kitchen Utensil

I admit that I've been really sucky at the pccx challenge even though I was so excited for it to start.  Now that I'm starting a new job tomorrow, I'll either get back on the horse and start getting stuff done again, or really enjoy my days off and do nothing, we'll see LOL

So since it was kitchen week, I went into my utensil drawer and pulled out 2 ziploc bags of crap that my father purchased from a garage sale.  Why he bought 2 is beyond me since the same items were in both. Needless to say, I tossed one in the trash and kept the other.  Now, I must try to figure out what these utensils are! 

The end of this is flat like a screwdriver. The circles near the handle are not large enough to put your fingers through. I'm at a complete loss.

Clearly a grapefruit utensil, right?

WTH is this?  Plastic; Open circle at one end; Corkscrew like at bottom with a pointed edge AND its hollow through the corkscrew thing. 

I know it shows both, but this image is for the cheese slicer?  Question mark because that's what I think it is, but I'm not really sure LOL

This looks a lot like 2 pics above, except its metal and the corkscrew plastic piece isn't hollow.  Still has the round circle at the top. Anyone know what it is, anyone?

Ummm??? Pouring spout at the top. "Teeth" at the bottom. Name this utensil. Please.

Progress? What's that?

I haven't sunk yet to the feeling of utter failure, but I can see it looming.  With the exception of a major computer clean-out (more than half a million files deleted, among other things) and 2 kitchen drawers, I have done nothing towards PCCX yet.

I can say that I'm getting better at keeping daily and weekly chores going.  My point total for October is doing well towards goal - too well, actually; I'll need to make some adjustments.  As I improve in the picking-up department then I think I can get into actual cleaning.  Hopefully that will happen before I'm out of time. :)

I did it!

I finished PCCX in living room. It looks so nice in this one room. Everything is dusted and organized and clean. Now on to the dining room/entry/front porch.

What is wrong with me?

You know how "they" are always telling people who are trying to reach a goal or change something that the first step (or one of them) is to visualize themselves doing whatever it is they're trying to do?  I guess for some people who don't have confidence or faith or whatever this would be difficult.  I have no problem with that.  I can - and frequently do - picture myself with great clarity in the act of really getting down and dirty as it were, cleaning everything in sight.  It seems so easy, at least one bit at a time it is.  And yet I can't seem to get up and actually do it.  What's wrong with me?

I also really need to get over my aversion to using water to clean things.  I know, weird.  I tend to go out of my way to clean things with wipes or sprays or dusters or dry cloths instead of a good, old-fashioned bucket o' water and rags or sponges.  I think it has something to do with the thought of getting something clean only to have to deal with the puddles or drips or spills or whatever.  Dumb.

I've been called out....

Ok so I haven't posted to the blog yet this PCCX, but there was no reason to call me out. I've been working on keeping up with the house work, homeschooling my son in preschool and trying to finish up my college classes.

I've done some PCCX, I moved the furniture and detail vacuumed the carpet, I need to shampoo it but have to borrow my friend's carpet cleaner first. I washed the living room window and cleaned the tracks. I polished all the tables and the entertainment center, including the electronics. I haven't done any of the holiday tasks except printing out lists. I still need to clean the furniture and organize my books and DVDs. Then the living room will be done. Then it's on to the dining room and front porch.

No pics this time around, I don't feel like taking them. Maybe I'll do afters when its all done.

A slow start

Here's a shocker: I haven't really started yet.  That's right, you heard me.  7 days of PCCX behind us, and I've cleaned nothing.  I did - finally - get my general set of before pictures done last night.  If you go look let me just say that no rumbles were done in advance of those shots (as if that weren't patently obvious), so on a day when rumbles are done it doesn't look quite that bad.  The really surprising bit is that B's room seems to be the cleanest one in the house.  Or at least the most picked-up room.  I assure you, it still needs to be sandblasted and scoured.

In better news, I have done all but one of week one's holiday tasks.  Yay me!

One way or another this place will look better than those pictures by Thanksgiving.  It may require a flamethrower or a bulldozer, but it will be better.

Anyone else have progress to report? *coughcelestecough*