I Haven't Given Up

I haven't given up on getting things done around the house.

M took my dresser to Goodwill last Sunday. I wondered if he would ever take it, but this was a perfect example of M being on his own schedule and no amount of nagging or distress makes him move any faster. I got tired of looking at the counter in the kitchen that had a ton of his junk piled on it so I shoved it all into bags and put it all downstairs. He noticed right away, but only asked what I did with it all. He probably knew he had no room to complain since it's been over two months since I asked him to do it. He hasn't made a move to fix C's closet yet so that is next on the agenda. The door he took off months ago still sits in the hallway. (I think one of the dogs has even lifted their leg on it a couple of times.....) I am taking it downstairs this weekend.

As you might guess, the basement is a wasteland of junk. I have a broken wash machine or dryer down there from years ago. At least it's not outside in the backyard where another appliance has sat for years. The basement also houses all my fabric totes. I will be going through that all soon enough. I can't bear to part with any of it, but I might just have to. As it is, I rarely use any of it and I'm wondering if I'll ever get back to any of the PhD's that are stored either. I donated a ton of it years ago to Firehouse Quilts and I may do that again. (I donated a bunch of fabric that I had purchased before I knew what good fabric was.)

The Log Cabin Quilt has been ignored for weeks. I sewed four of the five rows and then stopped. I even bought the border fabrics so I don't really know what my problem is? The thought of another finished quilt must have scared me?! I haven't given up painting our room. I think I've got a case of nerves about it, though.

My salvation will be that warmer weather is just around the corner. It's been flirting with the Denver-area already. We're expecting another snow storm this afternoon. I always get more done in the summer.

The Kitchen: After is ALL You're Gonna Get

The slideshow above is the best I can do. I took the pictures on Monday before the room could get too dirty again. hahahahahaha

The kitchen got cleaned....enough. The stove got delivered and I've been baking up a storm to make up for lost time. I still have a lot to do, like clean inside the cupboards and get the organizing done. M was nice enough to get me a new vent cover.

I've never liked my kitchen! White just isn't my color....

The white floor is the worst!! I've never been able to keep it clean with the dogs and the kids. Not only is it white, but it's textured so dirt gets imbedded in it only to come out with serious scrubbing. You can see that it's already dirty from the dogs tracking in mud from the backyard the same night I mopped. I feel like I need to have a Swifter velcroed to my hand. The floor got rips in the vinyl over the years in the main traffic area. It desperately needs to be replaced.

The walls in the kitchen have the same textured treatment as the rest of the walls in my house. What were they thinking?! Dust actually catches in areas of the wall. I enjoy my view from the kitchen to the dining and living room area. The stove is right under the opening. However, I don't have any type of exhaust system or fan above my stove.

Michael put the door between the back door area and the kitchen years ago upon my request. He never finished it. It will probably have to be replaced since it's so scratched. You don't want to see the other side--it's the side that faces that room where we used to keep the dogs while we were out before we had crates. They've scratched right through the hollow door to the kitchen side.

We're not sure what we really want to do in the kitchen to spiff things up. I'm more concerned about the rest of the house and if we have to keep replacing appliances, we won't be doing any major work in there any time soon. The stove this week, the fridge six months or so ago, and the dishwasher a couple of years ago. I know we will paint. M even said it's a shame we can't paint right away before things get dirty. I'd also like to take the tile up to the area above the open area by the stove. I think it would be easier to clean than the paint. We need to caulk between the tile and the counter in the worst way. The floor is the floor.... It's M's focus, but it's not mine except to say that he could pitch in and pick up a mop once and awhile. Oh, and he could clean up that junky counter! His other focus is doing something with the cupboards like painting or refacing them. Sure! Some of the drawers are falling apart so we definitely need to do something with THEM.

I'm happy that we cleaned in there. Anything else will be just gravy. Everyone helped so I'm hoping that we'll all be invested in keeping it clean.

Clean-a-Thon

Judy of Patchwork Times is hosting one of her Quiltathons this weekend.

I'd love to participate, but I'll be cleaning instead.

M bought a new stove last Sunday and it's going to be delivered on Monday. My kitchen is disgusting so I'll be working in there this weekend. My oven stopped working and there wasn't even a discussion about trying a repair. He kept asking me if I wanted to be involved in picking out a new one, but I said no. All I could say was that I wanted a basic stove. I don't need or want any bells and whistles. The oven could have picked a better time to stop working for financial reasons, but my home improvement plans for the kitchen didn't involve designing around the stove or picking a stove out based upon changes to the kitchen.

I have missed my oven this week so it will be very nice to get the new one delivered. M has had to grill a couple of times this week because I wasn't prepared to cook dinner on the stove top and I like it when I have any excuse to ask him to cook. We had burgers on Monday and pork chops last night. I love it when he cooks! He mentioned someone at work talking about grilling pizza. I was over enthusiastic about him trying that so he probably knows somehting is up....hey, like I said, anything to get out of cooking.

So, since I have to be in the kitchen cleaning this weekend I might as well do a good job. I'll continue with my goal to get rid of the junk, organize, and clean until it sparkles!