First, I vacuumed and washed the walls in the kitchen that don't have cabinets on them. I also scrubbed the baseboards, which, with a dog who chases his little snack bowl all over the kitchen when we give him table food, get pretty nasty. And, sad to say, I have not been good about cleaning baseboards ... But they are sparkling now.
Then I started on the far wall where the window and sink are. I cleaned out two drawers and two cabinets, though technically Robert cleaned out the one under the sink. I haven't put anything back in there yet since we're not quite done with the faucet drama. The other cabinet houses two 5-gallon buckets for dog food and organic beans, which we buy in bulk. I also keep my canning jars, plastic food storage containers and lids, and extra foil, baggies, parchment paper, etc. And there was a lot of junk under there too, which has been there for a LOOOOONG time. I don't know if you can see the date on the baking soda box, but it expired in 1996. I don't know what the normal shelf life for baking soda is, but I'm pretty sure that box has been there for at least 20 years. It's now in the trash, and there's a lot of plastic silverware, used but clean (sort of) plastic bags, and old dirty paper plates and cups, in the recycling bin. Now the cabinet has the two (cleaned) buckets, a pared-down collection of canning jars, my plastic containers, and the extra baggies, foil, etc.
I cleaned the cabinet doors on both sides, as well as the edges, and cleaned the cabinet frames and inside the cabinet as well. I also cleaned the two drawer faces and edges, and reorganized/purged the drawers. The first drawer was easy as I had organized it in my nesting frenzy last Spring, so all I had to do was clean the utensil holders which collect crumbs like nobody's business.
The other drawer ... Oh, gracious. I obviously haven't cleaned it in the five and a half years I've lived here, and I don't think it had been cleaned out for a good long time before that either. We use the drawer for plastic wrap, foil, and wax paper, but hidden back in the way back of the drawer were about nine million twist ties, some used and some new, cracked and broken rubber bands, packets of chile flakes from some restaurant, tons of used but clean (sort of) bags and foil, and years and years worth of crumbs and general grunge. It now has a packet of birthday candles, a roll of plastic, a roll of foil, and a roll of wax paper.
Ahhhh, it feels so good to purge. I'm looking forward to cleaning the rest of the drawers and cabinets. A place for everything and everything in its place. And sometimes that place is the garbage can.
My other goals: I didn't waste any food (Hallelujah, thank You, Lord), I prayed each day though not for my designated 15 minutes (why can't I keep focused for 15 minutes? Seriously, it's not that hard!), and I read a little extra in the Bible readings this week since February is a short month. This week was a BAD sleep week for Karlina, but I managed to keep my head from exploding. And for that, I thank God for my husband, who helped me put her back down twice this week even though he had to work. Why is it that K can scream and scream for almost an hour when I try to put her back down, but Robert can get her back to sleep in fifteen to twenty minutes? Daddies are magic, that's why.
Okay, you ready for a whole slew of before and afters? Sometimes this mobile Blogger app switches the order of my pictures. Blogging from a phone because you don't own a computer is lame. Sorry.
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