Ayn's Multiple World

Can We Work a Little in Here TOO?

Good morning … this is me! If I can excuse my indulging the kitty, my poor Missy seems to be on the worse end of this “New Deal.” Yesterday was another attack on her security because I had to take off the bedspread in the back room so that I can get it to the cleaners. I am figuring at this point that she and chief spend a lot of time hiding under that bed and the spread was their cover or foliage.

Missy’s next front, well maybe some down the line – because I took apart the closets as she once knew them, but today I took apart the kitchen cabinets. I’ve been hearing the doors open and shut. I’m thinking she is spending time hiding out in there too. Silly kitty! So now Chief just found a further back corner under the bed and Missy chases me around the house meowing at me. Well except now she’s giving me a small break. She’s lying next to me attentively.

I’m not sure where exactly I left off yesterday, but I’m pretty sure we made progress on the day. Today we’ve been furthering it while spending some time just hearing the sounds of the place. With that it seems that we’ve been doing fine tuning. It’s just little things like bringing or gathering dirty clothes and other for either the laundry or the cleaners. Even if I don’t get this done it’s a big change that I’m getting them out of the house and down the stairs. Hopefully Maury will stop by again today to see what progress has been made.

Maury’s been real good this week in helping out. I’ve got now … two boxes, four laundry bags, four cleaner bags, and one bag of garbage. This is like 4-5 loads going down and he’s got to come back up too. I would really like to get this next part done before he might stop by. I think he gets off about 6 pm or later. I’ve got some tins that I will collect that will be going to Who-who’s house. I would also like it if he could bring down some of these empty boxes he said he would take. I’m trying to eliminate clutter … and TODAY is the day for the living room.

Oh yeah we were saying though about finishing up in the back. I wanted to make a space for Maury in the kitchen in case he wants to have food here that is his own and DOESN’T fit in the fridge or freezer. Under the island we’ve got really 3 cupboards. Two of them face into each other and then there is a third really deep one that’s in the back corner between the island and the sink. There’s a dividing wall though so it doesn’t open to the sink.

I did fill the deeper part with the pieces of stovery that don’t get used often.

This was for the waffle maker, the wok, the turkey pan and the crumkake iron. Don’t ask! The first thing though I did was on the double side. I went through it pulling out all the plastic dishes. Wow! That stuff adds up. But fortunately stacks pretty well. I had two separate piles of containers with one being squarer and the other being rounder. It’s good that it’s a good depth. These are the cupboards on the bottom part of the island.

Then in a couple of oblong plastic dishes, I gathered all the lids. I think they are fairly balanced. There were a couple of pitcher type things that I put in the cupboard above the fridge. Yeah like when in 10 years have I used pitchers!??

There were also some paper cups and that pretty much filled in 1/6th the area.

Above it we put some glassware. Rich had bought some new stuff, but he’s not been cooking of late. I also hid in this section the extra coffee. I think there was something else here, but this is all I remember. Hmm, thinking now there are a few more glass bowls above the tall cupboard over the sink. I bet there is room in back of the new stuff for the old stuff, and that would clean up the area better for snack type foods. Rich seems to think we CAN’T reach up there … HAH!

Next to the glass dishes to the left is some of the packaged goods Rich stocks up on like cereal, rice, potatoes, oatmeal and that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t take a whole lotta space, but enough. This used to run willy nilly between the other pots, pans and bowls, so it’s really a big deal to dedicate a while shelf for them.

Underneath the box goods, are actually TWO sets of pans. I took all the pieces of the old set and stacked them up leaving their tops to the side. Wow … those pans were scattered so I didn’t even KNOW we had that much there. These were mostly the tinny type that doesn’t have Teflon, but then again who needs Teflon to cook noodles. The new stuff Rich has gotten all has Teflon. I didn’t like though how he had left them piled up on the stove. I figured the compromise was that I give them PROMINENT space not too cluttered in the cabinet and THEN we could put them away as if it looked like we wash our dishes!

I also got rid of the extra popcorn machine so that it was possible to put the newer one on the wicker shelve instead of next to the stove. It was only one of those ¾ foot counter tops, but it can be handy if you are working with something on the stove, especially because the microwave is taking a good part of the cupboard on the other side. Usually, Rich just uses the island area to do all his swishing and swirling.

Hmm, that’s another thing I cleaned out. There is a square wicker basket on top of the counter that we use for our bread type items including rice cakes and tortillas. There had been individually wrapped candies that no one was eating and receipts so I cleaned up that too and found there was room in the basket for peanut butter and cinnamon. Hmm, I bet you that extra peanut butter would fit behind the extra coffee. Then it would leave the only thing above the stove to be the bake goods like flour, sugar, and walnuts.

I didn’t clean that well. There is another cupboard to the right of the stove that has goofy things in it we never look at … YEEKS! Maybe I should clean this too. If there is nothing there – Oh yeah we got medicine-like stuff in there. I forgot … usually we don’t get sick. In the cupboard to the right is a bunch of stuff that has most to do with seasoning. The cupboard on the bottom of the U on top has our can goods and small packaged products. There’s a tiny drawer that can’t be open because the stove blocks it … I imagine great big horrible spiders must live there!

Well, probably not, but sometimes I peek in there just to check it out. Under we have the cupboard that holds the plastic garbage bags, and other bags and wraps.

Across this is a small cupboard that we use for towels and washcloths, and above this is a cupboard we use for oven mitts and hot pads. Above the sink in between these two cupboards is that small double door that used to have plastic and glass bowls, and some of the chips and crackers Rich hides, I think I’m going to clean out this one and a couple others like the towel drawers and the pot holders and the silverware tray.

On the upper right side of the sink are two more double doors, and this has the glassware and dinner dishes. Pretty cool really how efficient the kitchen is. Oh yeah … couple more things. Above the three island doors that we started talking about at first are three more drawers. The first one is for regular silverware and knives, the second – middle drawer is for all the funny utensils people have, and then the last drawer closest to the aisle/portable dishwasher is the junk drawer.

It was not THAT long ago I cleaned it up, but it gets messy pretty fast.

That pretty much explains my whole kitchen EXCEPT the first cupboard of the three I’ve been talking of. You heard about how deep it was and that I filled in the depth part, but I only took it to the level edge of the door. THIS is the part that we’re giving Maury. He’s got an upper AND a lower. *Big Grin* I sure did talk and think a lot about stuff before getting to this part. I’m just so thrilled that I can make room in a regular-sized apartment for him. It feels easily like there really is enough room for three people.

I DO like the part there is a dishwasher too! It sets next to the wicker shelving at the top of the U. It rolls easily into the middle of the U to clean. Nothing says three people better than THANK GOODNESS WE DON’T HAVE TO WASH DISHES!

I figure Maury is going to have some specialties he’ll bring to the kitchen in his food tastes like cereal for one! Maury emphasized the other day how little time he’ll be here and that it will mostly be for sleeping. But, I want him to feel welcome.

Hmm, maybe now a little more welcome. Hehe … I just called him and asked him if he’d pick up for me a little fridge at Sears. I got a 4.6 cubic foot. I don’t know how exactly big that is, but it seems a good size. Ok, now I know how big it is.

It said like 32 inches tall and 20 inches wide and 22 inches deep. It is stainless steel and under $200 with everything included. It should fit right between Maury’s bed and desk if the desk is moved a little closer to the closet. Not a REAL lot of room there to spare, but I think it’s going to be a really good deal. It takes a while to think of these kinds of things. We don’t have the biggest fridgerator – it’s an apartment size and after Rich goes shopping it gets all filled-up. He doesn’t usually fill-up the freezer because he likes getting his meats fresh, but the fridge is smallish and its missing one of the door shelves because before we moved in it didn’t have a side to hold things on the ledge.

Maury on the other hand had a real nice fridge that they’d just gotten. It had one of those nice ice-maker – water disposal things. Ours, is like a jillion years old. BUT, I know that Maury can really fill up a fridge. A good part of that is he can fill-up the beverages. Maury used to drink a LOT of pop. I think now he drinks a LOT of water, but then again, he may have some other stuff … I think he likes juices and some alcohol. This way Maury can fill up his fridge with some of his specialty stuff. PLUS it will give him a ledge for his alarm clock and stuff because the top seems just the right height.

The only thing is that its for the house so that when Maury leaves … we get to keep it. That way WE’LL be able to have an extra beverage fridge. As it is now … it’s hard to keep beer, water or pop in there because it gets filled up so fast. I hope that Maury is going to like it and won’t cause too much problem in picking it up. I know he has a super busy schedule, but this thing is a good priority.

Maury also didn’t mind the idea of bringing up the air conditioner from down in storage. He didn’t do it last time though because he didn’t have enough time to unburden it. Rich has taken over the spot down there and it’s got lots of fishing and sports gear.

Hmm, I just checked on air conditioners and I found a couple I liked but they each cost just under $200 and I didn’t have enough money to clear that because I had to pay $850 for a school loan and $350 on an electrical bill. BUT, the fridge squeaked through! Win one for me and one for the credit card. There should still be about $400, but not maybe that much or the air conditioners would have gone through.

*Sigh*

Maybe there’s some left over to do something? I’m not sure if the check to my sister and the one for my tickets went through. I hope so. This is why people like me don’t look at bills! It’s just too scary.

Let’s not worry too much. At least the fridge went through, right?!!

Hmm, it’s about 3 pm almost and it doesn’t seem too much like we’re getting through with the living room cleaning. I want to leave tonight open for at least OPENING up the bills. Lots of them are duplicates, but still have to force our way through it. Maybe if I put them in a bag until I’m ready for them that I couldn’t clean up everything else. It seems to be the point that’s stopping me now.

Ok, if I were going to clean the living room … what would I do first?

• Put bills in bag
• Take off extra stuff from shelve and pile on glass table
• Start on south wall condensing books, then do west wall, and finally do north wall
• Make sure extra books fit on top – or at least straighten that part – need kitchen chair
• Clear desk and shelve from office supplies, placing in white rollaway
• Put disks in front part of the white rollaway files
• Condense white rollaway as much as possible – so that it tucks under the table
• Face the books left on shelf
• Sort items on table and put or give away things not needed
• Clean shelves and other flat surfaces
• Clean items – like candles and pictures going back on the shelf
• Measure and cut fabric for couches
• Dress couches
• Call Walgreen’s for picking up the CPap machine
• Consider whether to vacuum or leave for Rich – Hmm?? Can’t we do this?

Other rooms need vacuuming too, ya know?

Ok, let’s say we can do all this, then what?

• Wash surface of both bedrooms BEFORE vacuuming
• Open bills
• Sort bills
• Get laundry and cleaners stuff to the car – or wait maybe another day or two before Maury can do it – that seems like a good deal, right?
• Go to work
• Maybe do laundry on Saturday with Rich, hmm? He’ll have fishy stuff ya know?
• Remember go back to work!
• Do those last few “middle-of-the-closet” clothes to free up some more space and hangers
• Be happy with how the house turned out
• Hmm, shouldn’t you tackle some more kitchen cupboards and drawers?
• You’ll have to wash another load of dishes before Rich comes home too!
• Get credit card to Maury so he can pick-up fridge maybe on Wednesday – he called back
• Wash kitchen and bath sinks
• Man is this list EVER going to stop?
• Ok, that’s pretty much it
• OH – get out the garbage again!
• OH YEAH – hang pictures!
• Consider home DONE!!!

Ok, ok … that’s enough of that .. you can see about where we’re at with it. Lots of work done, but some more DEFINITELY to go!

I think I’d like to check out that material for the couches first. I figure that if we get the living room to looking nice enough then we’ll want more to be doing stuff. It’s already late in the day – only 5-7 hours left that we could work, but then we get the advantage of having done pretty much what we wanted earlier and some of it WAS work … and even a little went into writing which has been hard for us lately.

We’ve got to get far enough with it today yet so we can be proud of our effort and not get overwhelmed with chores the rest of the week. It’s still a lot easier to clean and move things now than it had used to be when we were much heavier. Hmm, a case should be made there though … our scale seems either to be broken or maybe in need of a new battery. We better look in to that.

I think if we could do all this then there wouldn’t be much to do except to write, pick-up more as we’re going along, keep up better with bills, help Rich get situated without having a JVS job, learn to live as three-party house, go to work at work, think of saying hi to Joe and Thom, see Dr. Marvin, maybe go to the gym, love our cats, and sometimes sneak away for the weekend.

Hmm, that sounds like a pretty good life, hmm? Only thing we didn’t mention was we gotta keep loving Rich to pieces! WooHOO!!!

Ok, you now … enough writing … get back to work!

posted by Ann Marie @ 6/29/2009 03:21:00 PM Comments: 0