Wednesday, March 1, 2023

What The HELL Is Wrong With Me?


That is my shower floor. Yes. It looks bad. Yes. I have embedded mold between the tiles. Yes. I should be embarrassed. But yes, I do live in Florida. Trust me when I tell you that I do clean my shower. Not often enough, obviously, but more than never. 

That's a pretty low bar, isn't it? 

Moving on. Today has been another weird one. Not because I took a walk and thought I might be dying but because, well- take for instance the fact that it is six o'clock and I just sat down here to write when my absolutely-engraved-in-stone schedule that I live and die by, is that I sit down at five o'clock to answer comments and then write a new post. Yet, somehow today despite looking at the clock, I suddenly realized that it was not almost five o'clock, it was instead almost six. 

Alright. That's just one thing. 

I would never, ever normally scrub grout with a toothbrush. If bleach doesn't get it done, it doesn't get done. So here's what happened- I decided to let Ralph vacuum my bathroom. Because my bathroom is elevated too much for Ralph to climb on his own, I have to actually place him in it. And I have stuff on the bathroom floor that I need to move somewhere else so he has access to the entire room. Rugs, baskets- you know. So I moved all that stuff out and then I looked at the sink and also the cabinet that the sink is built into which is a lovely vintage wood piece that was here when I got here. Mr. Moon replaced the sink in it but the cabinet is the same. 


And I thought, "Hmmm...when was the last time I dusted and oiled that thing?"
Who knew? Not me. 
So I decided to do that. Which involved gathering cleaning and dusting products and bringing them to the bathroom and taking everything off the cabinet and dusting the things that needed dusting and throwing away the things that needed throwing away and then oiling the wood and then replacing the things...
That took awhile. 

And then, because there is also a dresser in my bathroom, I cleaned it off and dusted and oiled it. There is also an old, small, junky cabinet in the bathroom that I sort of attempted to tidy and I moved it out from its space so I could sweep under it and the amount of dust there was rather horrifying. So I took care of that. 

Then I worked on the shower and cleaned my sink. 

At this point I felt that I could let Ralph in and he took over for me, vacuuming under the tub and so forth. 

Meanwhile, I decided that I might as well clean Mr. Moon's sink and the cabinet it's in, another vintage wooden piece although he bought this one just for the purpose and in fact, built his entire bathroom around it. I'd show you a picture of that but I feel that it would be an invasion of his privacy so I won't. 

By the time I got that all nice and dust-free, Ralph was finished with my bathroom so I mopped the floor because hell- why not? And when I went to put all the things back into their places on the floor, I remembered that the side porch which the bathroom opens onto was covered in leaves and that I needed to sweep it and I did.

It was after three o'clock by then. I was also doing a little laundry and around four I made a loaf of bread (not sourdough) and set it to rise and then I chopped and peeled and stirred and stirred and made a gumbo. 

And somehow in there, it was an hour later than I thought it was and here we are. 

I am obviously not in my right mind. At this point, I am not sure I have a right mind. 

I am sure that I am tired and glad that supper is made except for baking the bread and cutting up the shrimp to go in the gumbo. 

I am also not in a good mood which is probably why I started cleaning in the first place. I usually only clean when I'm in a bad mood because cleaning is going to put me in one anyway so why waste an already bad mood without getting something accomplished?

Does that make sense to you? 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. It's Levon and August pick-up day and so I will have a task and a purpose which goes beyond the removal of icky dust and mold and mildew. It will also be a lot more fun. Maybe we can play Go Fish and if we do, you'll read it here first. 

Love...Ms. Moon 



39 comments:

  1. Your reasoning about cleaning in a bad mood is totally understandable. To me and to She Who Must Be Obeyed, who laughed when I read that section to her and said "that's very good reasoning!"

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  2. The angrier I am, the cleaner is my house. I don't think I have been angry for a long time! Your shower looks fine. Those are old tiles and will never be pristine white again. Don't stress. As long as you aren't growing mushrooms in there all will be hunky dory.

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    1. No mushrooms yet but I wouldn't be surprised to find some somewhere in that bathroom.

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  3. I doubt if most shower floors look like a showroom model, before water and soap and people have touched them. Your bathroom sink is amazing. So beautiful, compared to the clinically modern townhouse ones in my life.
    At this point you probably ought to eat dinner in the bathroom, just because it's that nice!

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    1. I tell you- it is the prettiest room in the house. We got that sink in Mexico. Talavera pottery. Isn't it beautiful?

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  4. One year my b-i-l made a $700 shortfall income tax mistake "because the guys at work told me to do it." Jan said the kitchen was never so clean before or after as he tried to explain why he didn't do what the tax advisor (me) told him to do.

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    1. Ha! Excellent story and great example of cleaning while angry.

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  5. I'm not an *angry* cleaner.....but yes- that energy can be put to good use! Your shower floor is much cleaner than the walls of my shower....LOL! I can't imagine how large your bathroom is that you can have that beautiful chest, and a dresser in there? Wow! And....you just whipped up a gumbo too? what a woman!
    Susan M

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    1. AND- there's a clawfoot tub. It's big enough I could probably put a cot in there too if I had to.

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  6. I tend to "whirlwind" clean too - and then I wonder why I crash and burn!!! By the way, I LOVE that sink. We obviously have very similar taste!

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    1. I simply hate housecleaning. I should probably be in a terrible mood more often.

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  7. I used to scrub things when I was in a bad mood because the scrubbing and dusting etc would take my mind off things and when I finished there would often be a solution from the subconscious. It didn't always work, but often enough. I LOVE your sink.

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    1. Often enough- yes.
      The sink is a pretty one.

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  8. I am with you about cleaning while in a bad mood. I figure it won't make my mood worse and when I feel better at least I will have a clean house.
    Cheers

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  9. I used to do my deep cleaning when I was pissed off about something, usually my husband. The energy it took helped dispel my anger and then I had a nice shiny room afterwards.

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  10. Let this post be a warning to us all. It starts innocentlyl enough. You see something that needs doing and so you do it, not realizing that it is a slippery slope...one thing leads to another. And then to another. It is a sickness, a disease. I implore you to stop before the addiction takes root in your soul and destroys your life.

    I blame Ralph. really.

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    1. Ha! True! The but-firsts kick in and next thing you know you're tearing out walls and building solariums. Or something like that.

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  11. You have a giant bathroom! It's no fun to clean but it does feel good when it's finished. I usually clean when I know people are coming to visit.

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    1. I used to do that too but now I have very few visitors and the ones I do know me and love me even if things aren't sparkling.

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  12. I fell. Not a big thing I'm fine. But I scuffed a big chunk of skin off my left arm. Dressing it is a bit of a task. (I see the DR in a couple of hours BTW) And I was looking for the adhesive tape which I could not find when I saw another product that had nothing to do with adhesive tape but which had the word "Gum," in it. I started to laugh. Levon taught us all the adhesive properties of gum and I shall never forget that. Thank the dear child for me, not for the lesson in the adhesive properties of gum but for making me laugh all these months later.
    Tom

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    1. Tom! I hope your arm is okay. Mr. Moon seems to constantly lose chunks of skin where he hits his arms and legs with heavy machinery. Our skin is so thin these days. I'm glad you're going to a doctor.
      I will be honest with you- I had forgotten that Levon said that about gum. I had to do a search in my blog to find it and I did and it made me smile. He's always been such a smart and ingenious boy and he still always wants gum.

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    2. I saw the Dr. Yesterday, new guy I've never seen. We were being so careful around that wound, he scrubbed the hell out of it with gauze and saline water. Said it looks great and in another 10 days will be sufficiently scabbed over to not have a bandage at all. I don't need the gum to hold the dressing after all.
      :)
      Ah the big "G" I log on but it forces my comments to be anonymous , so here I am being all clandestine.
      Tom

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  13. I love your sink!! Gorgeous! I sing loudly while cleaning when I am in a bad mood. Where I live we have the "hardest" water in the county. Unlike the beautiful, tasty, outstanding well water on the mountain! I have taken lately to using a product called The Pink Stuff in the bathroom, both on the shower floor and the glass shower door in order to remove gunk and the water spots on the door. For the rest of the house, I use Mrs. Murphy's natural products.

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    1. Okay. I have already googled The Pink Stuff and will be getting some. My shower doors are impossible to clean with everything I've tried so why not? Thanks.

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  14. I'm finding it harder and harder to clean my bathroom. I think, why bother? It'll just get dirty again and this works for a few weeks and then even I can't stand it. Fortunately my husband has a much higher dirt tolerance so I clean his bathroom even less often. Small mercies:)

    Your bathroom is beautiful.

    I baked all morning to avoid dealing with a broken kitchen drawer that needs to be fixed and I don't really know how to fix it. My husband is not at all interested in fixing it, it's for the rental. Sigh.

    Hope your day got better. It's warmed up here and I'm taking both dogs out this afternoon for a good long walk.

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    1. Bathrooms just constantly need cleaning. But I hear you- they do reach a point where we have to deal with them. And WHY do WE feel the need to clean our husbands' bathrooms?
      You'll probably figure out that kitchen drawer but if not- is there someone you can take it to?

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  15. A little, fun, regrout job on your shower pan would sparkle like brand new and clean easier. One look at your picture and I flashed back to spending years doing similar repair jobs.

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    1. I'll see if Mr. Moon would like to tackle that job.

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  16. Cleaning bathrooms is the worst. I usually love cleaning, and most kinds of cleaning put me in a good mood, but not bathrooms. So I sympathize. That Mexican ceramic sink in the wooden washstand really does look amazing.

    Hope your day with the boys is better!

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    1. There is every sort of cleaning to be done in my bathroom. I'm not complaining but it is true. All the regular bathroom stuff plus all the wood cleaning stuff. It's an all-day event. Well, for me anyway.

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  17. I actually rather like cleaning - I find its sort of cathartic and satisfying. I especially clean and tidy my desk constantly. But I guess everything in moderation; I wouldn't want to be one of those OCD types who clean everything incessantly. Love your sink.

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    1. I wish I liked cleaning a tiny bit better. It's just not of my nature. And yet- I do not like disorder or dirt. I do try to keep things tidy and relatively clean.

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  18. 37paddington:
    Your sink and vanity are works of art and woman, I was exhausted just from reading everything you did today! You definitely did not waste your bad mood. The shower tiles are fine, they’re really not so bad and nothing a swipe with new grout won’t fix. Hire someone to do it for you. It’ll take half an hour and be one less thing you worry about. In fact you won’t even think about it enough to be thrilled. I thought no longer having a rust stained bath tub and tiles with mildewed soap scummy grout would thrill me inordinately. Instead, it simply dropped off the list of things I obsess over. This tells me it was never that deep.

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    1. Glen could probably do that grout in his sleep. I'll see what he thinks.
      Well, I'm sure that those issues did take up space in your psyche which is now cleared for other worries! This is how it works for me, anyway.

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  19. I'm a bit gobsmacked at the His and Hers bathrooms. Most people here have one per dwelling, or a main bathroom, for the family and visitors and an ensuite to the main bedroom which is for the parents. Both parents.

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    1. His and her bathrooms are not that common here. We've never had that before. I do love it though. I admit that. I even sort of secretly resent it when Mr. Moon uses my bathroom to soak in the tub in. Which is silly.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.