Kitchen Cleaning

I would say it was a very productive day and I am exhausted.  I couldn't even think of a cleaver post title.  The day started off with a work out: Jillian's 30 Day Shred.  I saw that Sweat Pea at Newlyweds was doing a 30 Day Shred Challenge, and I already have that DVD so I thought I would give it a try this morning.  I haven't officially signed on to commit, because I don't remember liking getting my butt kick by Jillian via TV. I didn't do too bad today except for the jump rope part.  It also wasn't very cool that my 4 year old got up while I was working out and starting running commentary.  Add that to the fact that my dog also would lay down on the yoga mat every time I got off it, and in her old age she is slow to move (we have hard wood floors so she will lay on any blanket/soft object you put on the floor, even though she has her own pillow).  I have signed up to do a half marathon in the fall and am trying to train for that since I'm far from athletic at this point in life.  I signed up because my older sister, who has allergies and asthma, finished it last year without dying.

So after dropping off the kids at school I decided I was going to set the timer for an hour and start cleaning. I started in the kitchen and was doing normal routine things to straighten up.  I started to unload the dishwasher and noticed that the utensil organizer was dirty.  So I took it out and cleaned it, but I also noticed this drawer had a lot of random lids and other items inside.  So I threw out all the lids for cups that didn't have bottoms, broken candles, and crumbs.  I didn't get a before picture, but the after looks so bare and clean I had to show it off.

Then I was sweeping and I kept thinking how much it stinks to have all this stuff to sweep around: the shoes and rug at the back door, the garbage can, my step stool, dog's dish, and the recycling bucket.  So I decided to put the recycling bucket under the sink, but as you can see from the picture above, there isn't a lot of room.

So I emptied everything out, scrubbed, bleached, and put down some new shelf protector stuff.  All the things pictured above were taken out and either put in the laundry room or on the top shelf of the hall closet (that will be another post someday).

Now I have room to spare! 

(Yes that is the spray hose hanging down.  Why? Do you not keep yours under the sink?  Just kidding.  It was the genius plan of the guy who installed the water purifier system.  It didn't work anyway so they used it's hole and stuck this thing under the sink.)

Next I tackled the stove.  This is a picture of  grates on the door.  They are nasty, and I'm sure I should have attended to them more than never, but some places where food isn't set seem to get off of my cleaning list.

Here is after.  I used a microfiber cloth, Q-tips and a toothbrush to scrub these babies clean.

Now on to under the stove.  Another very neglected space.  For some time I have been wanting to pull out the stove to clean all around it, but I was scared since it's a gas stove.  (I thought if I pulled it out it would be like a cartoon and the hose would snap and gas would quickly fill the house, and then the explosion you could see from space.)  I found tons of dog food, dust, crumbs, a toy car, $.58, a marker, and two craft pom poms.  I had no idea how I was going to get off at least 3 years, if not more, of dirt.

But I did!  

(Please ignore the weird rust linoleum spot, I have them all over my kitchen floor. They came with the house.)

It took me hours to clean the stove and get all the crumbs that were stuck with grease and grime.  

Unfortunately the stove's door came off while I was moving it, and it was hard to put back.  When my husband came home he tried to help and ended up breaking off this piece on the top.  I don't think it is a crucial piece, but it was very upsetting.  Especially when my husband said "That's what you get."  So that's what I get when I try to clean?  Does this mean I get to hire a maid?  Alas, we were able to put the door back on and that was that.

P.S. I would like to thank the heavens for spell check, if it were not for that invention this post would have a lot more gibberish sounding in my exhausted and unable to spell state.