House Cleaning

I hate to clean. Whenever I am able to afford it, I hire a housekeeper to clean bi-weekly. Before I met the Lizard King and I was younger and single, I had a housekeeper. Whenever we have been able to afford it, I have hired a housekeeper. The thing about housekeepers, at least the ones I've hired, is that in time the quality diminishes. I become disappointed and disillusioned.

When we had our house in Georgia six years ago, I cleaned it myself. Somehow it wasn't so bad. I started thinking about why and realized that I had some good tools. It's all in the tools, especially when you don't use chemicals.

Since the build started I have been searching the internet looking for natural cleaning products that I can make myself. I started with stainless steel cleaner and polish because we're getting stainless steel appliances. I was amazed at how well a combination of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap and baking soda mixed to an icing consistency cleans stainless steel! And guess what I used to polish...olive oil! We have a stainless steel dishwasher in our rental and it looks amazing!

In my own nerdy way, I have begun to collect cleaning tool ideas on my Amazon wishlist. I've got myself a collection of lambswool dusters at a variety of lengths, a heavy duty steam cleaner, a ceiling fan duster, a microfiber blind cleaner, a handheld vacuum, and the thing I am most excited about...a new vacuum cleaner. Isn't it purty?! I'm actually getting excited about cleaning. Freaky!!

The Build

When we were in Mexico, the Lizard King came up with a brilliant idea. He asked Princess if she would draw him a picture each time we went to the new house. She thought that was a great idea, so we headed out to the store to find a sketch pad. Each time we venture out to the house, we set her chair up on the hill above the house. It is a perfect vantage point.
We are attempting to get out to see the progress three times a week. I am also taking lots of photos so that LK can keep up on things. He can also inspect the work...virtually. After our second visit, he informed me that the rebar (I have not idea if I even spelled that right) looked good. Whew! I was worried about that.

Look! We have walls! Well, a couple of walls...

EDIT!!!
We were last at the house on Wednesday. This evening, we went out to see the progress and were stunned to see this.

Doorknobs

The Lizard King and I had our annual argument. At the first construction meeting for our new house one of the choices I had to make was which doorknob style we wanted. I chose lever style.

Here were the metal choices. (excuse the cell phone quality photos)

This is the metal I chose.

I love the way the dark metal plays against the white background.

I'm not sure how it happened, but one thing led to another and before we knew it we were arguing...via email. It ended quickly when I asked if this was, in fact, our annual argument.

What was your last argument about?

P.S. Thank you, Freckle. You know why. ;)

Wardrobe Wednesday

As you all know, it's important to dress for swing set construction. I'm sure you also know what a big help little ones are when building a swing set.

Home Sweet Home

I had something very different in mind for today’s post and then it happened. As I lay in bed late last night, I put my book down and grabbed the TV remote. I was in the mood for a little giggle and I have episodes of Friends always at the ready on my Tivo box. At the moment I pushed the power button everything turned off. Pretty powerful remote, huh?

At first we thought we lost power throughout the house. But when I got out of bed I noticed that I had forgotten to turn off the hall light. Hmmm….so we lost power in the bedroom and the other bedroom. I know this because I lost my internet connection and that’s where all that fancy computer stuff is.

My poor husband, after getting to bed way too late two nights in a row, finds himself out in the garage checking the breakers. Nothing was tripped. After investigating (saying he knows a thing or two about electrical is a colossal understatement) he has determined that something has burned out somewhere in the walls. At least I think that’s what he said. I, on the other hand, know nothing about electrical.

That’s what we get for moving into an old house that has been poorly maintained. Here I sit with extension cords running all over the house to keep things powered up so Princess and I can stay cozy in bed. Did I mention the lack of insulation and drafty windows?