Day 4: Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

Today was the day that I think I finally found my stride in this experiment. I bounced out of bed at 7:15, still groggy but not feeling as run down as day 1. Straight to the bathroom for a dab of makeup and more in time for making our breakfast. We sat down to a light but refreshing grapefruit and coffee. I saw hubby off and turned to see both my kiddos standing in the dining room. Wow! Even they are picking up on the new schedule.

While they played in the living room, I changed my clothes and then proceeded to cover up my clothes as I was going to tackle laundry and the oven today. I was actually going to attempt to tackle the whole kitchen but let's just say, the oven kicked my butt. I am quite embarrassed to post the before picture of the inside of my oven which I have never really given a great scrub. And don't mind the baking soda covered photo. I realized I should take a photo half way in. Yes, how embarrassing. I had already scrubbed a bit of grease off of the window. It was that disgusting.

I had to break half way through as I was 2.5 hours in and had to get dinner started and lunch on the table. But after lunch I got back at it and finally saw some success about 2 more hours later. I cleaned it using only baking soda, vinegar and some scouring pads. What a difference some elbow grease and a scouring pad makes! Hopefully after another scrub next week it will be somewhere near perfect.

I managed to also clean the exterior of the oven, moved the oven and cleaned the floor under and around it and got through cleaning out half of the cabinets in the kitchen. I was able to find some unneeded items in the cabinets and got the shelves cleaned and doors washed down as well. It is nice to finally see some progress. I am hoping to finish the kitchen tomorrow. I also sincerely hope that once I get a good scrub down on everything in the house than things will move faster in the following weeks as I re-cycle through scrub downs. 

Things I learned today: scouring pads are my new best friend and that the crock pot is still one of my favorite appliances in my house (sorry I know it wasn't introduced until 1970 but it is my key to sanity on busy days). But I also learned that those headscarves women wore in the '50s were not just a hair accessory. After an hour of cleaning and fighting loose hairs that kept falling into a dirty, greasy, sudsy mess in the oven I ran and grabbed my scarf I had found at an estate sale (I think it was 50 cents or less) and tied it up around my head. Not only did it add a nice pop of color to my outfit but it saved my hair from needing to be washed before dinner time! 

I finished, folded, and put away 4 loads of laundry in between scrubbing and managed to have dinner on the table shortly after the hubby returned from work. And it was a vintage inspired meal, some delicious salisbury steak over mashed potatoes with some cheesy green bean casserole on the side. The hubby loved it so much he asked me to keep it in the rotation.

For dessert, we are going to dig into that practice cake (sorry still can't share pictures)!