Last year I initiated Operation: Manhattan, made only five entries about how I cleared up the master bedroom (now about half undone) and some progress on the guest bathroom. Then…it fizzled out as I got sidetracked with my last entry being the new fridge. I should’ve also included the new roof as a part of this. Obviously not much was going to happen by late May when I met Jennifer.
After the Vegas trip, we had a nice debate at the pool. Given that the Austin area’s housing prices shot up 29% despite the Pandemic (second highest in the US), we agreed on just keeping my house as the stronger Plan B, leaning on Plan A. I decided to go with her strategy of starting from the dining/kitchen area first.
Before
I did begin with the kitchen first because I wanted to have clean dishes and utensils. I’ve also been saving money by more and more lunches at home. I cleared out this one section to be the model of perfection I’m striving for.
Then I went full throttle with the dining area which Jennifer said I should use as my “base of operations” while I clear out the other rooms. As you see below, Agamemnon wanted to check out the new situation.
After
I did sweep and mop but you just cannot tell with this lame-ass flooring the house was built with. The bucket water was pretty gray so I know something was getting picked up. I do want recommend those Mr. Clean® Magic Erasers. Mucca Sacra! They can wipe out everything I threw at them but rust stains left by someone’s Elfa shelving that quickly devolved into a crap-gathering point for a short-lived cake-decorating side hustle.
It’s 90 percent done in my opinion. What remains would be replacement light bulbs for the fixture and new blinds. I will need to hire someone to do a deep, deep cleaning or replace the windows.
Next up, finishing the kitchen. Cleaning the stove top is easy. The microwave? I’m tempted to pitch it, get a new one! Thankfully the fridge is only a year old and I’ve never filled it up. I change out the baking soda every few weeks to keep out the funk.
Operation: Manhattan is back on track!