Playing Catch Up…part one

You may recall that one of my goals for 2012 was to participate in the 52 Weeks To An Organized Home challenge. Well, I haven’t done any of them. Oops. But hey, between doing the Mustache Party  and my kitchen turning into a war zone, I haven’t really been able to do some of them. And some of the ones I could have done would have been undone when the kitchen stuff happened anyway! That’s my rationalization anyway.

Now that the kitchen is done with, I am trying to get back into the challenge (which when I think about it seems pointless because of some things that are coming down the line, but I’ll talk about those if/when they happen). So here’s what I’ve missed and my catching up to the current challenge:

WEEK 1: Kitchen Organization–countertops and sink

This entailed decluttering the counters so there will be workable space by putting things away in the cabinets or just getting rid of whatever stuff that I’m not going to ever use; and making sure the sink is clear of dishes every day. The challenge really said “twice a day” but I’m not home all day, so once in the evening is enough for me.

My kitchen counters "before".

The sink "before".

My kitchen counters and sink "after" pix. (Oh those bottles in the window are fly traps, btw. We've been having a bit of a fruit fly problem. :/ )

I didn't quite get to the stools under that counter. BUT in my defense, I did NOT just put what was up on the counter in the stools. They were already like that. >.>

WEEK 2: Kitchen Drawers & Cabinet Organization

Decluttering the cabinets that I just cluttered up by clearing off my counters (in my opinion this one should have been before the previous; but since I’m playing catch up, I get to do all these in the order I want–muhahahahaha). My dish cabinets are pretty ok. It’s the cabinet that I keep the food things in that is a nightmare. And my two kitchen drawers are also horrifying…or at least they were!

My kitchen cabinets "before".

My kitchen cabinets "after".

WEEK 3: Organize Pantry, Spices and Food Storage

Ok, I didn’t do this one and here’s why: I don’t have a pantry. When I did the “Week 2″ challenge, I also did this one. In fact, you might have noticed some items in the “before” images that weren’t in the “after” ones; well, I did not just throw away those items. This post is pretty image heavy, and I decided to not post EVERY picture of my cabinets. So…moving on.

WEEK 4: Organizing Fridge and Freezer

This one called for taking everything out of both fridge and freezer; tossing what was gross; quickly scrubbing the inside of the fridge/freezer while everything was out of it; putting the good stuff back in but in a more organized manner. (There is some Food Waste Friday material from this challenge that you will see later). I actually didn’t do this task. I woke up Sunday morning to TGF doing it for me. He even took pics!

The fridge and freezer "before".

The freezer "after."

The fridge "after". It's so sad and empty.

WEEK 5: Organize Recipes and Cookbooks

Love this one. So easy and simple…sort of. The cook books part was easy. I saw a photo somewhere on the internet of someone with all her cookbooks on top of her fridge and I was all “GENIUS!” So, that’s what I did with my few cookbooks. The recipes though, that’s a project for another day really. Mainly because I cannot find my recipe box. >.>

The binders hold recipes, too.

WEEK 6: Create A Home Recycling Center

This one I feel like I could just go “check!” The recycling in my city doesn’t have us sort our own recycling. All paper, plastic and metal (no glass) go in the same bin. So I have a laundry basket set up by the front door that I put it all in and when it gets full I take it out to the bin.

WEEK 7: Coupons

Organizing my coupons! That I actually do cut out from the paper (or print from the internet)! And then never use!

WEEK 8: Meal Planning/Grocery Shopping

This one is all about deciding how often to meal plan, actually doing it and creating a grocery list from it. A while back, I created a binder that has tips on freezing foods, pantry staples to have on hand, and blank meal planning sheets. So I broke that out, sat down with TGF and made a meal plan for the following week (a few week backs, I should add–as you can see from the date in the photo). Then we made a grocery list and went to the store. I think this will become a weekly activity for us (the meal planning, we already grocery shop weekly).

WEEK 9: Addresses/Contact Information

I’m glad this task is on the list, because it is definitely something I need to do. I have to text my mom for addresses all the time. With that said, I’m still slowly finding all the addresses I want to have at hand, so this one is a work in progress.

WEEK 10: Create A Home Mail Organizing Center

I had a desk caddy thingie already that I used to hold junk. I just cleared off a spot on my counter and started using it for mail. I don’t get a lot of mail, and what I do get is mostly junk; but what I do get, it would be nice to not have it just tossed on the counter or in the wicker catch-all basket. Plus, it has a spot that I can put my keys in too.

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I am in no way caught up yet, but it is a start. Next week, I’ll hopefully be caught up even more and will share more progress with you.

The Hole In My Heart…er, Ceiling

Almost a month ago, a water bubble formed in the ceiling in my kitchen. I live downstairs with my friends/landlords living above. I’ve had water bubbles form in the ceiling in my bathroom a couple of times as well as the occasional just full blown leak in there too, but this was the first for the kitchen. When it would happen in the bathroom, it would stop and they would reseal their tub. No big deal. The hole in my kitchen never stopped leaking. So, three weeks ago they looked at it. They had to get a plumber to look at it and I had to live with a hole in my kitchen ceiling for a week. Sometimes it would drip and I had to leave it open with a bucket under it, other times I could cover it with plastic and try to ignore it (which is good, because Mr. Tom Collins–my cat–started to try to jump into the hole from the fridge). It was inconvenient to try and cook as the hole was directly in front of the stove/oven which meant that when it was open I was always at risk of getting nasty water on me and my food; actually, not just water because every time someone upstairs would walk too close to where the hole was, all the insulation and plaster would fall with every footstep. And the flies. OH THE FLIES. It took me a few days to realize that the flies that were taking over my apartment were coming from the hole (though it did “inspire” that craft post a few weeks ago).

The weekend after the hole being put in my ceiling was Comic Con (there will be a post about the Con next week!) and also the weekend that my toilet stopped working. I woke up that Saturday, peed and when I flushed this loud gurgling sound came from my shower drain. I checked it out and saw nothing, so I went back to bed. I was thinking that I would just go get something to possibly unclog my toilet and/or shower when the toilet upstairs flushed (I can hear the water rushing through the pipes when they flush). Moments later, my shower gurgles again. I look it up on the internet and EVERY SITE tells me that is a “vent pipe” issue. I have no clue what this means really, but I do know it means I can’t fix it myself. So I let my friend-lords know. One of them comes down and tries plunging the toilet (which we already tried, but it never hurts to try again, I guess). I tell him what the internet told me, and he tells me that the very pipe that is the problem in my kitchen ceiling is the vent pipe. They call the plumber and The Gentleman Friend and I go off to the Con.

The plumber claims that he found wet wipes all up in my toilet pipes. I am a bit miffed at this accusation because I am seriously OCD about what gets flushed in the toilet. I don’t use tampons (TMI, I know), I fuss if it looks like someone is even thinking about flushing a q-tip, and I won’t even flush hair from my hairbrush down the toilet. The Gentleman Friend is, I’m sure, tired of me bugging him about this OCD as well (“What are you doing in the bathroom? Are you flushing something?” “Yes, I just blew my nose on some toilet paper and flushed it.” “Oh…ok. Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”). However, my friends don’t know this about me, so I can’t blame them for questioning my flushing tendencies. However, I honestly tell them what I have used wet wipes for (and really, I bought some and used them a few times and forgot about them–BUT they were out, which makes me think the plumber was just using them as an “answer” to the problem) because I really don’t want them to think I am irresponsible about flushing things. I won’t post what I told them, because as my friend told me “OMG that is TMI” and it really is, but honesty is the best policy right? Whatever. The toilet got fixed and I got a nasty shower to clean. Repeatedly. (On that point, I also refused to let The Gentleman Friend turn on the shower till all the crap  that came up when it backed up in there was scooped out, because I didn’t want it to go back down the drain and cause more issues later)

I didn't get a picture of the shower when it was full of brown water and this doesn't even really show you how gross it was in there. Probably for the best, since I don't necessarily want to gross you all out.

Then, two weeks ago, I was told that the plumber had to order a part and it would be there on Monday (January 30). When Monday came around, I was told that the hole was going to be made a heck of a lot bigger and they wouldn’t know how long it was going to take till the plumber looked at the pipes again. Also, now I really wasn’t going to be able to use my kitchen. I wanted to cry. I was tight on funds and really couldn’t afford to eat out every night till the problem was fixed. I had to spend my day at work that Monday trying to keep it together.

The start of the opening.

The opening goes all the way to the back wall. (I pulled down the plastic for the pic, btw) Since these photos were taken, however, the hole was made much bigger.

This is what I came home to that Monday. My friend-lords were in my apartment. I got the feeling they were mad at me but it could have just been frustration for the whole plumbing thing. The plumber would be coming out the next day and then they would know more about how long it would take. After they left, I just sat on the floor and cried. Not so much for the complete lack of ceiling in my kitchen and unsure finish date but because of some things my friend said to me about The Gentleman Friend being over all the time. I mean, I bawled and when TGF came over to get me to go to dinner with my mom, he felt like everything was his fault. We were both in the pits. But that’s not what this post is about…sorry, I got sidetracked.

Anyway, Tuesday the plumber came and assessed the situation. Wednesday the pipes were replaced. Thursday they did leak checks (oh and now my living room is completely covered in tarps) and said they had to leave the ceiling open for another whole week just to be sure and to air it out. I spent most of that week living solely in my bedroom, which is full of my kitchen stuff, and now had to spend yet another week living the same way.

:(

The plumber came out mid-week last week and said everything looked good, but my friend-lords want to wait till one of them can be here while they patch the ceiling. So now, I just get to wait with a giant hole in my ceiling. Fun times.