Thursday, January 21, 2010

Day 219-Day 220: Are We There Yet?

Word to the wise: please get your home renovations done on time and way before you plan to sell your home. This week has been so exhausting. Every night I fall asleep quickly and soundly, and when Andrew's alarm goes off for work, my eyes take their time to open.

Our project list is dwindling, thank goodness. At the start of this week we had to finish our baseboard installation, paint those nail holes and doors, clean out the tub, and clean the basement. Last night Andrew finished the baseboards (yay!) and yesterday I spent 10 hours cleaning the tub. It started out innocently enough. I've been using industrial cleaners to melt away all the years and years of soap scum that has just been washed, but never removed really. Using a tile and grout cleaner finally proved to be the best. I scrubbed that grout for two hours, getting all the black stains from the corners. Yeah, the mildew is a never ending battle that was here since we moved in and I never had the ability to ever remove it and stains properly. I was feeling pretty good with myself at a nice job I had done. It wasn't looking brand new, but then again this house is 21 years old.

There were a few bits of the grout that had chipped away. I tried raking more of the stained parts. I ended up with a few areas that needed re-grouting. You know, not mixing with the bucket and troweling grout work--just premixed out of a tube, small areas. I began fixing these little areas and noticed my nice new clean white grout sticking out on a bed of yellowing old grout. I couldn't live with that. Tube and me spent the rest of the day going over every line, making the walls of that tub sparkle. I've never seen our tub area shine that white as it shines right now, and I hate myself for it. I could have left the tub hours and hours before, having the minor work on it completed. It was fine. Our house is 21 years old. Now my tub looks brand new. My only hope is that it was worth it in the end. I'm not going to lie--it's amazing how a few dollars of grout in a tube can transform the look and feel of the entire bathroom. 'But it took my whole day, an achy wrist from scrubbing, and bruised sit bones from getting up and down from the side of the tub all day and putting pressure on a small part of my behind. I definitely had a workout!

All that's left is to paint our interior doors, and clean up all the clutter in the basement. We have today and Friday to finish, then our realtor comes on Saturday to take pictures and have us legally selling our home. It's an exciting time and although we don't have a huge to-do list anymore, the 2 things we have to do will take us the entire time to finish. sigh

Deep breaths, LOTS of music, and plenty of breaks. It seems never ending, but I think signing our house away means the end is near...?

-e

-Meals
1 4 oz ground beef patty
1 white bread bun
1 slice cheese
a couple slices of lettuce, tomato, white onion
1 TBSP mayo
1.5 cups strawberries
1 York peppermint 100 calorie sticks
2 cups of water

to be continued

-Exercise
-Notes
I know everyone will hate me for this, but we've been eating out fast food nearly all week. I know I should be taking care of my diet, but I'm in an old habit of getting what's quick and easy when I'm so stressed and there's no time to cook. Honestly, I know this is the excuse, but there is NO time to cook. I'm allowing life to get in the way. At least I realize it and it's only a week.
I cancelled both of my personal training sessions this week, and haven't gone to the gym at all either. I guess it's okay when I make up for it by spending 10 hours cleaning and re-grouting a tub.