NaBloCleanPoMo Day #4 Marble Entry

Tonight was my normal house cleaning time...bathrooms, vacuum, mop, etc.  While I was in scrubbing and cleaning mode, I decided to scrub our marble entry.

The poor entry will never be back at it's former glory...as with many homes in our neighborhood, it was turned into apartments back in the 40s, and the entry was never really properly cared for.

But, a good scrub now and then does at least keep it somewhat clean.

Before

Cleaning tools: a rag, scrub brush, and soapy water

Not too much of a difference, other than that the colors are brighter

But at least I got up some of the dirt that we track in on a day to day basis.

NaBloCleanPoMo Day #3 Gift Cards

Tonight I didn't have too much time to clean/blog between Church Choir and Owl Bar.  So I picked an easy task...organizing the gift cards we have left over from wedding stuff, etc.  Not exciting at all, but something that needed to be done.

Gift Cards before

Gift Cards after

Let the spending begin!

NaBloCleanPoMo Day #2 The Tub

As I've written before, one of my favorite things about our house is the claw foot tub in the Master Bathroom.  I am an avid bath taker, and this tub speaks to me!  Over the past year, though...after getting lots of use, I started noticing that there was a stained "ring" around the bottom of the tub.  I'm used to rings around the top, but these were stains that didn't go away with my regular lysol scrub.

So, today, I bought some soft scrub to try and get rid of the stains.  It worked like a charm!

It's hard to see in this picture, but the stained ring is around the bottom of the tub.

A closer look at the stubborn stains

My scrubbing tools

After...no more stains!

After close-up

So again for comparison....

Before...

...and After!

So while not a very exciting transformation, it is great to have an easy cleaning project that only took about 10 minutes, and makes a difference in the everyday cleanliness of my life.

NaBloCleanPoMo Day #1 Magic Erase the Wall

One of the things that I have had to adjust to most in our new house is having dogs.  I love the dogs, don't get me wrong, but dogs are much harder to clean up after.  Thankfully, J takes care of the grossest clean up (poop scooping), but vacuuming and keeping things in the house clean usually fall to me.  I've mostly gotten a handle on managing dog hair in the house (by realizing that I will never win the War against dog hair...but I can win battles!), but one thing that still baffles me is the dirt on the walls.  Ok, it's not too baffling, since I know Felina rubs up against the wall ALL the time.

She is an itchy dog, and I think she thinks the wall scratches her.  It also deposits lovely dirt from the baseboard up to where the top of her back hits the wall.  Case in point:

Of course, when I am home and see her walk back and forth rubbing on the wall, I scold her.  But, I have visions that as soon as we leave the house, she spends her day walking up and down the wall.  Probably not, but it sure looks like it.  As I was cleaning the wall tonight, I remembered that when we were giving the dogs a bath this week, I wondered why Felina wasn't as dirty as Kyra.  As I was cleaning the wall, I realized that Felina probably deposits her dirt on the wall each day!

The only thing I've found that helps get rid of the dirt is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  It isn't perfect, but it helps.  I know eventually I'll probably rub most of the paint off the wall trying to get it clean, but the walls need to be painted in a few years anyway!

Here is a wide angle view of the wall:

So I got out my trusty Magic Eraser and went to work.

Yuck!

Felina was no help.  I think she was looking at me thinking, "As soon as you're done, I'm rubbing up against that wall again!"

And the finished product.  It is still drying a bit in this photo, but I do think I will need to go back over it at some point.  Maybe tomorrow.  But, it is much better than before!  For comparison again...

Before...

And after!

Thus completes NaBloCleanPoMo Day #1!  Stay tuned for tomorrow's project...

November's NaBloCleanPoMo

For those of you who don't know, November is National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo).  The challenge is to write a blog post everyday for a month.  I actually tried to complete NaBloPoMo a few years ago.  Surprise... I didn't succeed!  But with my recent 30 day exercise challenge success, I feel ready to tackle another "Every day for a month" challenge.  Since I haven't been too successful at the yearly challenges...ahem....365 day...fail, I thought I'd try to stick with a 30 day challenge.  Although, my husband has informed me that the new standard is it takes 40 days to create a habit, not 30.  This as he comes to the end of his own exercise-every-day-for-30-days-challenge.

Anyway, I thought it would be helpful to put a different spin on posting everyday for a month and add a home improvement component.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I stole this idea from a friend who did it a few years ago).  I love reading blogs with before and after photos of house projects like Young House Love, and improve-your-house-and-life projects like the 20/20 Cure so I figured I'd try my own hand at it for a month. 

However, there are not that many non-expensive projects I can complete and blog about everyday for a month.  So, my projects will be cleaning projects.  I have house guests coming for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and while my house is fairly organized and clean, it could certainly be more so.  And bringing out Christmas decorations has the tendency to make surfaces look more cluttered, so I'm guessing getting rid of the bits of actual clutter that are there will improve things!

I feel like I've finally gotten a handle on managing our large, lovely, old Victorian house.  Old houses get dirty fast!  And with so much space, clutter builds up in a heartbeat.  If I don't vacuum at least weekly (and preferably twice a week), dog hair tumbleweeds start making their way down our hallways.  I was used to a small 3 bedroom house...then a 1 bedroom apartment...and then a townhouse.  Going from 1500 square feet with 2 people and 2 kitties (and a roommate who did most of the cleaning)...to 3300 square feet with 2 people, 2 LARGE dogs, and ME doing most of the cleaning was an adjustment.

I also really love the idea of doing a cleaning task each day.  Though, it's difficult on days I have rehearsal and leave the house at 7:30 or 8 AM and arrive home at 10:45 PM.  But I'm gonna do my best!  I think I will always have one day a week where I do a big 2-3 hour clean of the house, but I want to get used to doing one extra task a day as well.  I've made a list of every little random cleaning and organizing project in the house I could think of, and I came up with 25.  I'm sure I'll come up with others as the month goes on.  I have tasks like scrub our marble entrance, organize my closet, and wash my cashmere sweaters on the list.

It's gonna be fun.  I'll be completing a project a day, taking pictures, and posting about the project.  So tomorrow, look for the first NaBloCleanPoMo post.  Anyone else want to join me?

Making Progress

5. Workout everyday for a month

This was my goal for the month of September.

Frankly, this is one I didn't think I would ever complete!  Some weeks I find it difficult enough to get 3 runs in...much less some form of exercise every day.  But, moving into my new office and having a free gym less than 100 steps from my desk made all the difference.

My main rule was that the "exercise" had to be at least 30 minutes of some form of cardio.  In order to not kill my body (and mind), I deemed that walking could count.   I ran at least 3 times a week, got on the elliptical about 2 times per week, and walked the rest of the time.  I tried to save walking for days that I was at my house and didn't have access to the office gym.  The toughest day was the day I walked 30 minutes in the pouring rain.  For some reason, it's easier for me to run in the rain than walk.  Maybe because I feel more hardcore.

I'd love to say that after exercising every day for a month I've lost weight.  Sadly, that is not the case.  I'm about the same as I was at the beginning of September.  However, I seem to have leveled out the steady gain I had been working on since this time last year.  And, I have noticed other benefits to my efforts.  I feel fitter, I'm sleeping better, I also feel more disciplined and happier with my body (even thought I didn't lose any weight).  And, duh...my blood pressure and resting heart rate have dropped.

I have to say, some days it was really hard to go exercise, and it was only not breaking my streak that got me out there.  So, while one of my goals was to create a habit of exercising every day, I think I need the freedom to occasionally say, "You know what, I just can't do it today".  And that is ok.  However, I'd like to maintain a habit of exercising 5 days week.  Mon-Thurs at the office, and Saturday (or Sunday) long runs.  J and I have bought a treadmill for our house, so that should help as well.  My goal is to run my normal 3 days a week, and cross train the other 2.  I think I also want to start back up with some weight training 3 of the 5 days.

So while I won't be as regimented as I was in September, I want to still reap the benefits of creating this habit!

Another Item Crossed Off the "Life" List...

43. Make a Great Latte

When I envisioned crossing off #43, I thought I would have to buy a good quality espresso machine and learn how to steam/froth milk.

NOT. SO.

My new office has many amenities...an awesome gym, unlimited candy, many "hip" places to sit, read, and work...but my favorite by far is the espresso machine.  When I heard that there would be an auto-espresso machine in the Coffee Shop of our new office, I imagined it would be one of those gas station "cappucino" machines that puts out a sickly sweet mix of milk, coffee flavoring, and sugar...calling itself "French Vanilla Cappucino".  Yuck.

NOT. SO.

The machine (from which we can get unlimited drinks FOR FREE) is La Cimbali Q10.  One of the better auto-espresso machines out there.  The price tag is on up there for this gem, but well worth it (especially when I didn't buy it!).  And it makes a fabulous latte.  Much better than Starbucks...and some other coffee chains.  The espresso is smooth, the milk perfectly foamy...yum.

So, while all I do is press a button.  I'm still "making" the latte.  And as long as I'm at my current job with this machine in my life...I don't think I'll be trying to make my own latte by hand any time soon.  So, I'm counting it.