The Great Clean-up was successful (pretty much) and we are well on our way to moving in by the end of the month. This deadline is set in stone since our first mortgage payment is due Nov. 1st so unless we want to pay rent AND mortgage we must be out of our apartment by October 31st.

In order to affect the clean-up we rented a dumpster. The dumpster was a 30 yarder (5� x 6� x 16�) and we filled it. I am still stunned at the volume of trash left by the homeowner. The garage was putrid. The homeowner dumped the contents of her refrigerator and possibly her freezer in the garage. There had been thousand of maggots at one time since I found the shells of their pupas all over. I wore a dust respirator but it was my ability to breath through my mouth consistently (learned when I had to wear a heavy duty respirator) that gave me the edge in the cleaning of the space. I wish I could have laid my hands on my respirator (I have one from a job I held long ago. Wow, 10 years already.) I am still working to remove the odor that clings to the concrete. Eventually we will seal the floor with concrete and masonry paint so worse case it will smell until we can get that done.

The odor in the house persists despite the removal of the rugs. Some of the smell is associated with mildewed fiberglass insulation in the crawl space. Removal of which should get rid of that smell. We will prime and seal the walls and floors which should take care of any lingering smell. This woman was dirty. I would think that the mess was due to her anger at having to allow the bank to take her home but after careful inspection we can only conclude that she wasn�t keen on cleaning. According to the realtor she maintained 26 gardens and planted more than 2000 bulbs. I guess that doesn�t leave much time for keeping your house clean. After I finished in the garage I started cleaning the kitchen. It took me nearly an hour to clean four cupboards (the pull out drawer style). They were disgusting. I suspect that I will be cleaning the kitchen right up until we move in.

The bathroom is also nasty. I have done my first cleaning pass and I swear you you realy can�t tell. I am a really good cleaner and I know it will take a Herculean effort to get the bath useable. My Darling didn�t realize how bad it was and I had to reassure him that I can get it reasonable so we can take our time with the plan to remodel the space. We plan to split the space into a family bath and master bath with shower. I believe the investment will pay off should we sell the place and even if we don�t since we have been spoiled with two bathrooms in our past two apartments. The only thing that will assist us in sharing a bath is the fact that we ready for work at different times. I love my Darling but I don�t want to share a bathroom with him.

Yesterday I washed the walls in the three bedrooms and removed the wall borders that adorn each of the rooms. She was fond of borders evidently. I have a wonderful trick gleaned from my many hours watching the HDTV. I can testify that a solution of 50/50 fabric softener (I got the cheapest I could find) will allow you to peal the paper off with minimal effort. One of the borders fought me but I won. My Darling painted the ceilings in two of the bedrooms so today I will shoot for the third bedroom, bath and hallway. When my Darling gets out of work he will join me and with luck he can paint the living room and kitchen ceilings. Next we will prime the walls and sub-floor. The priming of the sub-floor is to reduce the possibility of any odor returning in the future (say on a hot and humid day).

The painting needs to be done this week because next week we will carpet. The only other repairs required are the replacement of the windows and chlorination of the well.

At the moment it seems like way too much work to accomplish in such a short time. I am trying to care for a baby and complete the tasks I set for myself. I am the one who has the time but I must also balance that with my limitations and my attention to Baby Boy. At least the place is clean enough to take him with me. Of course there is the problem of him being fussy while I�m trying to work. It�s funny how he is so much better when My Darling is around. If I were paranoid I would think Baby Boy doesn�t like me as much as he likes his Daddy. Then again some days Baby Boy only settles down when Mommy cuddles him. I still worry about being a good Mom which I suppose I will on and off for the rest of my life. My Mom still talks about her regrets and what she would do differently now. She and I have resolved our past and I feel closer to her now than ever.

Well I have burned enough work time. I need to get on over to the house and see how much I can accomplish today.

Take care.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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