An Ode to Cleaning

Today was a sad day for me as I watched friends leave to re-start their lives in Utah...

I decided since I was up and somewhat caffeinated, I would clean my bathroom... since it's been needing a good cleaning for a while now and I haven't done it because, "It's our bathroom- no one uses it but us."

The ceiling of our bathroom has had small specks of mold growing on it since we bought the house. We figured it was no big deal- we'd clean it and all would be fine. Well, we never cleaned it and it didn't seem to get any worse. Then, our bathroom fan stopped working and we noticed it got worse, especially after the wedding. So today, I decided to scrub the ceiling with this mold cleaner stuff (it also prevents new mold from growing). I got most of it off with my little scrubber, but not all of it because of the stupid texture on the ceiling... the mold liked the small, tiny crevices in the ceiling texture. Imagine that.

Every time I clean or Sam goes to fix something, we discover something new that the previous owners attempted to fix or change... but they FAILED... miserably. If these people actually think they "fixed" the house, they are sadly mistaken and they need to be blacklisted from ALL home improvement stores across the nation. He/She/They SUCK at do-it-yourself stuff. Anyway...

I cleaned the ceiling. Check. Then, I decided it was time to tackle the shower. We apparently have very "rusty" water in Portland because we have a beautiful, reddish shower. Yay. I grabbed the Mr. Clean and a sponge and tackled that. While cleaning, I noticed that the seal around the shower wasn't really there anymore... it had been scrubbed away. Weird, right? Nope... not when you consider the idiots who most likely put the seal down in the first place. I'm glad we bought some tub/shower caulk at Home Depot the other day...!

I cleaned the shower. Check. Then, I thought it would be good to clean the floor... until I remembered that's the LAST thing I should clean because I don't want to get my dirty, wet feet all over a nice, clean floor. So, I decided to clean the toilet instead. I grabbed the blue goo and squirted it around the bowl and then I grabbed my all-natural cleaner to wipe down the outside. As I was cleaning, I noticed the toilet tank was very wet... I kept cleaning. I thought, "Well, if the front of the tank is this wet, I wonder how wet the bottom of the tank is..." And honestly, I could have lived without knowing the answer to that thought.

OMG HOLY BLACK MOLD, BATMAN! GROSS!

It's everywhere. All under the tank, along the hose that leads to the wall... it was even dripping onto the floor, hence why our floor tiles have been kinda damp and seeping water between the cracks... also why our floor looked so dirty behind the toilet and why I thought, "No one uses this bathroom but us so why clean it?"

Yes, ANOTHER thing those people messed up... they never sealed the peel-n-stick floor tiles... they just simply peeled-n-sticked. Nice, eh? So now the sticky is lifting up because there's water underneath... and probably mold, too. GROSS! Anyway...

When I saw the gross blackness that used to be a white paper towel... I looked under the toilet tank and saw the most disgusting thing I've seen in a while. I threw the paper towel in the trash and started cleaning the floor. F*ck it. I just want a new toilet at this point. This is ridiculous... I'm not cleaning that and I know Sam definitely isn't going to. I scrubbed the inside of the toilet bowl and called it a day.

I cleaned the floor. Check. Then, I decided to scrape off the remaining border (and glue) in the bathroom. I sprayed on that fancy blue enzyme stuff and let it sit for a while. In the meantime, I took apart the behind-the-toilet shelf thing that we've been using as a towel rack. My eventual task: take down that HUGE mirror (it's a TINY bathroom, you didn't fool anyone) and put in towel racks, after painting of course. After that thing was in the garage, I went back to scrape off the border. In the process, I noticed I was scraping off PAINT... and a little bit of the actual wall, too!

Yes, another fun fact about this house: These people also had NO idea how to paint, let it dry, and then do something. They also had NO idea how to use wallpaper, borders, or wallpaper glue/paste. Combine the two and that's what had happened in our bathroom. We found out about the wallpaper paste when we tore down the butcher paper in the back bedroom... and we found out they don't like to let things dry before doing something else, also in the back bedroom when we found butcher paper glued to the drywall tape/putty. Time for round 2 in our bathroom, I guess. Anyway...

I got off what I could of the remaining border and glue and left the rest to be sanded. I cleaned the sink, the counter, and the mirror and I was DONE. Then I looked to my right and noticed the medicine cabinet mirror... it was a little dirty, so I cleaned that too... only to find out that the color of the wood was rubbing off with the glass cleaner... and there was rust on the hinges.

Again, WHY would you put metal hinges in a bathroom that you KNOW has water/dampness issues... and why a wooden medicine cabinet that will eventually warp, especially if the wood wasn't properly stained and sealed? /sigh If I see either of the two jerks who "fixed" this house, I'm going to ask them, "What the F*CK were you thinking?!!" Anyway...

I was DONE. Really done. Finished.
I thought I'd go into the hall bathroom and clean that as well. I grabbed all the towels, bathmats, and other assorted things and started a load of laundry. I headed back to the bathroom and thought I'd start with the toilet and clean from there... maybe the floor and later the sink and counter. As I'm cleaning, I notice a LOT of water behind the toilet... so I look... and BOOM!

More delicious black mold... and not just mold, but wet, dripping, gross black mold. Yum.

I didn't even wipe it off. F*ck it. Again, I want a new toilet. I'm not cleaning that- it's worse than in our bathroom (believe it or not, it is)...!! I cleaned the floor and the sink and I got out of there. I cannot believe that BOTH toilets have black mold growing under the toilet tanks! YUCK!


Needless to say, I am done cleaning for now. I might clean more tomorrow, but for now... I'm done. We'll see what Sam says when he comes home tonight and sees the science experiment gone wrong that's under our toilet.



On another note, our house guests left this morning for Utah. A friend of ours and her daughter were staying with us for a week or so until they got their feet on the ground. I'm glad we were able to help them when they needed it most. I was sad to see them go, but I know they're going somewhere more stable than where they've been and they NEED that right now... and they'll have a dog. :) hehe Not only that, but it will give the daughter an opportunity to finish high school and prepare for COLLEGE... I hope she listened to what I had to say about that. Just remember- Portland has some pretty awesome colleges. ;) It will also give her mom a chance to find a job (hopefully) and be able to get her independence back.

I love you both and I wish you both the very, very best.
You know you'll always have a home in Portland with us.
*hugs*