Monday, July 16

So. It was Monday. Strangely enough, it was also hot. I hear there are a few forest fires in our area now as a thunderstorm went through on the weekend but we didn't get rain. (This was while we were camping.) Lightning strikes when it is this dry? Yeah. Fire. Rumor has it that we are due for a cool-down in the next few days. I can hardly wait.

Breakfast: fruit salad, Fiber One, vanilla yogurt, mocha (I keep telling you I don't like to think first thing in the morning. Maybe by now you believe me!)

Off to Curves over lunch hour. That is the only place I weigh myself: 142#. Sometimes I go before work and sometimes at lunch hour (but before I eat) so that makes a difference to the poundage also. The Curves is air-conditioned but of course I still work up a sweat (otherwise what's the point?) and then I am over-heated for the afternoon. Of course, I'm over-heated anyway.

Lunch: one can of broth-based tuna (half-fat mayo, dill pickle), 3 Wasa crackers, a handful of snap peas, a handful of fresh cherries. Mmmmm. Chocolate later on :) I mean, they do say that a bit of dark chocolate is good for a person. I usually eat 2 squares of Lindt Ecuadoran chocolate which is 75% cocoa I think.

Supper: I stir-fried onion, mushrooms, garlic, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, garlic, shrimp, and spinach. Dash of s&p and lemon juice.

I baked banana muffins in the evening (recipe on the forum), using half sugar half splenda and half white flour and half whole wheat. I ate 2 and froze the rest. Now I have snacks for after Aquafit when I am starving! Speaking of Aquafit, I ordered a new swimsuit from the Sears catalogue. My current tankini has a halter top and that just isn't working well for exercising. I'll still use it up the lake, but I need something that doesn't cut into my neck for in the pool. It's been really annoying.

FlyLady says this week is bathroom week. I hate my bathroom, but not as bad as when we moved in seven years ago (SEVEN??? How did that happen?) I did paint it six years ago, including the worn-out lino floor, and put in an old secretary desk for storage (next to the 24" vanity) where my MIL used to keep a wringer washer back in the day. I also bought a couple little wall drawer thingies from Ikea and painted them up in a garden theme and hubby mounted a picket fence for hanging wet towels. I'm getting tired of the whole look again but not really ready to deal with it. The claw-foot tub seriously needs to be sent out to be refinished; it's in bad shape. Maybe this fall.

But Monday evening my gaze fell upon the bathroom sink. Now FlyLady is all about polishing (!) the kitchen sink, and my kitchen sink was brand new in May so it hadn't accumulated a lot of crap yet. And besides, I've been ignoring the polishing bit and settling for keeping it empty of dirty dishes. But the bathroom sink has been in place for 30 years. It is a one-piece gold-colored ceramic sink/ counter combo--not that there is a counter to speak of in 24" (hence the secretary desk!). And I was pretty certain that the *stuff* around the faucet was from the silicone that had been used to mount the taps in the first place. It certainly hadn't ever hinted at being removable in previous *attempts* to clean.

But maybe I could make it look better if I really tried. At least remove the brown/ black color in favor of what silicone would be. I found an old flat knife and started chipping. It made a wee difference. I could see it was going to take FOREVER so I ran and set the timer for FlyLady's magic 15 minutes. That's what I was going to give it, no more. In 13 minutes--with much scraping and SOSing--I pretty much had a new set of faucets. Now the sink ledge is gold right up to the shiny chrome. Duh. I've been living with that grime for seven years????

FlyLady is also in the office this week, so I went and looked at my computer desk (which is in a corner of my living room). It hasn't gotten cluttered since my marathon cleaning two weeks ago, so I sat down at the computer and began working on FlyLady's Control Journal stuff. Some of it I have already been doing, but it will be a little more complete now.

At bedtime, after making sure breakfast, lunch and supper were prepped, I looked at my kitchen sink and I thought, what the heck. I could polish this baby too. So I did!