A Pinterest win

The master bathroom in our new house is a good size.  The master shower is a GREAT size…except when it’s time to clean it.  Ugh, so many tiles, so much glass, so much surface area for soap scum to stick to.

Our bathroom is always the last place to be cleaned.  Not because it doesn’t need it, but typically because it needs it the most and that’s just no fun.  So I put it off and put it off until I just can’t anymore.  I’m hoping my new cleaner and method will help make the job a little easier and therefore I won’t dread it as much so it’ll get done more often so it won’t get as yucky.  That’s a lot of pressure to put on one little scrubber, but I think it’s up to the task.

I got one of those refillable wand sponge scrubbers like you’d find in the kitchen.  I used equal (to the best of my ability) parts blue Dawn and distilled white vinegar.  Then, I scrubbed.  I did the tiles first and because they weren’t pink or overly scummy, they didn’t impress me right of the bat.  I mean, I assumed they were getting clean, but it just wasn’t a jaw-dropping before-and-after experience.  What was noticeably different from when I use the bathroom cleaner is that I wasn’t being asphyxiated by the fumes and that was a major plus in favor of this simple cleanser.

Holding the scrubber by the handle was more comfortable, too, so there’re two ticks in the “pro” column.

Okay, so onto the glass.  This is where the scum showed up the most.  I’ve scrubbed it away as best as I could once, and we used the squeegee for a week or so afterward to help keep the glass clean, but I knew that wasn’t a habit that was going to stick.  When I cleaned the glass the time before, I swear I used half a bottle of that noxious mold and mildew bathroom cleaner and enough elbow grease to scrub off the top layer of glass.  But guess what?  The glass looked better, but not as good as I expected considering my efforts.

Fast-forward to Sunday.  I used the scrubber all over the glass, pressing enough to get the job done but I wasn’t bearing down more than necessary.  I rinsed the soap off and voila!  Perfectly clean glass!  I really was expecting to be at least a little disappointed, but this stuff worked!  Simple ingredients + a simple tool = a perfect combination.

Before

After

I admit I’m not totally sold yet because I want to see how long the cleanliness lasts.  Is there something in the bathroom cleaner that keeps future scum at bay a little longer?  Honestly, even if that’s the case, cleaning the shower with these ingredients and tool was so much more enjoyable that I won’t mind having to do it more often, which means just doing it on a regular basis since I already admitted to going too long in between scourings.

{Inspiration site}

Our weekend + a recipe

Another weekend on the books and it was a good one.

We had the Fall Festival at Connor’s daycare on Saturday and unlike most Saturdays in recent memory, the weather was perfect.  Connor’s class and one other sat in a semi-circle while their teachers sang a song.  Connor had some performance anxiety but luckily the McHusband was there to help.

Other than those few minutes of unhappiness, Connor had a blast and we appreciated the school coming together on a weekend for all of their attendees’ and their families.

Connor’s school is only a mile or so from our house and since the festival took place at the same time as my normal Saturday-morning class at the Y, I decided to run home afterward.  It was a great afternoon for it and I was very glad it worked out for me to “do it all” that morning.

When I got home, the McHusband was talking to the buyer of the Magnum, who eventually drove away in the car.  He is on a roll with the sale of our cars since this is the third time the first person to look at and drive the car has bought it.

We went to a couples’ baby shower Saturday evening and were home in time to Connor to bed at his normal time, and then I pretty much went to bed at my normal weeknight time as well.  I was tired and looked forward to catching up on my sleep a little.

Sunday was our day to play catch-up from all the playing we did on Saturday.  Connor and I got groceries, then while he napped I tried a Pinterest tip for cleaning my shower.  More on how that worked out soon.

Connor has decided that his favorite snack – or “nack” as he calls it – is raisins straight from the container.  So, yeah, keep that in mind if you come over here and we offer you some.

He had to fuel up for all his yardwork.  As soon as he heard the McHusband start up his mower, he got excited and ran to the door to the garage yelling, “Guide!” which is how he says “outside.”  Luckily the McHusband just so happened to be in need of an apprentice.

While the boys used the mower to move leaves off the grass and into the natural areas, I did some cleaning inside.  I don’t have good toy storage in the den yet so I am struggling with having them all just kinda piled in the corner.  I do have a basket, but what happens is Connor only plays with what’s showing. So I went through the basket and took some meant for younger kids out and put some others on a table in the den so Connor will see them and can easily access them.

Finally, we wrapped up our day with this Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole, which was very good.  I’m already looking forward to my leftovers for lunch today!

So there you have it, our weekend in a nutshell.  Hope everyone else had a nice one as well!

{Recipe}

A little weekend recap

After a week of beautiful weather, Saturday was a mess.  It rained alllllll day.  I did get out to the Y for my class in the morning and it was a great way to start my day.  On the way home, I saw the sign about the Open House at the fire station so I got to the house, picked up the boys, and we headed back up the road to check out the fire engines.

From there, we got some pizza for lunch then got Connor a haircut – his fifth!  He had a Dum Dum while the lady snipped away so he wasn’t bothered at all by what was happening to his head.

Home for a nap (Connor) and a shower (me) then some house stuff like all the boys working on some items on the to-do list.  The McHusband sure is lucky to have such willing and obviously able helpers.

We woke up to sunshine and blue skies on Sunday.  What a nice change of pace from the day before.  Nothing too exciting for us yesterday: a walk, grocery shopping, laundry, yardwork, and Cooking Light’s Shepherd’s Pie for dinner.  All the ordinary things that we do on a normal weekend day but somehow they add up to something a little bit special: our day together as a family.

Sheesh, mushy much?

Hope everyone else was able to find something special in their weekends, too.

PS  Happy Birthday to Owen today!

Life lately

I’m sorry my blogging has been so intermittent.  That being said, I’m not here to promise it’s going to get better.  I mean, I hope it will since we have a trip to visit my dad coming up plus Connor’ll be 18 months soon and I really need to do an update on him, and let’s not forget the whole moving-to-a-new-house situation.  We close two weeks from today but won’t move in and live there for two more weeks after that because we’re doing some updates first.  Bye bye wood trim, tile floors, and wall between the den and living room!  Hello white and bright, wood, and open space!

Don’t be jealous of my amazing photoediting skills.

I hope to keep touching base at least a couple times a week, but I’ve been trying to get more sleep lately and that usually means I’m not on the couch with my computer on my lap while I catch up on a show for very long most evenings.  And while I’m making like a spud, I just want to zone out.  You guys are only getting this post because I had some time yesterday afternoon to work something up.  Last night, I got home from the Y and Walmart a little after 7, had a quick dinner, made some cookie dough, got cleaned up, got ready for today, then vegged for those few precious moments before it was time for bed.

Before I forget, I want to share a new favorite with you guys.  The McHusband brought home a new-to-us chip: Boulder Canyon Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper.  I’m telling you about these chips because they are very dangerous and you should be warned.  They are delicious, perfectly greasy without being gross, and are highly addictive.  You probably shouldn’t seek them out but if you feel you must, we have found them at Kroger.  Or maybe Trader Joe’s?  I found the regular Sea Salt ones at Harris Teeter but the McHusband and I agree, those aren’t as good.

We have a good enough weekend on tap.  Just hanging out tonight, which for me means baking some Strawberry Shortcake Bars before a decent bedtime.  I’ll go to the Y tomorrow morning, bake cookies in the afternoon, then we have a neighbor’s backyard bash in the evening.  One last hurrah in this ‘hood. Insert sad face here.

TGIF and have a great weekend!

{Weekend recap} Fun and food

As promised, I’m back here on Tuesday to catch up a little.  Wanna read about my weekend?  You know you do.  What if I told you there were treats?  Yeah, I knew that’d keep you reading!

I had my PHX class at the Y Saturday morning and it was a good one!  Some parts of me were still feeling it into Monday.  I rushed home to shower and get ready so we could go to Zachary’s 5^th birthday party at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.  (Zachary is Terry and Vickie’s little boy.)  The theme of the party was reptiles and amphibians and there were animals for the kids to touch and crafts relating to them.  Connor participated a little but when he wasn’t he wandered the room without being too needy or distracting so that worked out well.  I sent this picture to Ashley thanking her for preparing him with all the trips to the library.

If you are looking for fresh birthday party ideas, consider the museum.  Kids and adults alike enjoyed themselves.

After naps for all of us that afternoon, we joined our whole crew for dinner at the nearby Mexican restaurant.  Connor ate the fish from a fish taco and a healthy helping of black beans and rice.  So healthy, in fact, that his system has, uh, been clearing itself steadily since. #mexicanfooddiet

Sunday was busy with a walk and chores and grocery shopping.  I made one of my breakfast casseroles and as soon as it came out of the oven, I put a pan of cookie-filled cookie bars in the oven.  My one coworker had a lot to celebrate this past weekend: his birthday on Saturday as well as his new engagement the day before!  I know he likes Oreos so I whipped up these easy bars. 

The McHusband loved them.  I thought they needed salt, either in the recipe or sprinkled on top.  I might try them again with my adaptation.

My last recipe of the weekend was dinner from my new cookbook, Sheet Pan Suppers.  I chose the Soy-Mustard Glazed Salmon with Broccoli, but I also used cauliflower because the McHusband isn’t a huge fan of broccoli.  Turns out, he likes it just fine when it’s roasted and has good flavor in its crispy ends.  I can’t wait to try something else from the book.

One final note: We have the appraisal of our house this morning and we are keeping all appendages crossed for a good number so that the buyers don’t have any issues with their loan.  I got things cleaned up over the weekend then did a little more last night so the house looks good enough to sell all over again.  Let’s hope the appraiser is a fan of plum-purple powder rooms, new HVAC systems, and cul-de-sac lots with lots of trees.

Oh!  I know you guys are wondering if I got up and ran like I said I was going to.  You’d forgotten about that?  Well, never mind then.

Just kidding.  When I get up at 4:20 to exercise, I want all the credit I can get!  Yes, I did get up and the weather was perfect, which made it worth the lack of zzz’s.

Speaking of, it’s time for me to wrap things up and try to make up some of that beauty sleep.

Connor wishes you a happy Tuesday!

Pending

Our house’s listing went live on Monday afternoon last week.  We had our first showing Tuesday evening and by Thursday morning, we had our first offer.  It wasn’t a good one so we didn’t even counter, we just rejected it.  Soon thereafter, we had our second offer – a full-price cash offer!  The buyers wanted a few things but nothing major and we were debating where to go with that offer when we heard a third one was on the way.  This one caused our realtor to utter a choice phrase (“Holy $&*@!”) while on the phone with the McHusband.

The buyers were offering $5,000 ABOVE asking price, they didn’t want anything from us – no closing costs, no work prior to the inspection – and they were good to close on our preferred date, August 17^th.  Now, there is a slight catch.  Because this isn’t a cash offer, the appraisal and the loan amount have to work out.  The buyers realize this and are willing to pay as much as $5,000 of their own money if it’s necessary.  But we feel confident that our house will appraise for the purchase price or even higher based on a house that recently sold in our cul-de-sac.

So that’s where we stand: Less than 96 hours of being on the market and we have a deal!  We got some really great feedback on the house and the only negatives were things we couldn’t change: distance from people’s offices, schools (uh, yeah, that’s partly why we’re moving too), and the layout/size of the bonus room since one buyer wanted space for an office.

One set of comments, the ones from the second offer we got, made me tear up:

Love the home, clients’ daughter viewed with me and she agrees this house is fabulous, great love shown in upkeep, décor and details. We will be presenting an offer! ps. love the note for the a/c, I am with you there!! and the sweet dog!

I did put a lot of love into this house, and we really enjoyed making it our own.  We also love the neighborhood and I am going to miss my neighbors more than they will know.  We have that window unit – a.k.a. our noise machine – in our bedroom and I know it’s an eyesore and so not appealing looks-wise, but it ensures a decent night’s sleep for the McHusband and me.  As my note explained, cool isn’t good enough; we like our room downright frigid for sleeping.  Luckily that window is sorta tucked around the back of the house so you don’t see the ugly unit when you’re looking at the house.  And in the new house, the master bedroom’s windows are on the back of the house so our noise machine gets to come with us and be used there!

We had the inspection of our house this morning and don’t expect anything big to pop up.  There will probably be a few things we’ve lived with, like the water on the fridge not working, and we’ll just have to decide what to take care of for the buyers.  I kinda feel like I owe them considering what a good deal we are getting.

Other than house stuff, we were in Charlotte and Clover this weekend for Maxie’s birthday party and visiting with the McHusband’s family.  Maybe I’ll get around to posting some pictures from those things this week…

Let’s catch up

So big news around these parts – McMania is moving!  Not on the internet, but IRL.

The McHusband and I put an offer in on a house and it was accepted!  We’ve had the house inspected and it checks out, no major issues.  The McHusband has also talked to the HOA about building a detached garage, and they have given us an official unofficial okay to move forward with that project.

We are supposed to close July 31st.  But guess what we have to do first?  Sell our house!  We just listed it this week – Monday to be exact – and we’ve already had four showings with two more scheduled for today.  Supposedly the buyers from one of the showings from yesterday were going to submit an offer but as of 10 pm Wednesday night, we haven’t gotten it.

The new house is maybe 10 minutes from where we are now, but it’s more “in town” than our current house.  It’s about 500 SF bigger PLUS it has has a walk-up unfinished attic.  Can I get a hallelujah for all that storage?!

The lot is the same size as we have now, still has lots of trees, and it comes with a playground. 

Plus, there’s a screened-in porch for us to enjoy!

It needs some updating – painting the trim in the kitchen and den and replacing the slate floors with hardwoods – and we hope to tackle those things before moving it.  Or, rather, enlist the help of professional tacklers who will wrap up these updates before we start living there.

Having our house on the market is tough.  I don’t normally make my bed every day and it’s stressful leaving the house perfect every morning when we leave for work.  But the way the showings are going, we’re hopeful that this process won’t drag out too long.

Anyway, that’s why things have been so quiet around here.  We’ve been working hard around the house in addition to trying to live the rest of our lives, and I’m beat at the end of the day.

Do me a favor and keep your fingers crossed for us!

Good help is(n’t) hard to find

The McHusband and I each had our helpers yesterday.

The McHusband was in the yard digging out the dirt so that some edgers would fit in around areas that will be mulched.  Monte, of course, took it upon himself to supervise.

Monte made sure to check out each section as the McHusband finished.

He was very thorough, inspecting from all sides.

“Good work!”  This part gets Monte’s stamp of approval.  And watch out, it’s a really wet stamp.

All that supervising is hard work, donchaknow.  Monte alternated taking his breaks in shade

and in the sun.

The McHusband enclosed three areas with the edgers and my favorite is this one right off the patio.  See the heart?

The McHusband worked really hard out there both days this weekend and unfortunately he’s not done since mulch will still need to be spread.  I’m sure Monte will be a big help with that, too.

While the big boys were outside playing in the dirt, Connor and I were inside cleaning the dirty house.  I’m lucky that Connor doesn’t have to be entertained 24/7, and he can find fun in the ordinary.

Now if I can just teach him to clean windows instead of putting his hands all over them…

We were so happy to get lots of time in the sunshine this weekend.  Fingers crossed that spring lasts a while and doesn’t turn straight into summer as it likes to do here in NC.

Hope you guys also enjoyed some fun in the sun!

Busy like the elves

So I got my tree done last week, and I decided to keep the momentum going on Friday by finishing the mantle and decorating the front porch.  Then on Saturday, after the Y and dropping some stuff off at Kim’s, I wound garland through the stair railing and hung big ol’ ornaments on our (dead, to-be-replaced-in-the-spring) tree out front.  After a very productive afternoon, we took the night off to go out to eat with Ryan and Sandra.

We were back at it on Sunday.  We hit the ground running trying to take some family pictures on the front porch.  (BTW, it’s difficult to get a 10-month-old to smile at all much less in the direction of a camera without anyone behind it.)  Then, on top of the usual laundry, general cleaning, and grocery shopping, we also got our outside lights hung.

Of course, we had a little helper.  Connor directed from the sidewalk and then, as any good supervisor would, he had to get involved when things weren’t going the way he wanted.

He wrapped things up by doing his A Christmas Story impression.  Luckily, it wasn’t QUITE cold enough for his tongue to stick.

I got really brave and decided to tackle the big tree by the driveway.  Since I got my new prelit tree, I had many strands of white Christmas lights begging to be displayed.  I’m a Christmas-light snob and hate when people just throw a strand of lights on some tree branches or they start off with good intentions but run out of lights and consider the job done.  WRONG!

We want to add a couple more strands of lights up from that one line at the top so that what people see is a triangle of lights.  Otherwise, I’m happy with how everything looks.

Now who wants to come over after Christmas and unwind all those lights from the tree?  Maybe I can keep them up and turn it into a new landscaping look…

The nursery (for now)

First a disclaimer: The room isn’t DONE done.  But it’s ready for a baby (even if I’m not).

The view from the doorway, which isn’t all that different from the sneak peek that I shared a couple weeks ago.

The dresser was the McHusband’s and started off like this:

The McHusband did a great job of repainting it.

And I did a great job of picking out its new knobs.

And to complete our 360 view of the room, here’s the twin bed that I really wanted to keep in the room and luckily it works to keep it up against the wall.

My mom made the curtains, but I  had the idea to use galvanized pipe as the curtain rods.

The bookshelf works for now.  I have a feeling it’ll be an evolving project.

From top to bottom:

I do have a little secret to share.  One of the reasons I’m so happy that the twin bed is staying in the room is that it provides a lot of convenient storage for baby items we’ll eventually need but that don’t need to be out right now.

A HUGE shout-out and thank-you to the McHusband who put up the board-and-batten treatment and the crown.  He did a fantastic job and I can’t express how much I appreciate him working so hard to make my vision happen.

I was really happy to find a small gray ceiling fan that worked perfectly in this room.

One thing that’s missing?  A rocker.  I waited until all the furniture was in place before ordering one because I wanted to make sure it would fit.  It’s going over there in the corner between the crib and the window where the kid-sized rocker is currently playing placeholder.  The baby may be here before the chair, but I think we’ll live for a couple of days.

I’ve got a few things for the walls, but I’m not quite ready to affix them yet so I’ll do a nursery update at some point to show you how the room ultimately looks. 

Maybe there’ll even be a baby in some of those photos.