Tackling It Tuesday

Tackle: to pummel, to go head strong at, to push through (my own definitions if you couldn't tell).

This week ... I suppose I should ... no I need to ...

clean underneath the stove. This is a job I dread. Not because I don't like it looking clean or because it is that tough of a job. Well, normally it is not that tough of a job. When we moved into this rental, our landlord was "in the process of cleaning up and doing the last minute touch ups." No. He wasn't and no - he didn't. (Say that last line with two snaps in the air and a slide slide of the head). The kitchen drawers were stocked with someone elses trash and goods (old keys, sippy cups, Top Ramen, a broken plate, paperwork, an inappropriate sticker on the children's bathroom mirror...and the list goes on) when we moved in.

BUT the worst of it all is the area around the stove doesn't seem like it has been cleaned since the place was built. No wonder they have a bazillion gazillion ant traps pasted around the place. Ewwww. And I don't mind cleaning up after my own mess. Someone elses mess I do not know and therefore I do not know what might be under there. Hmmmm this bothers me. So, after living here for almost a year and the weather starting to get chilly (hence bugs try to move indoors from outdoors right about now) I proclaim it the week to clean under the stove. With rubber gloves, bleach, paper towels, nose plug, goggles, a jackhammer and old grungy clothes on. Wish me luck everyone!

Oh, and I will also tackle the compilation of computer cords, hard drives, extra CDs, phone cords, etc. with my man the Jessinator.

Oh, and I will also tackle the rest of the filing since I didn't get to it last week.

That brings on another story (bear with me here!) about fish. I love fish. I am grateful to acquire a big source of fish every year. I am not particularly fond of that fish smell. Ahem... so we are now learning how to brine and smoke the silvers we caught at the end of July. My father-in-law lent us an old cooler and told us to fill it half full with water, add salt, garlic salt, and brown sugar. Let it settle and dissolve overnight (the cooler in the bath tub), add fish in the morning. Let it sit all day and smoke it in the evening. So my sweet husband and I performed all the steps we were told. Except for one little thing. He did not put the cooler in the bath tub.

That morning, he placed all the fish in the cooler, and left it on the edge of the kitchen floor - which is right next to the dining room carpet. That morning, I woke up and took a shower. B-man came running downstairs and told me Princess dumped the fish food (we have a pet fish). Assuming fish flakes, I finished what I was doing and came upstairs to find the entire cooler of fish and brine spilt all over the dining room carpet from one end to the other. That was Friday, the 1st of this month. I intended to finish the filing last weekend. All the towels in the house soaking up fish brine water, two mops of the kitchen floor, three washings of the fish, making more brine and soaking the fish again, three (scratch that it was four) carpet steams and a bottle of orange floor freshener later... I was exhausted (thanks Mom for the help you are great at coming to the rescue).

The moral of the story: If you brine fish in the house... leave the cooler in the bath tub! And don't assume you are going to get a big project done in just two days!

Oh - my sweet little girl - she was just trying to show her brother how strong she was by lifting the cooler of fish and brine. Yep - she's pretty strong alright! Yes, I still love her. Deeply.