Monday, November 26, 2007

My Cinderella Story (backwards)

So here I am today playing Cinderella. I know, everyone thinks I've been playing Cinderella all along - marrying my Prince Charming, wearing the 'princess' wedding dress, being whisked away to some land far, far, away, getting the royal treatment with my weekly manicure and biweekly pedicures, you know, a typical princess life really . . .

But my Cinderella story continues today (in reverse.) So far, my day has mostly consisted of scrubbing floors, cleaning toilets, and degreasing a kitchen. (Insert heavy sigh here.) But, I must admit that I am kind of excited about it. Not because I have missed house work that much, but because this means that we got the keys to our apartment this morning! YEA!!!

We decided exactly 4 weeks ago today that we wanted this apartment and started the process of renting it (it's the one I posted pictures of back in October.) And it has taken this long to get all the paperwork in order and the keys handed over to us. I thought maybe it took extra long because we are foreigners or maybe because the lawyers at CNH had to approve the contract. But no, I am told 1 month is typical for getting an apartment here!

So, I spent the first part of the day at the apartment to start the cleaning process and receive the appliances that were being delivered today. And when I say that I started the cleaning process, that is exactly what I mean - this is going to take awhile! While we love the place, boy is it dirty! There is a thick layer of dust covering everything from the floors, to the built in shelves, and even the bathtub. The kitchen has a nice layer of grease protecting all surfaces. The bathrooms are, well, let's just go with very dirty. And even the walls need to be scrubbed throughout the place. We questioned the owner about the dirty condition and asked if it would be cleaned before we moved in. He said no and to just not worry about cleaning it when we leave. Hmmm...sounds nice I guess, but seriously, I have no idea how we could ever get it so dirty, much less leave it in that condition!!! (I come from a long line of people who believe in the 'leave it cleaner than you found it' school of thinking. I have a lot of memories of camping trips with my family: as Dad would pull the camper out of our spot, my brothers and I were responsible for cleaning up the site. Inevitably, Dad would come inspect and find a gum wrapper or little piece of paper towel we had left behind. As we would start complaining that the wrapper was half deteriorated and we obviously didn't leave it there, Dad would pull out the ole 'we leave things cleaner than we found them' line. Apparently, the last occupant of this apartment didn't have such home training!!!)

I went though an awful lot of buckets of dirty mop water as I swept and then twice mopped all the floors. I scrubbed down the kitchen surfaces and tried to get everything clean where the appliances would be installed. (Our refrigerator, stove, and washing machine were all delivered today.) Later in the afternoon, once I drank too much diet sprite, I cleaned one of the bathrooms out of necessity too. :)

All the shelves still need washed down and the walls need cleaning. I think I am going to have to mop everything once more before they meet my specs as well! And I have a couple more bathrooms that need my attention. At one point today, I was remembering a comment someone here made about how cheap maids were and how shocked they were that we wouldn't be hiring one. I almost considered rethinking that decision and then I thought of how hard it would be to get someone to clean how I want things cleaned! So, I guess it is a few more days of the Cinderella life (pre-prince) for me. (I know I am not getting any sympathy from anyone . . . one too many posts about pedicures and laying by the pool, I know!) ;)

I am going to have to convince my Prince Charming to manage one task at home for me though. I have a small problem at the apartment that I am not too sure how to handle. We have built in window boxes on a couple big windows in our living room. They need some serious attention after I get done with all my cleaning (everything planted in them right now is dead!) But, a pigeon decided to make my window box her home and decided to have a baby there! I have been a hunter for the better part of my life and I also don't have any trouble shooting a nuisance animal. But, what do you do when shooting is not an option??? I've considered poison, but then will I have 2 dead birds in my window box to deal with? Carcasses aren't really my specialty either. So, my conclusion today was that I make my husband dearest handle this problem, and then not tell me what he did. I'm pretty sure I won't want to know!

So, I am feeling a little grimy at the moment and I think my nose is full of dust, so I will close now and head for the shower! As soon as I get things a little cleaner around the house, I will take some more pictures to show off our new digs! :) And if Santa Claus happens to be keeping up with my blog, I could sure use some heavy duty Mr. Clean Magic Erasers in my stocking this year. I am seriously missing my cleaning supplies of choice and I am quite certain some things just aren't going to come clean until I have my Mr. Clean miracle product in hand!!!

2 comments:

Amanda said...

so glad you are doing this blog. it so so great to be able to keep up with ya'll so many worlds away! love the pictures, especially the one of the man and the speedo!I am so glad to hear that you two newlyweds are doing so great. By the way, how ya liken married life?
amanda

Emily said...

Amanda, you KNOW I had to take that picture! Everyone down here keeps telling us we are never going to leave Brasil. So, I guess if that is the case, I'll be taking the exact same picture of Eric in about 30 years!!! hehehe ;)