Oh no she didn't...

Yes, yes I did. Just what did I do, you ask? Well, I gave in to a slightly unattractive cleaning option that might solicit a wrinkled nose or even a few "eww" comments. Yep, I washed my dishes in my bathtub. Now's your chance to shriek and ew all you want--that's the beauty of the Internet.

The dishes have been piling up despite our efforts to reuse in whatever ways possible--sharing dishes, using them more than once without washing, eating directly from the ice cream carton/other food containers, using paper towel plates, etc. etc. I've washed and rinsed several spoons and plates in the bathroom sink, but the pile was growing and gnawing at my sometimes-order-driven mind. And so I gave in.

It wasn't that bad actually. I had the thought of filling up the tub which, though you probably weren't asking this in your head, is dirty as is most of my home because I'm content with only spot cleaning until the kitchen is DONE. I realize all cleaning could be viewed as "all for naught" since inevitably things return to a messy, dirty state; however, that process happens three times faster due to the renovation. Instead of turning my entire tub into a large receptacle for soaking dirty dishes, I just turned on the hot water, soaped up a sponge, washed, rinsed and placed clean dishes on dish towels on the floor. Then I dried them all and returned them to their temporary home--the guest bed.

Here are some pictures of my set-up:

dirty dishes and dishwashing liquid

method of obtaining water and bubbles

clean dishes!

I figured using the bathtub was cheaper than buying rubbermaid containers and creating a temporary wash/rinse station outside. You might also be saying "paper plates, Jen." And I've thought of that. But I just can't justify spending the money. We did get some awesome red plastic cups from our friends so we're using those sparingly.

Now I'm contemplating washing the barbeque-infested crockpot I mentioned the other day. I've given Andrew the task of cleaning it since it is not only infested with barbeque remains but also...mold. I know, I know--gross, ew, ick--get it out of your system! I'm not a high-maintenance princess for crying out loud--most of you should know I take fewer showers than most guys anyway, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. I'll let you know how the crockpot turns out, but I probably won't post any pics so you'll keep reading. I hear the skeletons grossed a few of you out :)

The many uses of a bathroom sink

Yesterday I made a salad. Today I washed potatoes. In my bathroom. That's right, I'm making dinner in my bathroom. I'm washing vegetables and dishes--at least the ones that will fit. I currently have a giant crockpot sitting in the living room half-full of water because there was no way I was attempting to rinse that thing out in our shallow bathroom sink.

I currently have a hand towel and toiletries on one side of the sink, dishes on the other and a kitchen towel, rag and soap behind the sink. Definitely not the most attractive bathroom, but the giant mound of dirty clothes and bags of cleaning supplies lining the walls probably don't help either.

I realize I haven't written in two weeks. I had a very good excuse the first week; I got nothing for the second. Immediately after my last post I was thrown into graduation coverage at work--I have four high schools in my coverage area. I got out of one ceremony, only because two occurred on the same night, but I still had to write a story on each school's senior class in addition to the photo pages for the three ceremonies I could attend. Oh yeah, and I had to write a sports article. So I turned in eight articles--twice my normal, part-time reporter workload. Let's just say it was a long week. And I ate pizza for no fewer than seven meals.

Like I said before, I got nothing for last week.

We've done so much to the house in the last two weeks though! It's exciting, and we are SO STINKIN CLOSE to finishing! I'll wait to do more posts in the coming days on the changes. I want to show the before and after shots.

Back to my bathroom-turned-kitchen escapades, some of you may be wondering why we are actually eating food at our house, since we haven't been doing that for the last two months. We moved into the Marquards' house on May 22 and moved out last Friday, July 1. Brett came home for a few days the week before we left--Jenna for about a day--and then they took off on another trip. We decided it would be a welcome surprise if, when they came back late on the 1st, they found an empty, clean house. Alright so maybe not spotless, but I did clean the toilet!

It was also taking on a toll on us to drive back and forth so much to do work on the house and cook dinner at a reasonable time. Being able to eat and renovate in the same house gives us a little more time to work, and we find ourselves spending less time (and money) ordering bacon chicken ranch pizza at Antonio's at 11 p.m. It does limit our food options to what can be prepared in a microwave/toaster/ crockpot/grill combo, but we're doing pretty well. Humorous sidenote: my office smells like pulled pork sandwiches because I cooked a pork roast for six hours on my desk Monday.

Just for funzies, here's a picture of me and Drew after sanding the other day. And no, I did not snort crack (or do you snort cocaine and shoot crack? I always get those two confused...) before the taking of this picture.

What you can expect in the coming days: "we have a sliding glass door!" and "sheetrock frenzy" along with "gotta love the smell of paint." I might even throw in a side of "Brett's marriage challenge." Stay tuned...