joy of cleaning

i think the best way to get familiar with a new home is to clean it top to bottom. i have been cleaning my new condo for about two weeks straight now. i started with the kitchen and emptied all the cabinets of odd-ball items (children's madagascar plastic cup, elastic bands, unidentifiable powder in a ziploc bag, random nacho chip, manuals for food processor, etc). then i cleaned all the cabinets with a good concentrated solution of bleach and lysol and water. after drying, i lined the cabinets with con-Tact paper. i'm only half-way through my kitchen. then i scrubbed the foyer tiles and got them shiny and new.

finally, i cleaned the master bathroom. i bought a scrubber brush and got on my hands and knees and scrubbed the master bathroom floor. i have been putting this task off for a few days because 1) i found a spider in the bathtub and i hate spiders so i had to give myself some time to get over it, 2) the floor was still fairly dirty with hairs in the cracks of the moulding, 3) the cabinets needed a good scrub too. i started with the floors with the scrubber brush. i was amazed to find that the spotted pattern on the vinyl was actually not a spotted pattern at all. it was DIRT! the harder i scrubbed, the more of the REAL pattern came out. i was, at the very same time, fascinated and disgusted. when i got to the tiled countertop, using the same scrubber, i found that the stains in the grout came out! oh, such happiness!! Now i have a fairly clean bathroom that i am happy to take a shower in.