Thursday, November 6, 2008

So I did a little cleaning in the kitchen of the teacher's lounge

As you know I braved both Sam's Club and Wal-Mart yesterday in order to purchase pots & pans for the teacher's kitchen.  This morning I merrily brought them into the school and decided to wash and put them away so everyone would know they were there for them to use. However, on closer inspection of the kitchen, I could not in good conscience wash any item in it until I did a bit of washing of the actual kitchen.  

There is a "keep the kitchen tidy" schedule that rotates to a new group of faculty each week. But I have worked places with this sort of schedule and I find that unless it is only ONE person's responsibility at a time it doesn't really get done.  I am a take charge kind of person and I also don't mind doing a bit of grunt work when necessary, so I think keeping the kitchen cleaner will be my gift to the teachers this year.  

Let me just say that I am neither a neat freak nor a germaphobe, but I don't want to be grossed out by my surroundings either. There are a few folks who really don't mind clutter and dust and that's okay with me, but understand that when I come to your house I will probably clean something.  I am not judging you, I just need to do it.  My sis-in-law (still need a nickname) recently said "If a gorilla was in the middle of my living room floor but I could still walk around it, I would leave it there forever."  She is not exaggerating and my hubby is just like her.  They were raised in a clean house, it just didn't stick.  Okay back to the teacher's kitchen...

It was adequately clean, however, I refuse to wash dishes with a sponge that USED to be yellow or a dishrag that smells like vomit.  Yes, it really did, and I did not have to actually sniff it closely to determine this.  Luckily there were fresh sponges, so problem solved.  Except that the dishtowel was printed with a dark pattern so I couldn't tell if it was clean or not.  Based on the state of the dishrag, I decided not to use the towel for drying. No sense in washing with a clean sponge only to dry with a possibly dirty towel.  No problem, I found paper towels.  Time to wash the pots...

Uh-oh, the sink is a bit grubby & the countertop under the dish drainer is definitely funky.  So I find some bleach, wipe out the sink, clean the dish drainer and wipe the counter top under the dish drainer.  NOW I can wash the pots & pans.

Needless to say, I brought the vomit dishrag and questionable dishtowel home with me to run through the laundry (or burn if they don't smell better). Tomorrow I am going to take a look at the coffee pot and microwaves and bring some back-up rags.  Wish me luck!

2 comments:

  1. Yea...I made the blog! Albeit for my uncleanliness, but I made it none-the-less! There's just something wrong with my vision that I can't see messes. Or they don't trigger a response in my brain to actually do something about them if I do see them. George and I must have both inherited that trait. It's not our fault, we're just made that way! And I always appreciate when you come to my house because it is always neater when you leave! Oh, by the way...I did pick the sod up off the patio but the stack of junk on the kitchen counter is still right where you left it! The mantle is still clear though!!!

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  2. I an truly shocked about the sod removal! Next you should work on the dead fern. Really. I actually understand the pile in the kitchen. I live with a kitchen pile myself. As long as my clutter is controlled it doesn't make me too crazy.

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