We got up early this morning, not on purpose, but we did it anyway. Steve was going to get an early start and he woke me up. I would have been able to get back to sleep had it not been for Mercy deciding it was time to rise. Once she's up, I always like to share the misery, so I woke up the rest of the kids.
The benefit of this was that we got to the house sooner than we anticipated. This time I decided to bring lunch so we wouldn't end up spending more than we made in one day. The kids, being kids, were disappointed we weren't going to go back to Chile's. By the time I finally got around to feeding them, though, they were grateful for what they got.
My project for the day was to scrub all the floors and finish cleaning the refrigerator. I also wanted to try to frost a design on a couple of the house mirrors to improve the appeal. While I go about my tasks Steve and the kids do their own things. They occasionally interrupt me to be redirected (the kids) or to ask a question (Steve), but I am generally left alone to do my thing.
I decided the best way to tackle the distinctive odor of dogs-not-taken-out-for-walks-often-enough was to first bleach the sub-floor, then sprinkle it with baking soda to absorb the water and – hopefully – more of the smell. I swept the first room thoroughly and got down on my hands and knees to scrub. When that exciting task was complete I sprinkled the soda. After waiting a few minutes – during which I checked on Oliver's progress with the glass spray – I came back and swept the baking soda across the floor to be sure it covered all the stink. I decided to wait to see how all this would turn out before starting the next floor.
In the meantime, I rejoined Oliver at the mirror. Oliver is a precise type of fellow. He gets this from Steve. I was surprised, therefore, to see my eldest standing in front of the mirror, paint can in hand, staring in wonderment at an unrecognizable shape before him.
“What happened?” I tried to keep the censure from my voice.
“This,” he held the can toward me, never taking his eyes from his project, “is harder than it looks.”
I didn't make a noise, but I did roll my eyes a little while he wasn't looking. After all, the directions in the book where I go the idea were very clear. I took the can.
“I think the problem is that you were supposed to spray in short bursts. Did you spray in short bursts or did you do it all at once?”
Oliver took the stencil and wiped it off before handing it to me, “I'm not sure. I guess I wasn't paying attention to the stream.”
I took the can, carefully positioned the stencil, and sprayed the mirror frosting in beautifully short bursts. Then I took the stencil away.
Hmmm.
As it turns out, whatever method Oliver was using was better than mine. Not only were my blobs unrecognizable, but there was paint in places no paint should go. Thankfully, the paint comes off rather easily with a little window cleaner and baking soda.
I love baking soda
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