Shiny Sinks and Whimsy
Photo courtesy of Gratisography
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
I’ve been feeling like an adult lately. Like, a real live adult, with responsibilities - now including consequences - and shit. I’m not sure it’s my favorite. I’m pretty sure it’s not. It makes me feel old.
When I say “old” what I mean is, it no longer seems appropriate for me to go skipping across the street, loudly chanting my neighbor’s name, warning him that I’m coming to borrow something. I’m trying hard not to care (not really that hard), but it’s putting a hint of a damper on my whimsy.
Yesterday, I cleaned the house. Note: this is not the first time, or a new or rare occurrence. It’s just not normally this thorough all at once. Anyway, I like to start in the bedroom, because it’s on the top floor and only leads into the small closet. First, I dusted, top to bottom, clockwise around the room, moving into other areas - like the closet - as I come to their doorways. Then to the upstairs bath, where I also wiped down counters, cleaned mirrors and toilets and dusted inside the bathtub.
The kitchen was next followed by the living room. The kitchen appliances got cleaned inside and out, the counters were cleared and wiped down, I can see my face reflected in the stovetop. The windowsills were wiped of Willow’s dirty paw prints, but I have yet to clear the nose prints from the window. I love seeing her ears pop up there when I get home!
When the upstairs dusting and wiping was complete, I vacuumed the carpets and couch and mopped the floors. I worked my way down the stairs, vacuuming and mopping up the evidence of Willow’s drool. I repeated the clockwise traverse downstairs through the office and shower bathroom - dusting, vacuuming, and mopping all the way.
The only thing I didn’t fully contend with was the downstairs shower. I was planning on it when I got back from the gym - side note: the gym is a great place to go on Saturday nights! Next week, I might try that, followed up with a visit to Trader Joe’s - but it was later than I wanted it to be and I needed to eat before the time got away. That will be a tomorrow thing.
When I was younger, my brother and I would joke about Mom’s ability to sense a sticky floor upon walking in the door of the house. “Who spilled the Kool-Aid?”, she’d yell out from the front door, not even having stepped into the kitchen yet, let alone near the refrigerator. Somehow she always knew.
I get it now. I’m luxuriating in the feel of clean wood floors under my feets.
I had two ant-xplosions this week, both on days where I needed to be in office early in the morning. I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time, since West Seattle is built on an anthill. I had all the murder apparatai, I just hadn’t yet prepped it, nor put it into action. No time like early in the morning when you’re headed for the shower in your bathrobe!
As much as I love a good drum line, I used my Nalgene to steam roll that little ant parade back to where they belong. And then poisoned the little lives out of whomever was left. It’s hard to take care of the issue without murdering them first.
I knew the spiders were a sign. I have no one to blame but myself. I am becoming immune to the creepiness of insects.
I’m still working my way through the HOA stuffs. Admittedly, I’m dragging my feet. It’s a lot of bureaucracy for two houses when we have no control over anyone around us. My neighbor’s son just finished staining her fence, which means now I have to do mine.
“Keeping up with the Joneses” is part of the contract…
I should probably offer to poison the perimeter of her house. After all, she did all the leg work to find the mole murderers. I’ll bring that up at our first HOA meeting which probably needs to happen this coming weekend…
Meanwhile, I’m in the midst of waterproofing Charley, the Sailfish. I took a quick trip up to Wallingford this morning to grab the UV coating that will go on afterwards, then came home to epoxy the back side. There appear to be some holes in the back of the fish where there may have been a different hanging mechanism. The holes will need to be filled with some chopsticks so nothing decides to move in there and create the coolest wasp’s nest ever.
It takes 7 to 72 hours before the epoxy can be recoated. That will be my Wednesday night plan. After the last coat is dry, I’ll put on 2 coats of UV varnish to protect it from the sun. I think I may have to do some sanding to get that to stick, which I’m not excited about. But I can re-coat it in 24 hours. Full cure time on the varnish is 14 days!
I’m going to miss the Labor Day debut… But damn! This girl is going to look SLICK with my blue front door! I think I might like this adult version of me…
Stay Gritty