"My Boys", Cleaning

I’ve found a new fictional hero in PJ, the lead character on the TBS show “My Boys.” She’s a sportswriter for the Chicago Cubs, lives in a beautiful apartment, plays poker with her group of guy friends and brother all the time, is pretty but not in a super gorgeous/sexy kind of way, and makes analogies about how her love life is like sports. TBS showed the entire first season during the Super Bowl and I recorded it. I finally got around to watching it this weekend and I’m addicted. I was sitting in my living room, laughing out loud. My favorite analogy so far is when she describes what a “Five-Tool” player in baseball (hits for power, hits for average, arm strength, speed, fielding skills). She then goes on to say that the guy she’s dating is a “Five-Tool” guy – smart, funny, attractive, wealthy, and good in bed. She has a girly female friend who is always trying to get her to be more feminine. She has a crush on one of her guy friends and he can’t stand that she makes him feel like the girl in the relationship. She pokes fun at girly girls. She drinks beer. She has a great heart. I want to be friends with PJ.

Ryry, I need you to continue work on “Life of E’s.” Now that I have my girly sports romantic comedy, I need a sharp edgy engineering comedy. I wonder if TLC or the Discovery Channel would consider showing a fictional show with an engineering background…

I did one of my favorite chores this weekend. I scrubbed my kitchen floor. (I’m not being sarcastic.) It was so dirty. The floor is white but with a light grey/brown speckled design that hides dirt pretty well. In the weeks (months?) between thorough cleanings, I maintain cleanliness using a hand held vacuum to pick up large particles and a damp rag to wipe up spills. When there is a certain amount of accumulation of dust, scuffs, and other nastiness, that’s when I know it’s time for a scrub down. I swept, then armed myself with the handheld vacuum, a spray bottle of water, a rag, and a box of baking soda. Sometimes I put knee pads on. I attacked the scuffs with baking soda and this weekend, I even needed a toothbrush to get the dirt out of the texture in the floor. When I was done, I had two filthy rags and a floor that looked sooooo pretty. I think the key to proper cleaning is having all the right weapons.

Along those same lines, Brian and Sarah took me out for Mexican for my birthday. We split a pitcher of Sangria. At the end of the night, I realized that the waiter had spilled a couple drops of sangria near the cuff of my cream pants. When I got home, I blotted the spots with cold water (useless) and then rubbed some Oxyclean into the spot. First, the spot turned turquoise, and then after about 20 minutes of cuff soaking in the sink, I came back and the spot was gone! Just like the commercials!

Baking soda also takes scratches out of appliances. I cleaned my stove, dishwasher, and clothes dryer too...