Chim Chiminey...Chim Chiminy...Chim Chim Charoo

Yesterday, I felt a little like Mary Poppins.

There was no spoonfuls of sugar, or dancing around the house singing catchy songs that get stuck in your head and no matter where you are or what you're doing - you'll sing them.  Nope...there was cleaning. 

My holiday fever has officially set in.  There's no turning back now.  I've caught the bug and it won't go away until about January 2nd.

The first stage of the illness is to clean my house like a mad woman - in preparation of my family coming for Thanksgiving.  And to prepare for things like burning a fire in the fire place, putting up the tree in a week or so, and other holiday affairs.  I don't know why, but I MUST have a completely spotless house during the holiday season.  Not that I don't clean my house the rest of the year - but this time of year, I go above and beyond.

Yesterday, was day one of Operation:  Holiday Clean Up.

Hubby was up on the roof cleaning the chimney, and I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpets....while humming Chim Chiminey....because I had mentioned the song while talking to Hubby - and it was then forever stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

No doubt, I'll be singing it today, too....because I'm writing a blog post with the title - and now the song is buzzing through my head.

Don't ask me why being on my hands and knees scrubbing carpets reminds me of being Mary Poppins.  Maybe it was putting out the fires between the kids ALL DAY LONG while I was trying to clean. OK, so I didn't really feel like Mary Poppins at all...but I was singing that song, and Hubby was sweeping out the chimney.  It works for a blog title, OK?

Anywho, cleaning my carpets has become a mission to me.  A challenge that I know I will never win - but I just can't stop myself from trying.

You see, my house is pretty old.  The carpets in this house are about 10 years old.  They are in desperate need of being pulled up and replaced...but that's not going to happen any time soon. 

The carpets in my house are that beige color you find in most apartments....except my house isn't an apartment, and the carpets are no longer beige. 

Nope, they are more of a dirty brown color - highlighted with stains, stains, and more stains.

This will sound terrible, and I can't believe I'm admitting this to you all but...Mash together three children who never seem to be able to prevent themselves from spilling anything, and a dog that even though she was house trained has seemed to have forgotten everything I taught her and now tends to think that there are certain parts of the house that also double as her dumping grounds - literally, and you have one recipe for disgusting carpets.

I shampoo the carpets quite regularly...but it doesn't get the stains out.  Despite constantly trying to keep up with my dog's inability to control her bladder, I occasionally miss some of her spots....that leads to me using my nose like a blood hound and trying to track down the cause of the occasional pee smell.  The carpet shampooer doesn't get that out, either.

So, drastic times calls for desperate measures...and yesterday, I was determined to get my house smelling clean and fresh - and giving my carpet a super deep clean like it's never felt before.

I got online and researched every stain/odor removal technique I could find.  And decided to try all of them.

First, I sprinkled the carpets with baking soda.  I let that sit for about 10 minutes, then vacuumed it up.  Then, I hand scrubbed the carpets with a commercial pet odor neutralizer.  After that, I was back on my hands and knees spot spraying all of the stains with white vinegar.  Finally, I used the carpet shampooer with a solution of carpet shampoo and Clorox 2. 

It took me close to 4 hours to just do my living room - which is huge - and  another 1 1/2 hours to do my bathroom.  Cause, yeah, I'm one of those people that got graced with carpet in the bathroom.  The most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life.

So, what was the result from spending 5 1/2 hours scrubbing and cleaning and scrubbing some more?  Not the results I hoped for.  I'm truly convinced that my carpet will never be rid of the stains.  There's just no hope left for the old thing.  However, when I walk in to my house - it now has a pleasant smell.  It better after all of the crap I used.

With all the scrubbing I did - I managed to work up quite a sweat....and felt really good about it.  There was no working for 15 minutes then taking a 15 minute break...which is quite usual to my cleaning routine.  Nope, I was on a mission - and I wasn't going to stop until I was finished.

While all this cleaning was going on, I also managed to cook the family a roast dinner.  A traditional English roast at that. 

All in all, it was a very productive Sunday.  OK, so I didn't get a sparkling clean carpet like I hoped for - but I just have to face the fact that until I can replace it all - and rip it out of the bathrooms - I can settle with a fresh smelling house. 

If you're wondering what all this has to do with weight loss, then keep wondering.  It has absolutely nothing to do with it.  I just wanted to share how hard I worked...I need a little credit.

I'm looking forward to another week.  There's just this week, and Monday and Tuesday of next week before I get a few days off.  I'm excited about that. 


Everyone have a great week!!

Till next time. ;)

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