Sweet Relief

The day before Thanksgiving (last Wednesday for those of you reading this pre-coffee), while I was in the process of making chilli, my disposal stopped working. My sink flooded with grossness and, because I was cooking, a mountain of dirty and unrinseable dishes began to build around me. For anyone familiar with my Type-A tendencies -- particularly where the kitchen is concerned -- this sent me into a constant state of uneasiness.

Now, because during my home inspection last fall before I moved in, I knew that a wire was exposed on my disposal and, though it was completely functional, it was old and should be replaced. So last fall I bought a new disposal. My friendly neighborhood Patrick Pielsticker, that tiny ball of German-Brazillian fun and handy man skills, promised to install it for me. It fell by the way side as our schedules never meshed, and my old disposal continued to work, so it sat under my sink. For a year. Lucky for me, I had it on hand when this little disaster struck last week.

Patrick couldn't come over Wednesday night, but he made his way over Thursday before the binging festivities began. He was workin at a nice little clip until -- bad news. A piece of the old one had been on there so long, he needed a special tool to get it off. Ugh. Promises to return in the morning were made, and it was off to my dinner, sans-side dish, as the kitchen wasn't useable. Patrick tends towards the flighty side of things sometimes, so it wasn't until tonight that he was actually able to come by. Lots of sweat and elbow grease later, it was out with the old, in with the new, and I was sent in to clean up the disgusting wreck that was my kitchen.

I won't go into too much detail, but just know it was in a serious state of funk. Mold was involved. That's all I'll say.

I've just finished cleaning every dish, running the waster twice, cleaning off all the surfaces, cleaning the floor, and taking out the trash. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I have seriously been avoiding spending time at home as much as possible since this started. I feel at home in my home again, and my adorable little kitchen with the windows and breeze through doors to the porch and miami spice colored walls and white cabinets is back to it's normal state of lovely. The relief I'm feeling... can barely be put into words.