Cleaning

I've successfully kept to my raw diet for 6 weeks and I'm finally starting to feel the results. I have fewer aches and pains, my stomach is pain free, and I'm not as sleepy or draggy even though I gave up my green tea caffeine fix a month ago.

For those wondering what a raw diet is, there are a few variations - some rely on juicing lots of vegetables (Hallelujah Acres), some create copies of mainstream dishes with food processers, blenders and dehydrators, some eat almost exclusively fruit, some eat raw eggs and dairy products. I've never been much of a cook, so I like to keep it simple. I make a lot of fruit smoothies in the blender, usually with added greens (lettuce, spinach) for protein and minerals, a few sunflower seeds and an avocado from time to time. Sometimes I eat plain fruit, or make creamy avocado soups in the blender. I thought I would miss Miss Moana's wheat-free sandwich cookies and my nightly popcorn, but the only thing I've really craved is soy 'chikin nuggets.'

So what am I doing with all this newfound energy? I'm getting back to cleaning my house, a little at a time.

I broke my kitchen cleaning into baby steps - 131 of them. I'm not talking about washing the dishes or cleaning the floor, stuff that has to be done every day, I'm talking about the deep cleaning that I've mostly let go because of low energy and other priorities that include a toddler. For instance, I divided the refrigerator into ten steps, and each cabinet and pantry shelf. My tentative goal is one step a day, more if I can manage the time. At one task a day, my kitchen will be cleaned well every few months (the refrigerator and microwave show up on the list four times, so they'll get cleaned more frequently.) That's a lot more often than every blue moon - lately, it seems like the refrigerator only gets cleaned when something starts to smell funny in there.

Today I did the first four tasks, so my refrigerator is almost half done. I could have done more, but Miss Moana is clingy and wanting to nurse for long stretches of time today. Maybe she's coming down with something.