Day 2 of 2012 -- Putting New Year's Resolutions Into Effect

It's the second day of 2012! What a better way to spend my day off with.....CLEANING! Yes, that's right. I cleaned the kitchen.

For 2 weeks the kitchen was a madhouse! I was baking for Christmas and the next week was New Year's. I still hadn't really cleaned up all the mess.

When I woke up, I felt ill! My cold still isn't over, but that's the best time to clean. I can't smell anything or even breathe so any cleaning products won't affect me. If I didn't clean today...it wouldn't get done for a LONG time. It's easier to do it all at once...for me.

First thing to tackle...the oven. For two weeks I abused it! 7 types of cookies, 1 batch of cupcakes, 2 batches of furikake mix, and 3 batches of chichidango. I think I used the oven over 24 hours total in the baking extravaganza of Christmas and New Year's!

I really hate cleaning the oven. So I thought to scrub it down and then use the "self clean" function. 3 hours is the shortest period you can set it?!?!

As I the oven was self cleaning, I go to the next section of the kitchen....the counter tops. OMG the amount of stuff I left on them is amazing. I still had the cooling racks and baking pans out.

Cleaning out all the things on the counter, I find so many gift cards from years of Christmas presents. I hope some are still okay to redeem. There's 4 packages of Halls...all opened of course. Stamps that were 39 cents. 5 sticks of Blistex, 10 packs of gum (yes, gotta love Costco!), and the list goes on. Time to organize this mess!!!

After an hour or so, it's better than before. Time for the next area...under the sink!

All the cleaning products and my fist tank accessories are under there. Since I don't have my fish tanks running right now, I decide to move the accessories with where I've stored the fish tanks....outside. Because I moved the accessories, I have more room for something else. Now what to put there? I know...the alcohol! All the alcohol on the counter top is under the sink.

The oven is still self cleaning. Where to tackle next? The dining table area of course! We've been putting everything that isn't on the counter top on the dining table. Mail and more gift cards.

We have so many shopping bags, what are we going to do with them?!?! I know it's good to environment to bring your own bag, but there are quite a few times when we forget to do that...and that seems to be the case when we go to Wal-Mart. OMG, the amount of Wal-Mart shopping bags is astounding!

As I am cleaning the dining table, the self clean is done...FINALLY! The dining area is almost done...well whatever I can do. There's still all the mail to sort through...what to shred and magazines to recycle.

Time to finish off the oven! You would think "self clean" would mean what it says....boy you're in for a treat! It "cleans" itself with high heat. Because of this you have to wipe all the ash stuck to the surface. At least it's clean now!

The last area to tackle is the refrigerator. At least this is an easy clean. Take out everything that is and reorganize what's left. The only hard part is cleaning the outside since it's stainless steel.

The last part is sweeping the floor....mopping can wait for later. I am FINALLY done with what I can do with the kitchen! It only took 5 1/2 hours!!!

Panorama of dining area to the sink

What should I tackle next when I have a free day....maybe the junk mail pile and the bedroom!