Getting Hot And Steamy.....

One of my pet peeves has long been having a clean floor in the house since I walk barefoot all the time.  Our friends all know to remove their shoes upon entering our house, if they wish to stay in my good graces.  My typical floor cleaning routine involves hours of vacuuming, followed by washing the floor and then dry mopping for a final touch. My wonderful but sarcastic husband continually says   "there's medicine for that" as if I'M the one with the problem.  Surely, everyone should want their floors to be clean enough to eat off of, I would assume.

After talking to some lady friends who also share this infatuation for cleanliness, several mentioned having steam cleaners.  One of my friends casually mentioned last month that since we were headed back to the states anyway, why not pick up a steam cleaner at Walmart.  Since we had other items to stock up on at "Wallyworld", we checked out the steam cleaners while we were there.  Overwhelmed by the variety, we emailed our friend here in Panamá from Texas to find out what make and model of steam cleaner she has been using, before making the purchase.

To make a boring story less boring we ended up buying a Shark steam cleaner along with extra pads since they're not available here.  Due to this purchase we ended up having to borrow an extra suitcase from the friends we were staying with in Texas.  But since they plan to visit us in Panamá sometime, they can fill it up on this end with cheap rum, seco and shoes and have it back.

Yesterday since dear Clyde decided to tackle the lawn, I knew he'd spend most of the day outside.  While he was mowing, trimming, weed pulling and grooming everything on the property, it gave me the opportunity to clean the floors inside. But before starting on the floors I had to shower and then decided the clean all three showers and bathrooms.  And everyone knows the best thing to wear while cleaning a shower is nothing to avoid getting one's clothing wet. 

After the naked bathroom cleaning I got dressed and started on the overwhelming task of cleaning the floors.  It seemed that having the house closed up tight for two weeks caused more dust and dirt than when we're here with the windows open.  After sucking up dirt and gecko poop throughout the house I washed the floors before proceeding to sanitize them with the steam cleaner.

Tired and hungry I stopped for lunch, and called Clyde over to eat too.  While sitting in our outdoor living area it started to rain and I asked my dear husband what he was going to do in the rain.  After all he knew that he was absolutely not allowed back into the house while I was doing the floors.  Being the nice wife that I am, I gave him the laptop and told him to be a good boy and stay outside.  He was ecstatic with a laptop and a hammock while I went inside to do more cleaning.  But to his dismay, just as he got comfy in the hammock the rain stopped and the guilt set in. He decided to get up and resume his "'yard boy" duties.

My calloused hands continued to work on our old tile floors for most of the day.  Not sure if the steam made much  of a difference, but at least I know they're clean and sanitized.  After yet another shower we scrambled to put the scatter rugs and furniture back into place before dinner.

Despite being tired Clyde grilled chicken, veggies and arepas (thick corn tortillas filled with cheese and grilled to perfection) along with a pot of beans that had been slow cooking in the crock pot.  A friend stopped by and we dined under the bohio sipping on a few adult beverages as the stars lite up the night sky.

Our Panamanian neighbors provided the ambiance with loud music and fireworks as they partied around a bonfire.  Although our get-together ended around 10pm, the neighbors partied into the wee hours of the morning.  Fireworks continued through much of the day today in our neighborhood along with others.  Although we're not aware of any local holiday this weekend, there seemed to be an abundance of  parties around the town.

A late breakfast in Coronado was followed by a stop to visit friends on the way home.  The rest of our Sunday was spent being lazy with some mindless movies and leftovers for dinner. A tranquil end to a busy weekend of getting hot and steamy and whacking some weeds....along the gringo trail.