Um first off, I’d like to thank you again for all the love. I still have a way to go in my journey back to health, but I am buoyed by all the love unconditional love here. I’ve been in need of help cleaning for almost a year now. But, this post is not about my health at all. I’m just pointing out that the kitchen is BAD. Like really, really, really, bad. The last person to do dishes in this house was lawn kid. And we all know how that worked out. And I am sure he is this reason that baby mama ghosted me, because she is the one who asked me if I could give her some work. I still have dog hair from Banjo in my living room.
This is not another poor pitiful me post. I’ll be good soon I hope. And I didn’t want people to think that but I have an urgent matter matter probably do to my lack of housekeeping. That is the reason for the title of this post. Yesterday or the day before I dunno… I was talking to Just Jen who was being very generous. And as I went into the kitchen, I saw a mysterious brown substance on the kitchen floor. The whole reason for the introduction was to paint the scene. The kitchen floor is disgusting. There are random Publix bags, shit literally everywhere (sorry Marc with a C who I hear from nearly every day and he is cleaning and ironing like it is his job, I know if he reads this he will have a seizure).
So, enough about setting the scene. so I was chatting with Just Jenn and I told her about a small brown pool of something on my kitchen floor. The point is I am not so tidy so um, it still seem weird. It was near a cabinet, well more of a bookcase from Home Depot where I keep pots and pans and stuff because this 1950 house has not ever been updated and I needed more storage. I just wiped it up and threw it away eventually. But, how did it get there? The shelf has pots and pans and stuff all kinds of floral vases on the top. There is a lot of stuff so it would be hard to move. But, THERE IS NOTHING THAT WOULD LINK.
DAY TWO: There is a fresh pool and it is brownish red. Like IT COULD BE BLOOD. I am gagging just writing that. That is where I thought we would find the rat ( I get it we could not find it there) but we found it so I went on with life.
Again, the long introduction was because I am living in a shithole. Maybe I could have used less detail. BUT HERE IS THE QUESTION. Please keep the answer to yes or no. I don’t need gory details I am having a hard enough time eating already. So, yesterday or the one day recently I cleaned it up. And IT IS BACK.
KILL ME NOW.
I only have experience with mice. When in doubt, spray bleach cleaner and call a professional.
Have you ever put out D-Kon or some other type of poison for mice/rats? If so, it could be rat blood. The rat is slowly poisoning itself and could be throwing up the blood, then going back to wherever it’s residing; comes out looking for food at night. That’s all I’ve got.
NOPE.
On the good foot, I just called the kid who whose father used to do my yard and I taught him how to read. So he will be coming back from Alabama “next week” so that means after this week? I’m going to get a fine for this shit.
Are you sure there is not a forgotten can or bottle or box of something on that shelf that could be leaking? If not. . .well you might wanna call an exterminator! Good luck.
I have been watching old seasons of Flipping Out on freevee and watching Jeff Lewis makes me feel like a disgusting, disorganized, hoarding slob! I will go back to school next Wed. and I have not done a damned thing all summer. It has been great and I deserved it after the last 2 years of teaching during COVID, but usually I deep clean, organize, do all the stuff I never do during the school year. This year. . .I may suffocate in my sleep with all the dust and pet hair flying around here.
As a former teacher, I will buy you anything you want for surviving that. Not to mention gun violence. I’m terrified by the weather. But it was kind of amazing to me how calm I was when I had kids. I honestly think I would have retired over covid.
To answer your question there is no liquid/food products there. It’s like a bookshelf from whatever that place is with all the make your own bookshelf place.
I have my retirement papers on my messy kitchen table right now waiting for me to finish filling them out. This will be my last year. I am sad because I love the kids and know they need me but I just can’t anymore!
I have bought enough disposable & KN95 masks for the year and a large stockpile of alcohol. I joke I am like the cop in the movie that is retiring on Friday. . .we all know he is not going to make it! I am determined not to let anything get me before I retire.
Good luck solving the stain mystery.
Jen I get it. I had to do the same thing. It’s especially hard when you teach elementary. Sometimes they love you more than their parents. You spend so much more time with them than their own parents do. I still wish I could have adopted a little girl named Helena and her younger brother whose K teacher was angry because she was shitting everywhere. Um, hello clue?
She showed up at my house once for Halloween. I didn’t have any candy. She seemed happy and just wanted ….a hug. I think about her all the time.
Yep! I have been in 2nd grade in Title I schools for 28 years now. We all have our group of kids who we would have adopted in a heartbeat. I had 2 sisters who lived with their wonderful great-grandparents. The great grandmother was in a wheelchair and they were both on oxygen. Sweetest girls – 1 with learning disabilities. Their mom got out of prison and she took them when the great grandparents died. I still get calls from them 20 years later! I always called those kinds of kids my Mr. Bubble babies. I just wanted to bring them with me, soak them in a tub of bubbles, put them in clean PJs in a bed with clean sheets after a healthy meal and lots hugs. Sadly. . .we can’t save them all, but hope that our time/love we give them helps.
So I live and taught in an area with many Mexicans. That meant I need a translator for parent teacher conferences. I remember my translator trying to keep he composure as she told me girl’s mother said she was a whore. She had long hair at the beginning of the year. Then, one day she showed up practically bald. And not in a cute cut. I lost my shit and started sobbing during the conference.
Old laminate floorings can ooze upward and color consistent of the glue color. Could it be that?
I don’t think so.
That’s what I was thinking. Oozing up from the floor is not uncommon
“Oozing” is not generally not my favorite word although it certainly is descriptive!
If it’s showing up in the same spot on the floor, you may have a leak in your ceiling. It could be rusty water (hopefully that’s what it is). I don’t know the condition of your roof or if you have an attic, but that could be the problem.
I thought the same but there is nothing happening from the ceiling. It is COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE (what was that movie?) LOL. Did I mention I cleaned it up ( and I don’t clean anything up) with my paper towels and my feet? And also I will never bath again unsupervised?
Well now I’m stumped. Hope it’s not rat blood and whatever it is goes away.
Did you check the children? That movie the killer was inside the house.. I got nothing on your mysterious stain however. Hope you get it figured out fast.
I’m a fan of “burn everything to the ground” but I’m grumpy because I’m overworked, bitter, and full of hate.
That makes sense to me
“Burn everything to the ground” seems to be a running theme among many Americans for the past two years…Unfortunately, many are taking it literally.
Still disgusting, but it’s probably rat urine. Ew.
I see people around here using maid services around here. Blows my mind, but I’m cheap. I cook twice a day, usually. I call washing dishes and chasing dust bunnies “exercise.” Let me have my delusions…
But do they do it around here? My brain glitched. Happens a lot lately. Stand in middle of room wondering, why am i here? And not in philosophical way.
Well I guess there remains a brown/red oozing substance on my kitchen floor every day.
Rat urine will smell like ammonia, or a musky smell. It will also be chalky once it starts drying. It’s clear to a yellowish and can be a light brownish color. So maybe not rat urine? 🤔
Are there droppings around it? I would find it Strange that a rat would leave it in the same spot every time. There are smart and wouldn’t go to the same spot if it still smells. Seems like a leak or a “ooze”
Hmm.. Good point. Rusty condensation from fridge? Might drip when you open one of the doors?
I am no help here. I discovered mice in my kitchen a few months ago when I had a new dishwasher installed. The guys delivering the new and removing the old found a nest behind the dishwasher. I freaked out! They got rid of the nest, I bought traps and poison, put stuff everywhere. Would not let the guys actuallly install the dishwashser until I got traps that could be put behind it and every appliance! Also then got storage containers and cleaned out every cabinet in my kitchen so not a single crumb of food could possibly be out and found by mice. Also have traps, etc. in the attic and garage just to cover all bases. I’ve since checked traps and nothing. So hopefully they moved elsewhere. But for a few days I seriously thought about moving in with my sister and brother-in-law.They are sweet and would have let me stay with them while I worked through my hysteria. 🙂 MIght be time for you to get an exterminator. Just to be sure and have it handled. Take care.
I’d rather discuss possible rodents in the house than about the RHOBH nasty cast members who are bullying the lovely Sutton. 🙁
Would it be possible for you to point your computer’s camera at the general area & record what happens? Might be the quickest way to figure out if there’s an animal involved. Fingers crossed it’s not a puddle making poltergeist! 🤞
Just had a thought, you could scatter some powder on the floor in the area to see if there are any foot prints?
Clever
Oh you! So clever! You could be a mouse detective!! You could pitch a show! LoL.
Genius! I love those Duh! Why didn’t I think of that it is so obvious but it never occurred to me things.
My aunt was remodeling an old farm house and they could hear a mouse in the wall cavity where they had opened some drywall. They didn’t want it to die in there. My grandfather (a school superintendent who grew up on a dairy farm) said get some string, tie knots every few inches and hang it down in the cavity. The mouse will climb up and not die in there.
Another time they had a mouse in the basement. Grandpa put a regular pail on the floor with bird seed or food in it. The mouse uses the handle of the pail to climb up and in, but then can’t climb out.
After watching that latest American horror stories on hulu, I am not hooking up any cameras in my house to find things, lol!! Powder seems like a good idea and perhaps it’s an animal marking that area.
What kind of kitchen flooring do you have?
You are too funny. Cleaning & ironing for me is like behavoiral therapy. I have extreme house pride i.e if everything is IMMACULATE I feel so much better ! If its cluttered or messy ( my roomate ) I have severe anxiety. If I open a drawer in the kitchen ( any drawer but specifically the silverware drawer ) & its unkempt it drives me crazy ! I grew up in an enviroment of complete & total cleanliness & order so chaos of any kind makes me feel so low. Granted my grandmother had 11 children my mother had 6 so if they can manage I should be able too ! Off to bed great but long day at work ! Xo Marc with a c
I would think if it’s an animal you would have more “evidence.” My fridge was leaking in the same spot for awhile before I figured it out. It left a little puddle on the floor every few days. The repairman gave it a new part and I was good. As others have stated there would be a smell to the brownish spot if it were urine. Know anyone with a cat they could lend you? Just to see if they detect anything? Brave enough to set out some bits of food to see if it is tampered with? I am right there with you on fear of the “not knowing.” If you can muster it, try to call an exterminator. It will give you peace of mind if nothing else. Sending hugs and strength to you!
Any new developments on the mysterious puddle today?