Oh - I'm Supposed to Change That?

A major milestone happened in the green3 household today. It's something we avoided for 11 years. We tried to ignore it. It was a sensitive issue and each time one of us brought it up, the other one ran like hell. But Hubs and I finally looked at each other this morning and decided we had to step up and address it before it took over our home and our lives, even if it was going to be traumatic for us.

The vent over the stove, the filter that had sucked (or from what I could see, not sucked) our grease for the past 11 years, had to be changed.

We both looked at the ominous task lying before us this morning. We covered our hands in paper towels and carefully unscrewed the cover. I wish I had a picture to show you, but frankly I was not thinking, "Hey, a photo op!", while I was chisling the filter loose from the cover. At least I think it was a filter - it was hard to tell.

We made a trip to the city to purchase a replacement filter, but to our surprise there is apparently a limited supply of replacement filters for overhead vents that were installed in 1954.

And speaking of gross stuff, I also decided to tackle the microwave this morning. If you have a microwave that is 8+ years old, open the door and take a look at the ceiling of it. Or if you have a weak stomach, make your spouse do it. If you see what I saw, you'll immediately unplug it and haul it out to the garbage. "Hey Honey, could you also put microwave on our shopping list?"

Hubs replied, "Well, since we're getting rid of gross crap, take a look at that toaster oven. You know, the one you've been trying to scrub clean for the past year. Yeah, that needs to go too." Check.

Since my kitchen is nice and clean (or I should say, NEW) tonight, I've decided I'm not cooking for a few weeks. I don't want to mess things up. We can just pick up some fast food as we search the country looking for a 1954 stove vent filter.