Cleaning Fool

I feel like I've been cleaning house for six months. Last June I worked hard to get the apartment ready for occupancy, and no matter how hard I worked, there were still cat fleas to deal with. (For some reason, they never bite me, but they do bite others. The opposite is true when it comes to mosquitoes.)

Then there was a lot of cleaning to do in August to help Rachel when she moved into her apartment. It was "clean," but we tried everything, to no avail, to get rid of the smoke smell. The guy downstairs smokes a lot and it just constantly pours into Rachel's apartment.

Then there was a medium amount of cleaning to do to prepare for visitors and parties in the fall.

Then there was cleaning to do after Andrew and Laura left for Ethiopia.

Then there was the post-Christmas cleaning.

Then there was the month of January. Construction dust, muddy footprints, etc. I've already been cleaning like a fool, but it will be some time yet before all the carpet stains are removed.

Then most recently I cleaned to prepare for renters. My first inclination was to not really clean very well and just say, "You can come clean it to your specs, and then then take it off the rent." But I thought better and we cleaned and cleaned. Then, the cat snuck back in and left some poop behind the TV which didn't make the new Mrs. very happy--understandably so, since she is pregnant. So now, because of the cat poop and because of the dust behind the furniture that they moved, they are now completely cleaning it all again. And washing the carpet. Sigh. I should have just gone with my first inclination and saved myself a lot of effort and a little bit of hurt feelings.

And that's not all. I've still got to get my house cleaned and back together to make it at least passable for tomorrow's Superbowl party.

I think I'm beginning to understand why people hire people to clean. It is less work, it is an opportunity to spread the wealth, and it gives a person someone else to blame if it isn't done well.

At least I have two very new and very clean bathrooms.