Monday, January 26, 2009

Cleanliness is next to Godliness?

I am the sort of person who is pretty obsessive-compulsive about cleaning. Which is why it drives me craaaaaaaaazy when my house looks like this:

There's laundry baskets to be sorted, clothes to be folded, wires to be untangled, beds to be made, doggie hair to be brushed away, and carpets to be vacuumed.

My husband is at work & my CFS is too bad today for me to even get off the couch.

To make matters worse, I'm getting really really stressed coz the cleaning lady is coming tmrw, and I have to tidy the house before her visit.

Yes, I do know how that sounds. All I can say is - that's the kinda person I am, and you're just gonna havta get used to it!

In fact, the only reason I am willing to share the messy home photo with you is that I don't know you, so I won't know if and when you judge me.

But I do meet the cleaning lady every week, so I can't possibly let her see the mess. Whatever will she think, after all?! Ergo, I have to clean the house before tmrw.

I do realize I have probably lost you by now, but if you think long and hard abt it, you will realize that there is some sort of convoluted logic somewhere in there.

Anyway, to keep me from going completely bonkers, my hubby & I have come up with a system. The days I am not well, he helps by cleaning at least one room so that I have my little haven where I can sit all day and pretend that all's right with the world.

So, here I am, sitting in a near spotless living room, looking out at the most gorgeous view through the picture window, writing my blog.

I'm thinking - would I really be willing to trade the muddy pawprints, the strewn doggie toys and half eaten bones for a spotless home, but a home with no Lola?

And I'm thinking, maybe some mess isn't entirely a bad thing. After all, to paraphrase Laurence J. Peter, "If a cluttered home is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean home?"

UPDATE - the cleaning lady just cancelled for tmrw. Yaaaay! a reprieve!

7 comments:

  1. Fool ! Don't you pay the cleaning lady to 'clean' ???

    Tsk tsk...

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  2. Ah, yes, my house is a constant disaster, especially with 6 kids who think that CFS means a multi-year vacation from cleaning the house. I love that you have your oasis -- mine is my bedroom, which I try to keep as clean as possible. Maybe I'll try the cleaning lady thing, and at least get a day or two of order!

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  3. Hey Shelli,

    life has gotten much easier since we've got someone in once a week to clean. she does all the 'heavy duty' stuff that I can't like laundry, cleaning the bathroom etc. I also ask her to cook a couple of things wile she's here, and freeze them for the rly bad days when I can't cook. Perhaps you could try that too.

    Cheers :)

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  4. I'm with Hriday on this one. Who cleans to impress the cleaning lady? No wonder she loves you :-)

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  5. Hriday,

    I am just going to ignore you - as usual! :P

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  6. ha, ha, that's a good one- karan and hriday!

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