Housekeeping

It seemed like a good idea earlier today to start cleaning the house before the party next weekend. I routinely put off dusting because it's like ironing: if I iron a shirt, that's the one that'll be worn the next day, so why waste the time ironing it? With dusting, I no sooner dust than the wind blows and fills the house with dirt, so I have to dust all over again.

Learning to balance between dusting too often and not dusting at all takes years of observation, field tests, and patience.

I vacuum more often than I dust, however, because of the dog hair. I really don't like having animals in the house, and Mia doesn't just share the house--she occupies it. There are no boundaries to where she plops, so there is dog hair everywhere, all the time. Hence, the vacuum gets quite a workout.

And I hate my vacuum! I paid a fortune for the darned thing and every time (yes, really, EVERY time) I use it, the belt slips off the smoothe peg hidden deep inside the belly of the beast. I have to manhandle the machine, take it apart, force the too-small belt back onto the peg, put the pieces back together--and then finish vacuuming. Of course, the machine belches dirt and dog hair back onto the floor during this process, which means I have to revacuum what I've already done!

And the expensive little dirt bag fills up every other week, so I'm constantly changing the bag, as well as cleaning out the flexible hoses, which pack with dog hair and then nothing works.

Anyway, I started the process today and have left the implements in the hallway so I'll trip over them in the morning, reminding myself that I have another several hours of cleaning to do because I'm finished for tonight.

Putting this all into perspective, I've realized that I need to invite people over more often so it isn't such a big deal! For crying out loud, this is 7 people for 2 hours a week from now --- I need to get a grip!