I don't think that George and I realized that when we hired housecleaners to come every other week that it would mean work for us. They do a great job, and when I come home from work the house will sparkle and smell that freshly cleaned smell of lemon wax and floor cleaner. But every Monday we are faced with the task of picking up after ourselves and getting the surfaces clean and ready for them. Why is this hard? Because we are pack rats. We have magazines, mail, newspapers, an airplane in the livingroom, groceries on the counter, china and tea things on the diningroom table, my knitting projects in the den and clothes in the bedroom that need to be folded and put away. All that stuff! I wish I was a minimalist and had about 10,000 fewer things. But we are both pack rats and get a lot of enjoyment out of our stuff.
And, let's face it: we have had a lot of time to collect it and we wouldn't have it if we didn't want it.
Our new rule is that every time we bring something new into the house, something old goes out. It doesn't work, that rule. We like our old stuff too! Oh, what to do.
George's task this morning is to take the Christmas wrapping paper in its tupperware container up to the attic, and mine is to take my jewelry-making things off the dining room table. And all this has to be done in the few minutes we have before it is time to go to work.
But having the house clean is worth the trouble and the money, although, I admit, it is expensive. Neither one of us has the time to clean house, neither of us are great house-cleaners, and both of us have too many things that we enjoy doing with our free time. Somehow, using our hard-earned free time on weekends to clean house just didn't seem like a good idea. Having housecleaners who do a great job of it, and not having to worry about it, is worth the cost.
Sorry, I have to go. I have work to do!
Have a great day.
