Clean House

I don't know how anyone ever keeps a clean house. It seems like "clean" is a state that lasts for about two microseconds, and then quickly degrades back to "lived in".

It seems like I spend hours going through things, putting away things, finding places for small treasures, and redoing the same chores over and over and over again - dishes, laundry, countertops, taking trash & recycling out. Last weekend, I cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, and mopped all the floors. Took out two loads of trash, cooked, cleaned and sorted until 3am. You'd think at some point I would get ahead....even if only for a minute.

My kitchen counter is a magnet for the avant garde of miscellani. Two hugging bear salt & pepper shakers, a 'so ugly it's cute' old japanese cream & sugar holder gilded, painted, and shaped like birds. Two cups I bought in Mexico, an old magnetic poetry calendar, the 80 proof remains of a bottle of sherry - shaped like an elephant no less. The dining room table is the same - though less artistic, and more practical. Pens, paper, things I've sold on ebay, coupons, books.

I emptied a box tonight which has been on my bedroom floor since I moved in. Mostly French books/notes and photographs. I cleaned out my wallet. I sorted out items to be mended & altered. More laundry - two loads down, one to go.

Tomorrow, it's errands. I have:

Rite Aid/Bartell's/Office Depot: CDR's (they all have sales on them)
Linens & Things/Bed, Bath & Beyond: Bath Pillow & Mesh Laundry Bag
Super Supplements: Calcium Citrate
Target: Broiler Pan
Costco: Shredded Cheese, Cheese Slices, OatMeal for a co-worker, and Premier Protein drinks if they have them (they haven't the last half dozen trips)
Tailor: Mending & Alterations
1/2 Price Books: Trade in Books/VHS Tapes
Mail HSA Paperwork
Drycleaner: Quilt
Work: Get the 2 frozen meals I left behind before the cleaning crew throws them away

Oh, and in my copious spare time, a chiropractor appointment.

How do you people do all this AND raise kids? Or work two jobs? Or spend time with *anyone*? For that matter, how do you even have time to watch TV?

I'm going to bed. Perhaps the magic "errand" fairy will stop by tonight and cross everything off my To Do list. Well, I can dream, can't I??

--BT