So I’m just gonna go ahead and admit that I am not someone who cleans very often. Or, ever, really. I realize this is not a very hygienic way to live (especially when one has a cat who sheds more in tumbleweeds than tufts), but that’s how it is. Part of this is that I have very poor organizational skills. Any given surface in my apartment is covered in stuff, what stuff depending on what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks and where I’ve felt like throwing whatever I happen to have in my hands when I come in the door. I don’t leave milk out on the counter for a week or anything like that, and I am pretty good about not leaving food to rot, but sweeping/vacuuming/wiping stuff down is something I rarely do (never, really). I wash dishes because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to eat off of them (no dishwasher). I get the hair out of the drain every day, but only because my hair is so legendarily good at clogging that if I don’t it’ll be entirely stopped up in two days (no, I’m really not exaggerating). And forget cleaning the tub or the sink.
The thing is, while I am a bit of a clean freak in terms of my actual body (have to wash my hair and all cracks and crevices on my body at least once a day), I don’t really care so much about the other stuff. I mean, dust is definitely unpleasant, but since I can’t afford one of those fancy swiffer duster thingies, I generally just wipe it off with my hand and deal. I could probably use a Roomba, except it would require so much effort in terms of picking up after myself I’d never use it. XD I’m just inherently lazy.
But I have company coming next weekend (unless plans have changed, in which case that is totally okay), and I want my apartment to be semi-livable for someone with different cleanliness needs than me. So here’s my recap of the day, all times approximate.
3:45 AM – Went to bed, made a list of things needing done, including emailing my voice teacher for a lesson soon, all the various cleaning (laundry, vacuuming, dishes, sweeping, taking out trash, etc), writing checks for bills to mail next week, and so on.
11:50 AM – Got out of bed. Went online to take care of online stuff so it wouldn’t distract me too much during the day. Ate a muffin and some cold pizza for breakfast.
1:07 PM – Finally got my ass out of my chair and went into bedroom to sort laundry. Counted quarters and came up with only enough for four loads, have enough laundry for seven loads. Decided to wash red, blue black, and delicate clothes today and sheets, towels, and tan clothes on Tuesday, after getting some more quarters. Put four loads in one big bin and toted it downstairs, then came back up for massive laundry detergent bottle and quarters. Put in first load and came back upstairs. Rested from being horribly out of shape.
2:00 PM – Went into room and started removing all non-mattress items. As I have no furniture in there at all aside from the mattress, a basket containing my books and an over-turned crate for a bedside table, this was fairly simple. Also removed Lae to living room to protect him from the dust. Bagged up all the trash that has been on the floor in there for a ridiculously long time. Swept like a mofo, tipped mattress up and swept underneath it, found about 15 hair ties from cat’s stupid habit of batting them under stuff (keeping in mind that mattress is ON THE FLOOR).
2:35 PM – Finished sweeping, felt like lungs were burning, went to get drink of water. Went downstairs to put first load in dryer and second load in washer. Came back up and vacuumed the crap out of bedroom, spent 15 minutes using disposable chopsticks to scrape a tangled matt of hair out of canister because “patented cyclone action” had wrapped it almost entirely around part that is, of course, impossible to remove for easy cleaning. Resolved never to get a long-haired cat again and as soon as money could be spared, get hair cut ridiculously short.
2:57 PM – Sat down to take another rest and gulp water, with a general feeling of accomplishment re: bedroom. Resolved to take a shower at end of the day, as already have sweated through shirt twice and covered in dust and hair.
3:24 PM – Got up and washed dishes in sink. Got all dishes that were in living room and moved them to kitchen, filled sink with more dishes to soak, about a third of the dishes I have left to do. Picked up more trash in kitchen/living room. After about fifteen minutes, went down to laundry room to collect first load of clean laundry, put second in dryer and third in washer. Am slowly being driven insane by a cricket trapped somewhere in the basement who is chirping extremely loudly (and it’s echoing off the concrete walls) and constantly. Would step on it if I could find it, and normally try to “relocate” insects rather than kill them.
3:56 PM – Got back upstairs and put clean laundry away, sat down for another rest and cooldown. Am highly amused by cat’s attempts to burrow under the blanket lying on the other arm chair. He burrows under everything if he can manage it, including my mattress pad when the bottom sheet is off my bed (it’s a borked mattress pad, one side is completely ripped so it’s lopsided and half useless).
4:25 PM – Got up and did a bunch more picking up in living room area. Broke down microwave box that has been sitting in the corner since I moved in, ganked some of the packing material for my XBox (it went all Red Ring of Death so I need to send it in) and threw anything not usable away. Also consolidated all books and video games to their proper places (yes, they do have proper places, they just keep getting up and walking to other places in the apartment). Sorted some of the things on coffee table, filled up first bag of trash.
4:48 PM – Went downstairs to get second load of clean laundry, put third in dryer and fourth in washer. Told cricket I would step on it if I ever found it. It had only the unceasing response it’s had all day. Returned upstairs and took one tank top and one pair of underwear out of clean laundry to use as pajamas tonight after my shower (once all the cleaning is done), put rest away. Drank a single serving milk carton when I realized I haven’t eaten since breakfast, went to rest for a bit again. Can’t really make any food right now, since all dishes in the whole place are dirty, but have some chips to nom in meantime.
5:22 PM – Changed kitty litter, took bathroom trash and put it in trash bag with old litter. Sat down to rest again, starting to feel all the heavy lifting in my back. Decided to clean bathroom on Tuesday (day off between temp jobs) so as to not get burnt out tonight. Also, less chance of it staying clean over five days than two and a half. XD Struggling to decide if I should vacuum living room today or just call it a day after laundry is done and trash taken out. I’ve made amazing progress already, so even if I quit now I’d feel good about all the work I’ve done.
5:44 PM – Went back downstairs with kitty litter trashbag and empty basket to get third load of laundry and put fourth in dryer. Cricket silent, must have been eaten or something. Dropped trash bag off and brought clean laundry back up, found cat lying on top of the tank top and underwear I’d chosen from my second load of clean laundry for PJs, chased him off and put them in basket next to bed (less chance of him lying on them there, he won’t get in the basket), then put away clean laundry from load three. Took trash bag out of trashcan and downstairs, bagged up most of the cardboard boxes in the kitchen in another trash bag, put empty trash bag in trashcan. Glanced at dishes in sink and then came into living room to collapse in chair again. XD Already decided that once there is a clean plate, leftover pizza is tonight’s dinner. Decided to wait on vacuuming living room, will have to move furniture to do so and my back is not thrilled by that prospect. Company is coming Friday, so plenty of time for a vacuum between now and then, just needed to do the bulk of the work today.
6:18 PM – Washed sink full of dishes, mostly plates and silverware with some of the bowls. Put some more in sink to soak, came back to living room to collapse until it’s time to get last load of laundry. Already decided I’m done after that last load has been fetched, I feel very stiff and tired.
7:03 PM – Finally went downstairs and fetched last load of laundry, as well as gigantic bin that had been used to transport the loads downstairs (used a smaller basket to get each load as it came out). Put the clothes away, then went ahead and took my shower. Then cooked leftover pizza in the microwave, and now enjoying the fruits of my labor, so to speak. X3 I am uploading the photos to Flickr instead of trying to include them in this post.
Hair still wet, fresh out of the shower, eyes glazed over from exhaustion.
And here’s the set for you! Commentary below each picture. XD
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