Cleaning

My friend, Carol, and I have come up with an excellent plan for the mundane chore of house cleaning. About 2 years ago, we complained to each other that we never got the whole house cleaned at once. It just took too long. We would dust and vacuum part of the house one day, clean the kitchen and a bathroom the next day, maybe clean the other bathroom(s) another day, dust and vacuum the bedrooms another day... Long story short, by the time we got to the end of the process, the first rooms cleaned were a mess again. (In reality, I had really gotten to the point that my cleaning was pitiful at best -- I didn't do it often enough and I didn't do such a hot job when I did.)

So, we decided to do it together. Once a week we get together and clean one house. Today, for example, we are cleaning hers. I will dust and vacuum and she will clean the kitchen and the bathrooms. When we are here next week, she will dust and vacuum and I will do the kitchen and the bathrooms. (I'm sorry, but I wouldn't wish cleaning my bathrooms on my worst enemy -- I have 4 boys living in this house, three of them under the age of 12. Things get ugly in there! But that is a story for another post.)

Anyway, the best part of this arrangement is that we have lunch (or breakfast, depending on timing) together. Whoever's house is being cleaned supplies lunch. So, we clean (and chat as we go) and when we are done we enjoy lunch together. The whole thing takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Our houses are cleaned every other week -- the whole house -- and we get to visit and chat and eat. Brilliant!

The only down-side is that I will spend most of the afternoon cleaning and then come home to a messy, dirty house. But, next week will be my turn!