Citizen of the World

Our cleaning lady is here today and she always does a fantastic job.  She's so sweet and always very careful. 

Today, sitting at my desk, I hear, "I'm the Hamster of Happiness, baby! And I know stuff!" then CRASH!  She had hit our big Hamster of Happiness button we got at a party a few years back and gotten startled. Apparently, she'd never hit it before.

I pictured a margarita glass splintered all over the floor and our cleaning lady standing in the middle of glass shards not knowing where to go or what to do.  Thankfully, it was only votive candle holders that had fallen on top of our bar cabinets and hit each other. Nothing broken (everything's replaceable; I was truly more concerned about our cleaning lady than anything broken). But, she and I had a good laugh.  Crisis averted.

Yesterday marked the 6th week without our cleaning lady, Betty, who has been cleaning the place for at least 7 years. About 6 weeks ago, after her last visit, she told us she would be going on vacation and then back on August 25. Even still, after three weeks, I really had to clean a little something: I vacuumed the floors, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned my office more, and dusted my bathroom.

Betty is from the former Yugoslavia - I think Serbia. She's very sweet and her husband apparently is really handsome (I've never seen him). Betty cleans Matt's aunt's house, too, and has for a number of years. Betty didn't show yesterday to clean as scheduled. We made sure that everything was ready for her to clean before we left for the day (another story). But, at 11:00 PM when we got home yesterday from being out all day, we noticed from the parking lot that the kitchen light was still on - Betty always turns off the light when she leaves. She didn't come. She didn't clean.

This morning, I stand it any longer. Before I left the bathroom after washing my face, I began cleaning my bathroom - the counter, the little cologne shelf, my toilet, the shower and tub - everything. I only have the rugs and floor to do and then I'm completely done. Betty, if she shows next week, won't have to clean my bathroom, making more time for her to focus on other rooms - like the kitchen and dining room floors! I haven't had to clean much of anything - except the kitchen after cooking and my last apartment after moving up here - in about 3 years. Felt good, actually. And I feel like I did a little better job than Betty...