I looked under the bed this morning to see what was lurking. The recovered tally includes: one lone sock, a book, a couple of dead crusty Kleenex, several clots of dog hair, a hair scrunchie and few magazines. (no they weren’t porn unless you count cooking magazines as food porn)
It is not that I don’t want to have a clean house. I come from a clean family. I can assure I am not wallowing in my own filth; it is less mess and more clutter. I like the smell of cleaning products- Febreze is like crack as far as I am concerned. However, unlike women in commercials I am incapable of becoming orgasmically happy over having a really clean bathroom. I have come to accept the concept of “clean enough.”
Things I would rather spend my time on versus cleaning:
• writing,
• reading,
• napping in a patch of sun,
• snuggling with Bob,
• walking the dogs,
• making homemade soup,
• searching aimlessly through catalogs thinking about the amazing amount of crap you can buy and wondering does anyone really need a home hot dog steamers (bun warmer attachment optional),
• spending time with friends,
• staring aimlessly into space (I like to call this brainstorming- it makes it sound more productive),
• making up a pot of hot tea and curling up with a fleece blanket,
• watching hockey
• having imaginary interviews with various talk show hosts about my book, In the Stars, where I sound witty and never do that snorting laugh I can do when I’m nervous.
The only times I tend to notice the leaning towers of books, scribbled notes, and stacks of clean laundry that never seems to get put away is when guests come into town. Then I remember it is that very clutter that makes this house, our home.
What would you rather do than clean?
I think you already hit my top 5 “things I’d rather do than clean” which definitely includes reading, napping, hot tea and fleece blankets. You’re a gal after my own heart! 😉
Anything…I love to watch sports, go for walks, garden and read. Spending time with people while doing the above just makes it all better. However, I believe there needs to be a distinction between “cleaning” and the rest of the stuff required to do before “cleaning.” I don’t mind the “cleaning” job. I like the “sparkle” that is the result of elbow grease. I hate the sorting, filing, shredding, folding, putting-away, straightening tasks that have to occur before I can clean. I do love the way you define it as “what makes a house a home.” That I can live with.
Watching hockey — you’re a real Canadian now.
Guess what I have to do now? Put away the clean laundry from last weekend to make room for this week’s stacks.
I’m pretty sure I’d rather clean than make soup. But I’m dangerously close to being like the woman on Wife Swap who just piles the clean laundry on the kitchen table and has her family pull their clothes from there all week. But if the only alternative was four quarts of chicken stock in a pot and some sort of carcass, you can bet I’d start folding 🙂
I have to admit that I’m a bit of a neat freak. But I HAVE to be, as you’ll see from tomorrow’s post!
And I firmly believe that staring into space (daydreaming) is exactly the reason that I’m a writer. How else an we connect all the dots, dream all of our characters’ dreams? You go stare into space, Eileen, and well all look forward to reading what comes of it.
I’m very suspicious of people with immaculate houses. I’ve come to believe that a little clutter is a sign of a healthy mind, as is staring off into space. And I would rather stare into space than vacuum or fold laundry any day!
How about taking a long steamy shower or a relaxing bath? If the body is one’s temple, then “cleaning” it comes first. ;o)
Now I have seen that hot dog steamer with optional bun attachment … I actually stopped to read the description (as if it weren’t self-explanatory!). Sigh. I need a life.
I have my moments of being in the cleaning zone (okay, it doesn’t happen often, but it does happen), but more often than not I’m wishing I could lie in bed with tons of great fiction, messing around on my computer, writing, and watching hours of TV and videos (we don’t have cable or reception for regular stations so my reaction to TV when I’m exposed to it I tend to watch for hours at a time, plus we never go to the movies so we wait for everything on video).
I’m okay with “clean enough” but I have to tell you, I’d love a super clean house, especially if I weren’t the one who had to clean it all the time!
Um … I actually like cleaning. A lot.