Cleaning woes

It's just the two of us. The two of us in a 1650+ square foot house with one four-legged furry beast that delights in eating bones on the rug and jumping on the couch to spread his hair shedding wealth when we aren't looking. The two of us who actually probably only use half of the house - one room and one bathroom stay closed unless we have company, the office is only opened when I'm feeling excited to pin. We wake up in the morning and make a path from the bedroom to the bathroom to the kitchen and out the door, stopping briefly for a minute to feed the dog who by that time is already planning his escape or, more likely, his next nap spot. He prefers to sun in the backyard in the morning, then once it heats up in the afternoon, he moves inside to the coolness of the tile floor. By the time we get home, he has convinced himself that we have been gone for months, were never returning, and that he is starving. Mind you, he's not. He maintains his weight very nicely according to his vet. He needs to get over that... but the point being, while we are gone, he has full reign over his minions in the backyard, which include a stuffed duck and doughnut, and only about a 3'x4' slab of tile right in front of the backdoor inside. With exception taken for when we have the occasional rainstorm and he manages to throw his little 30lb body against his crate to break free to the rest of the house, he doesn't do much to add to the hair dust bunnies in the corners of the house.

Ah yes, the dust bunnies.

I get home at night, and after pretty much making the same path taken upon leaving for the day, I do the daily struggle with what to do. Up there with my desire to not workout is my desire to not clean. Sure I will do the dishes sometimes; I try to wipe down the kitchen counter-tops too. Huynh is good about vacuuming up that pesky dog hair from the living room rug but aside from that, we are both guilty of finding our couch much more comfortable than bending over a toilet and cleaning it. The only time our house gets a top to bottom clean job is on the weekend when we do a marathon cleaning session which is, one, never fun and, two, a great way to waste a perfectly beautiful day. We end up exhausted; I end up napping. It's these days that Huynh is a rock star because not only does he help on the inside of the house, he is also tackling the outside (where I tend to be of no help). I have known something has needed to change for a time now, and even attempted to start a daily cleaning regimen but just nothing ever stuck. And for us, who really only use a fraction of our house, it really shouldn't be that difficult to keep maintained.

Enter Jenny. Yesterday, she posted her cleaning trick and it's ingenious - a chore chart! I agree with her; I become envious when I go over to another friend's house and it is immaculate. I marvel that they found the time to not only clean but look beautifully showered, well-rested, and are wearing lipstick as they greet us at the door with a plate of freshly baked cookies and a tall glass of iced tea. Their house is not only tidy but clean. Sure, I can make a tidy house but the operative word there is clean. I want to maintain a clean house - for me and my sanity.

So we are going to try it. I modified hers a bit to make it more conducive to us. We do better if we gradually do launder clothes instead of waiting until the weekend. Besides, I have to keep reminding myself, it is just the two of us. We don't produce quite the amount of clothing that I know you readers with kiddos produce so laundering a little bit every day works for us. I also know that we can't plan to do anything on Fridays - or Saturdays for that matter. Best to leave the weekend as the weekend.

Tonight starts off with a bang: I have to clean the bathroom. Or rather, I GET to clean the bathroom!!! Oh joy. I will be sure and keep you posted.