confession 2:
I just asked Curtis if we could hire a maid. And I wasn't kidding. I do not have a big house or too-hectic schedule--at least not hectic enough to necessitate someone else having to clean up after me. I'm not asked to pull 70-hour workweeks and I don't tote around three kids.
The thing is, I'm terrible at keeping things picked up. Our house is always clean (wiped up, scrubbed and vacuumed), but is also always cluttered. I'm good at making messes. Especially when I start projects that I don't have time to finish. It would help if I worked in my office/studio, but instead I opt for my couch. It's comfier. And I haven't found the right chair for my desk in my office--and desks without chairs are a little obsolete.
I figure that if I knew a maid was coming once a week, I'd have a reason to keep things picked up a little better for her/him. Maybe I should just invite people over for dinner more often. But that would require grocery shopping, which I don't like very much. Weird, but true: I get confused, frustrated and cold in the aisles of my local grocer.
Any advice is appreciated. Even if you just have the phone number of a good house cleaner. In the meantime, I'm glad I manage to keep my blog pretty tidy. Raspberry jam is never spilled on my pure-white backdrop.
Thanks again for the challenge, Tonia. I'm feeling better already.
15 comments:
oh, how i can relate. sadly, i am yet to find a cure. loving your confessions.
Ha! I HATE grocery shopping too. I get lost, confused, always send to end up with stuff i don't need/won't eat and nothing that I actually set out to get. The Clash song is appropriate for us, apparently.
Wait, what Clash song? Am not cool.
Totally relate to all of this:)
Oh, Ali. I relate so well. In fact, a few years ago, (when I got my housekeeping in control) I rewarded myself with the services of a weekly high schooler to clean for a couple of hours. I simply asked a girl in my ward if she wanted to clean once a week, and the $10/hour I offered her was about five dollars more an hour than anywhere else she could work. (And about $30/hour less than official maid companies.) I give her the jobs I don't want or couldn't get to during the week, which strangely almost always includes the bathrooms. She comes for one or two hours most weeks and it's the boost I need to keep on top of it all.
Ask around and I bet you'll find somebody who could use a little extra spending cash in her pocket.
I'm loving your confessions!
ditto ditto ditto, girl. i love that underneath our clutter is a clean house. knowing that makes me happy. i've found that hosting a dinner party is the best motivation for a spic & span home.
i try and tackle one area at a time.. so tidying up doesn't get too overwhelming. another thing i try to do is every time i am talking on the phone to my sisters or mom (well knowing that this is going to be over-an-hour-long-convo) i attempt to involve myself in mindless cleaning, laundry or sorting bills, etc. this is the best kind of multi-tasking.
and ps. grocery shopping sucks the life out of me. seinfeld does a great bit about this. so happily, we're not alone.
The socially conscious part of me (which is getting bigger by the minute, just ask Jamie)is way uncomfortable with the fact that we have a once-every-two-weeks house cleaner at our apt, 8C.
The part of me that loves coming home to a clean house that has way too many adults living in it and no job chart, loves it.
It's a twice-monthly conundrum. Don't start, you'll get hooked. Forgive me, Barbara Ehrenreich!
Clash song = "lost in the supermarket". Download now.
If i didn't live in a tiny 1 bedroom i'd probably be clamoring for help.
OK. No joke -- Grant just asked me if we could hire a maid -- can you believe it?!? He doesn't like to clean up kitchen messes after dinner (which we make MAYBE once a month). I told him yes. Then I can direct her about and tell her what needs extra cleaning, scrubbing, etc. After, we could go get pedicures.
BTW, I LOVE grocery shopping. That's when you know it's really bad (addicted). When ANY kind of shopping at all makes you feel relaxed, in control, and content.
Ali, I have to admit, although you probably know because I met your sister Ashley recently, that I have been reading/enjoying your blog for a long time now. Sorry I have not yet posted, and apparently need to do so a bit more promptly, or I end up on the long list of comments. But I loved your remarks about sitting on the couch to do your work. My husband was quite pleased when I finished my master's because he got the living room back - no more stacks of papers and books all over the couch and coffee table. Sadly, I can't give any suggestions except maybe move to student housing in Boston where your space is so small you have to keep it de-cluttered or go insane. But I don't really recommend that either. Good luck.
Thanks Anna! So happy to hear from you. I don't think I have any chance of getting trapped in student housing at Harvard--terrible as it may be. :)
You're welcome around here anytime, as long as you're willing to put up with my silliness and my dippy confessions.
ali anderson...first of all, I will come and clean for you...and i am NOT kidding at all! i love to organize:) and secondly...like jamers, i LOVE to grocery shop!! i love to go up and down the isles and see what i could use...or eat, i guess...i actually have been thinking about starting a business (not serious yet) and going shopping for people that either hate it or are unable to for some reason or another!! so........put me to work! plus, i am finished with school...YEAH!!! think about it!!:)
heart,
jenny j
What?! You're done with school? A big, heartfelt congrats! What an accomplishment.
I really might take you up on the organization bit. Seriously.
ali...once you find that cleaner...let me know! I'm going bonkers and would love someone to help me out!
So many long comments.. I love it.
Well Ali, you know I have to put my two cents in.
I'm almost the opposite, I can not rest until messes are cleaned up and everything is put away. Even if we get home late at night, I have to "clean up" before I can get into bed--I know, I'm crazy...and I think it annoys Cody.
One time I was sick and there were cups and tissues and crap all over the coffee table and I was going insane.
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