A Great Sense of Well Being

Usually, every year when we get our cost-of-living raise, I immediately put it in Thrift Savings. That way, I never had it, and I don’t miss it. This year, with my Thrift Savings depleted more than I could have imagined, I have decided not to put my COL into TSP. Instead, I am planning to spend it on something that makes me feel REALLY good. I hired someone to clean my house. Someone I have seen around for two decades. She has worked for four neighbors who have lived in this neighborhood longer than we have. She remembers when the elusive offspring (yes, him) was a baby.

She came yesterday and brought her sister with her. Her plan is a good one: This week, focus on a deep cleaning of the first floor, which suffers from 7 years of construction dust. Next week, clean the first floor and deep clean the second and third floors. It’s a good plan, but I’m not sure how it will work out. I have a project room that I call “the explosion.” It’s where I dump stuff I don’t want anyone to see (and it’s a terrible mess). I am working on cleaning it out, organizing everything. But it is by no means ready for a maid. The master bedroom WAS ready, but I’m in the process of going through my closets and drawers trying to get rid of stuff. Also, I’ve started to gather Christmas presents in that room. I think I may have her hold off on the Explosion room and the master bedroom.

But it is amazing how good I feel about the first floor right now. It took both of them four hours to clean the living room, the dining room, the family room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. This house is a hundred years old, but not large. It’s just the right size as far as I am concerned. At least it will be when I have finished clearing out all the rooms of 24 years of accumulation. The downstairs looks fantastic. S and her sister scrubbed the kitchen, including walls and ceilings and shelves so that it literally sparkles! Wow! And all the wooden surfaces shine. After they left, I sat down in the living room and looked at the floors. Not a speck of dust, or dog fur to be found. The antique light fixture in the living room is beautiful again!

When S and her sister left yesterday, I hugged them and said they had made me feel fantastic. After the mess made by the first round of remodeling, I had given up trying to keep it under control. Then it just got away from me. And then it was just too overwhelming to contemplate. S has systems. She tackled the job with true gusto! I did a few things downstairs to help (and to make sure they understood how I would like things done), and then I got out of their hair and went upstairs to sort. I could hear them downstairs, talking (mostly in Spanish, a very little of which I understood, but didn’t care), and every once in a while I could hear S laugh. She has the most delightful laugh I have ever heard. I am serious about that! Every time she laughed, I smiled.

Kira wandered around them, even while they vacuumed, unconcerned (although some time I will tell the story about her and the stick). They absolutely loved Kira. Everyone loves Kira.

Anyway, I have two feelings. When I am downstairs in my beautiful, clean, well arranged first floor, I am unbelievably serene. When I am upstairs amidst the mess I have made in my efforts to get this house under control, I am depressed. I want to get to where I have that sense of well-being everywhere in my house. It will happen.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is probably my favorite holiday of the year. It's all about family, friends, fun and food. My sister says she even likes it better than her birthday. I agree. I like it better than her birthday, too. (hehehe)

OK, Happy Thanksgiving!