Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Queen of Domesticity

This is not me.

My house is a constant mess and this gets on my nerves.  My counter is full of papers.  My mail is unsorted.  My laundry is in various stages (from dirty to clean but unfolded to folded but not where it belongs).  My toilet is icky, and my sink is full of dishes.

And yet, I get home from work, and I survey this mayhem, and I choose to eat a bazillion pretzels while sipping a beer and watching TV.  What the heck is wrong with me??

Well, last week, I finally managed to motivate myself, only very slowly.  I decided, no matter what, no matter how tired I am when I get home, or how many beers I had at happy hour, I am going to clean ONE room, EVERY day.  Yeah!  Go me!

It turns out I make exceptions when I am busy getting slightly drunk and a little lost in NYC.  But this was OK, because I was in a different state.  And a little drunk/lost.  (It's a long story.)

So, it took a little longer than expected, but I have officially cleaned every room, and I will begin on round 2 tomorrow.  The house looks much better, and each room gets cleaned once every week.  This has been so motivating, that, drunken escapades aside, I have de-cluttered in non-designated rooms on several days.

This led me to tonight's discovery.  I pulled out my under-the-sink com poster (even though it was bathroom day) and noted it was full.  I pulled out the bag of organic contents for disposal in the big bin outside.  Everyone who composts says the pile of rotting organics does not smell as long as  you refrain from putting meats or animal fats in there.  In general, I have found this to be (basically) true.  Until tonight.  I cannot describe the horridness of this smell.  There turned out to be a brown liquid in the bottom of my inside bin.  The liquid was leaking from the bag liner and it spilled onto my floor as I tried very hard not to puke on top of it.  It was FOUL, and it stunk up my entire kitchen in a matter of seconds.

I soaked up the majority of the liquid with paper towels and tossed them to the garbage.  I then used disinfectant wipes, bleach, a swiffer mop, and finally an old towel to wipe up the damage.  I threw everything away and took the garbage out.  I hosed down the side walk just outside the door where some of the liquid had fallen.  I sprayed disinfectant.

And it still smells.  It is like a combination of poo and BO.  I think I can taste it.  I feel ill.

That'll teach me to clean.

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