About once a month, I get this intense urge to clean the entire apartment. Not just like, putting things away and vacuuming, but EXTREME cleaning. The other 29 days, my desire is much lower, so this once-a-month push is a big deal for me.
It normally happens when Dave is at class, which is probably a good thing, because then I can crank up my weird music mixes (tonight's mix: Christmas music, Lady Gaga, Jordan Knight (not kidding)) and spray a ton of Pledge and not bother anyone else's senses but my own.
One thing I've learned since living on my own is that I would probably never want to live in an apartment or house bigger than the one I live in now. It's pretty small, but my gosh, it's hard and consistent work to keep a place clean. If you live in a huge house and manage to keep it clean without outside help, I don't believe you.
We have ceiling fans in the kitchen and our bedroom, so part of my cleaning ritual is to dust and Pledge those blades til they're shiny and dust-free. We also have a ceiling fan in the hallway, right when you walk in the apartment. I always forget about that one, since we typically don't use the light connected to that fan. However, tonight, I turned on the hallway light and happened to look up at it. And I was disgusted. Not kidding, I think the level of dust and grime on that thing would qualify our apartment for some sort of TLC or HGTV show. Like "Dirt Fans!" - a show about people who have gross ceiling fans and are fans of being dirty. We would win that show, if it were a competition show.
So there I am, standing in the hallway looking at this fan, totally grossed out. I spent a few moments strategizing how to clean it. If I stood underneath it, surely mass amounts of dirt and grime would fall down onto me, into my hair, and I wouldn't get it out for days. Like after you go to the beach and have sand in your hair for a couple of days, even though you wash it.
But then I remembered that Dave had been Dexter for Halloween, and as part of his costume, had worn this face-mask thing. That thing was like, $14, so I figured I may as well use it again and get our money's worth.
So, there I was, standing on a chair with my bloody Dexter mask on, dusting the grime off the ceiling fan blades, with Burl Ives crooning in the background. This is the glamorous adult life I'd always dreamed of. Look at me - living it!
So, not only did I go through that disgusting ordeal - I'm also writing it down and sharing it so others can see what a competent housekeeper I am.
Anyway. Not only did I clean tonight, but I also hung up my awesome map I bought in Seattle. I have LOVED this style of map since I saw one of California about a year ago, and when I was out in Seattle, I found it at this awesome map store. I love it! It reminds me of the ocean and the mountains (two things I wish I were closer to) and a great trip. And also, it's just pretty:
