Dear Kate (and anyone else who is under the impression that I live in a pristine house),

 

I think I need to point something out.

My house isn’t pristine.

It isn’t even close.

 

Okay, I have cleaned my toilet more times in January than in the last 2 years put together, and kept the dust off my bathroom ‘mirror-shelf’. I have also made sure my kitchen sink was shiny or at least empty [almost] every evening before going to bed. I have made my bed in the morning, and made sure I got dressed before going to work. Most days I eat breakfast, drink more-or-less as much water as I ought to, and can control my mean thoughts (or at least not let them out into the wild ;)).

That’s about the extent of my greatness.

There were admitedly a couple of ‘clean spells’ in the midst of the chaos, generally spurred on by the thought of company (best said in Badger’s voice ;)), but I have a long way to go before I am cured of leaving-things-out-for-later, of can’t-be-bothered-right-now-I’ll-do-it-tomorrow, of I’ve-cooked-and-the-kitchen-looks-like-it’s been-bombed-but-I-don’t-really-care, of piling-plates-on-the-counter-instead-of-emptying-the-dishwasher-to-make-space-for-them, of dropping things in the hall when I get home, remembering them only when I trip over them in the middle of the night. It’s still dark in my hall, because I haven’t got round to fixing the new light in place yet, despite buying it in November.

I have a whole machine-load of towels decorating my bathroom floor, waiting to be washed, because I’m not home long enough to make sure the machine doesn’t catch fire. I am a one-person household – think about how long it takes to gather that many towels together…

I haven’t been to bed before midnight more than a handfull of times this month, mostly resulting in being late and getting ranted at.

I haven’t done my ski-exercise-video nearly often enough. Or been swimming, or cycling, or otherwise very active.

I haven’t been tackling hotspots, or decluttering, or picking up after myself.

I haven’t revised for my exam or finished putting up my postcards.

There are a great deal more things I haven’t done, than things I have.

Like I said before, I have a long way to go…

Assuming long journeys begin with the first step, I’ve taken it, but I haven’t taken many of the others!!

Maybe one day I will reach the top of the clean-freak-mountain. Maybe I won’t.

If I’m honest, I hope somebdy stops me before my entire life revolves around things being and staying clean. It would be nice to have space to be creative, to know where I’m supposed to be and when, to have something reasonable (and clean) to wear when I go dancing (or to work), to know I can invite people over whenever I feel like it and not worry about the state of my house or whether there’s enough looroll to go round.

However.

On the whole I’m pretty sure this cleaning lark is a way of making those things possible, and not the aim itself. Even if it is this year’s project.

 

Thanks for believing in me 🙂 One day I’ll be as great as you think I am…

Lots of love,

Me xxx