Sunday, January 11, 2009

Roommate Wanted

A 5 bedroom house is WAY too much for one person to keep clean by themselves… I'm spending my entire weekend cleaning, unpacking, and organizing and have only finished one living room, one bathroom, and the kitchen… the other living room is only partially done and I still have a pile of ‘junk drawer’ stuff with no home… I've done laundry, deodorized the garbage can, washed the dishes (cooked dinner, and washed them again), cleared the back porch of puppy poo, and cleaned the couch that came with the house completely (washed the fabric cushion covers, hand washed the suede cushion covers, and scrubbed the couch seat and leather trim)… I switched the TV stands around (I like them better this way), organized the cables behind the TVs, set up the side tables, cleaned out Dexter’s kennel, hung some coat hooks up, and began the process of stowing my American appliances away. It's a lot... really... and it's taking all weekend… and I still haven’t made a dent in the bedroom or main guest room. It is a massive pain in the ass moving things around and cleaning all by yourself. I suppose I’ve always been spoiled by the presence of roommates… somebody to hand you the hook you dropped while you perch precariously on a surround-sound-speaker-turned-step-ladder with your finger marking the spot you carefully measured as 'just right'... or stand back and tell you how something looks here, no there, no here again. Someone to chat with you and keep your mind occupied while you do some repetitive, brainless, cleaning. Sometimes someone to even lend a hand to make the work go faster. Dexter is more the kind of company that manages to get underfoot while you’re carrying a heavy glass TV stand… or pee on the freshly mopped floor because you forgot to let him out… or nap on the couch and only look up when you drop something you’re cleaning as if you say “Excuse me, can’t you see I’m sleeping here?!” The worst part is, once all the unpacking is done (weeks from now, I'm sure) I’ll still probably have to do a full cleaning like this every weekend. It’s amazing how quickly dust bunnies breed under the couch and how paw prints appear on the floor as if you have a whole litter of puppies instead of just one.
I’ve decided I need roommates… it’s not as if I don’t have the space. I have two rooms in the house I never even go in… and two that I’m only using for box storage while I’m in the process of unpacking. I think household chores are reasonable rent even… because that’s really the only thing driving me crazy right now. So there’s the invitation/ad… Ever been curious about life in the UK? Want to live in London? Know how to mop a floor? Come live with me and my yellow lab!!! Bring a scrub brush! We’ll see if I get any bites.

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