Housekeeping Hall of Shame #2

A lizard came in my house. I let it stay for about a year before I finally escorted it out. I've found dead frogs before, just not sure how they get in. Probably the same way the lizard did, duh! My bathroom hasn't had a working sink in a couple of months. I haven't cleaned the floor, there is a layer of dust & hair. That's also where my semi-dirty clothes accumulate

Selenawolf...hahahaha....how sweet!  Do the meecies have names?

Meeny, Miney and Mo. (embarrassed). I feed them birdseed; they love it. They all have strict instructions to hide when my honey goes into the cellar. They moved in two years' ago after my last cat passed away and I guess that I need something to look after.

Ahem. Rats. Live ones. There is a carriage house that we call the garage, it is sort of in a bad state of decay, we just use it for storage of stone, glass, paint, xmas ornaments, you know, stuff. And it is covered with ivy. Sooo, apparently many pesks live in it. I am soo far behind on cleaning since dx, that really I keep the kitchen and bths clean, but not under and behind things. So manfriend said he saw something moving out of the corner of his eyes the other night. And a few minutes later he said he saw it again. Since I had been hearing a rat crashing around in the ivy at night, i knew what it was. So, our house is kind of dark at night, we only keep the lights on in the area of the house that we are in, I got the flashlight to look. Oh. My. God. Rat turds, cobwebs, and other nasties. All under furniture, and between the wall and furniture, up in corners. Eeew!!! I sleep on the floor on my shikibuton over by my bookcase (handy!), and sure enough, there were rat turds there too, and also....silverfish! Eating my books! We only got the house tented for termites about four years ago, so i know nothing was in there then. But I haven't cleaned much since dx. Have gotten rid of stuff, clothes that don't fit etc, but that's just gross. I had just started to clean the house a few days before that, but started in the kitchen going top down, so i hadn't seen all that. And, I am starting to wonder if i am a hoarder too. My excuse was I am an artist, and I find things I am going to use for these sculptural boxes, like dioramas in miniature, but I have really got to question if it is just too much to keep up with. Every surface is a table to put stuff on. If I put it away in a box, I forget that I have it. Sigh. here comes the vacumn. So, I have been cleaning like a very tired maniac the last couple days, and instead of putting away all the cleaning supplies, i am just leaving them out till I am done. I am at least 5 years behind, because the year before i was dx'ed, i was the caretaker of my friend who passed, and was too busy to clean then too, and the year before that, i worked too much overtime. I will post pics when i get em off my phone. Nice to see you, Selena, and I am glad you have cute mice.

I have a housekeeper who comes every other week. The honest reason I have her is it makes me go thru the mail and all the clutter every other week so my house doesn't end up on major hoarders on tv. Expensive price to pay to get me to straighten up, but it's the only thing that works.

Okay, but where is the house keeping hall of shame #1?

Spookie, thanks for the Lime Away suggestion.....Clean machine, Suzy homemaker, I am not. I clean only when I have too, dinner parties or guest coming to spend the night. Ah, I push stuff under beds, into drawers, laundry hampers. I am a freaky fanatic about dishes being clean, everything else, who cares?

DH & I decided to sell the home we raised our 2 kids in. I have spent the last month on serious cleaning & decluttering. I inhaled so much Tilex today I got dizzy. Wiping down walls, all day hunts for cob webs & dead flies. Home & Garden magazine would not approve....I have a friend that has spent her entire life being anal about her home. She has missed a lot of living & relaxing. So glad I do not have that obsession.

Living, love your post.  You sound like me, except I'm not really sure where my vacuum cleaner is right now and I know I changed the sheets in October sometime.  LOL.  Life is too dang short to worry about dust.  I keep the bathrooms at least up to health department standards.  Sounds like I'll worrying about it even less after my surgery on the 2nd. 

My favorite aunt said her house was clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy.

Works for me

Oh the bed to make or not. I rarely make my bed, but the sheets get washed weekly. My wonderful cleaning lady took on many extra chores while I was in treatment. Shamed to say I still let her do it. She needs the money and fortunately I have enough so she can do my dirty work. (She sometimes just scoops up my dirty laundry and does it too).

My oldest daughter remakes her kids' beds after they leave for school. She didn't learn that from me.

So thankful I am not alone on the non-bed making list.  Takes so much pressure off.  I do have to admit, though, that I am pretty worried about when my girlfriends from the office come over to see me during my recovery.  How do y'all handle that?

I wouldn't worry, if they have the nerve to say anything, tell 'em where the cleaning stuff is and to go for it

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all.  I'll have to reread this a few times as we go along I'm sure. 

I am guessing i get the prize? What happened JAN69? Did it look more awful after you hit submit?

Hi All, Charlotte Here,

I am coming up on the five year anniversary since my diagnosis and I am still digging out of the mess cancer brought along with it! To my fellow Stage III'ers - it feels good to know I am not alone.

While somehow, unbelievably, I managed to keep bathrooms cleaned some weeks and husband vacuumed many weeks during treatment for the sake of normalcy for our son, most other things were left undone. The ceiling in our bedroom has missing plaster and water stained peeling paint right over the bed due to a leak (leak repaired, but not the ceiling), plus most other areas of our old home need work as well. I often think, if my cancer comes back, I hope the ugly bedroom ceiling is'nt the last thing I see! Add to that, our 12 year old mini van now has a rust hole behind the back wheel as well.

Between working all we can, and the leftover effects of treatment, my husband and I haven't had time, energy, or the money to take care of many of these things yet. Needless to say, money is tight, and what would have otherwise gone towards caring for these things has instead gone to pay medical bills.

Sometimes I feel embarrassed and discouraged to be living like this. We are "digging out" as best we can, but I often feel like others can't understand what we've been through and the toll it's taken on us. Lately I've been having a hard time not comparing my home to the home of friends who seem to have it all together and feeling really low.

This thread made me laugh and feel better to know that I am not alone! I've admitted here what I would not have admitted otherwise because I know you all will understand in a way that others simply cannot and will not think ill of us.

Please know that I am truly grateful to have had these five years as a survivor and have learned to value what matters most. But, the emotional, physical, and yes, financial effects of cancer have been like a tornado that blew through our lives and left path of destruction behind.

Thanks for listening and understanding!

Charlotte