Macrocosmic Life: January 2008

Today is my birthday. Since my kid was in sick from school, though she was just tired as it turns out and though her mother doesn't want to take her to the doctor for some bizarre reason so that I have to find a way to carve out more time from my daughter's school attendance in order to get her to the doctor to see what's going on - take a breath - I slept all the way through until 9:30 or so. I didn't put the dishes in the dishwaasher or clean the kitchen, but I did pick up poo and Shel had already mopped up the cat pee. Yay. So, I'll have a lot of work to do when I get in, I know I can count on that. I also know that my birthday has been forgotten by my family as, instead of wishing me a happy birthday, my STBX verbally assaulted me without mercy . . . nice birthday present, crazy f*ck.

I do recollect each birthday as nearly forgotten and I wonder why I didn't get it all sooner. Oh, well, that's for another Blog.

I sized up what will be waiting for me when I get home and I spoke to my daughter in the interim so I know there's a bit more than what was started out with since she's making cookies, which is how I know she's not sick.

That means I will have cookie trays, bowls, about 3000 utensils, chocolate to scrape off the bottom of a sauce pan because we don't have a double-boiler and I know she probably improvised . . . and the cat/dog messes. All that before scrounging something to eat as I did not make dinner and even had I done so, it would be all eaten or what wasn't eaten would purposefully be thrown away so that I would have none. Crazy f*ck.

So, we'll see. Another not so happy day at Chaos Manor. This next pendulum swing to the dark side I've already decided is going to be my last.

View of X's space, which I don't touch as she goes totally
paranoid. Something's hiding in there, eh?

I'm sorry to say that I haven't had much time to record my keep-it-up activities since I've been busy doing them.

First, I want to say that I get no help around the house whatsoever. There are three cats and one dog, a child and a ne'er-do-well spouse I'm in the process of battling in divorce. The divorce has nothing to do with the fact that she's a vengeful slob. It's a control issue. For years, I stopped cleaning when she asked me because it "bothered her" and she "would do it" which she never did.

I didn't want pets. I assented to caged pets but my STBX didn't bother to help my daughter maintain them or clean their cages. The first cat we adopted was lovely and black, with long hair (that sheds only a little) because I fought and fought not to adopt a 110 pound dog. I knew that I would have all the work involved, I just knew it. But one cat . . . and promises were made to encourage my kid to clean up after the animal, feed it and water it. As soon as the cat made her home here, that was it.

As for my daughter's housekeeping, she tries but she has adopted most of her mother's habits. A neatly folded closet will be turned inside out in minutes in a rushed morning as she doesn't plan ahead though she's been admonished to do so literally a thousand times. She does not pick up after the animals nor does she walk the dog. She does not feed them or provide water even with reminders again and again. She uses the same excuses as her mother.

Animals in the house make for a lot of work, especially when the animals are cats that spray their territory. Before this house is sold, the cats will have to be adopted out and a professional will have to be hired to do a cleaning. I do try very hard, but I'm outnumbered, simple as that.

I have shifted most of my cleaning into the week rather than leaving it for the weekend. This way, no one is in the way and I leave a clean house every day. This also means that I clean at least two hours each day.

Today:

Changed the cat litter, a big task and very nasty
Powdered the basement floor with Pet Fresh (a good product) and vacuumed
Cleaned the pool table of all clothes and vacuum all the corners wih the Hoover (not the basement vacuum)
Vacuumed the filters and the outside surfaces of the Bissel (the basement vacuum)
Sucked up cobwebs and other hard-to-clean corners with the Hoover
Before all of this, struggled with the Hoover because something was stuck in the hose. I snaked it out with a cable snake three times before freeing up the path. All this while fully clothed since I am afraid to leave my stuff around lest something get stolen by my X - she does that.
Laundered the two living room rugs - animal nastiness - and then brushed off any threads, hair, etc. This was hard work for sure.
Vacuumed the living room.
Re-covered the couch with the knitted throws.
Folded the quilt that my daughter used to sleep with down there.
Put away the quilt and pillows.
Cleaned up cat pee and poo from the new cat's favorite corner. I use bleach-based cleaner and a special mop.
Picked up papers and misc trash from the LR floor (obviously, I'm going backwards in this list)
Picked up various items chewed by the dog.
Picked up mail that was thrown on the floor.
Cleaned the kitchen surfaces.
Made coffee. Ate a muffin that I made yesterday at 11 PM at night.
Loaded the dish-washer and ran the load.
Turned off the excess lights and the stove light. I left that on by mistake.
Let the dog out.
Fed the animals; watered them.
Removed the tablecloth and laundered that.
Ran a load of laundry with the tablecloth, some pants, some undies.
Fixed kid's doorknob.
Placed that load in the dryer.
Folded towels that had been run a few days ago and brought some upstairs. I'm tired of not having towels since my kid never returns them and instead leaves wet towels on her bed.
Took the kid to school. She tried to blame me for almost being late. She's funny.

I'm sure there was more. There's always more. I don't mind cleaning, but I do mind cleaning unneccesarily. I am feeling pretty much like a maid at this point and that's okay, too, but there's no appreciation or help of any kind, even so that messes aren't made when they can be avoided.