The Home Stretch

I’m not a neat freak. But there are two times when I especially like to have things clean. I like our van to be super-clean before we go on a road trip (even though I know it’s going to get dirty). And I like the house to be clean when we go on vacation. I want to come home to a clean house. It just makes returning home more pleasant.

Ever since Cristina started working (almost full-time) last year, the house has slipped in its level of cleanliness. Plus, having a dog and two cats contributes a decent volume of hair. So being home alone for 10 days gave me ample time to get the house just the way I wanted it before leaving for 4 weeks. A spring cleaning of sorts, free from the time constraints inherent in family life. And since some friends were planning on visiting Arizona while we were gone and staying at our house, I wanted the house to be clean for them too.

I’ve already documented my struggles with procrastination, so it’s no surprise that while my list of things to do was long, my time ran short. After work, I did a few more things on my housecleaning list. I wanted to finish shampooing the upstairs carpet as well as the stairs themselves, but that would mean not going upstairs for a few hours, while the carpet dried. So I planned some errands and then shampooed the stairs. I put Vivi and her gear in the van and headed towards Ahwatukee.

I dropped off some things at the library, then grabbed some dinner at In-and-Out Burger. Since our friends would be borrowing our van, and it was quite dirty inside and out, I took it to our favorite car wash. But I just missed the chance. I got there at 6:45 and they closed at 6:30. They reopened at 7:30 in the morning, so I had to make a choice: either leave the van dirty for our guests, or drive back in the morning before my last day of work.

Jim Gustafson, a friend through Desert Marigold, had graciously volunteered to take Vivien for part of the time we were gone. I had arranged to drop off Vivien after 7, and it was right at 7, so I called Jim and headed to his house. The drop-off went well and his four dogs seemed very interested in Vivien. She didn’t immediately master the dog door to the back yard, but I knew she’d get it in no time. I headed home around 8.

More cleaning and packing. As it drew close to midnight, I began to realize the fruits of my procrastination: some things on my list were just not going to get done.