A Chronicle of my Changing Times.

Cleaning Up

My parents used to tell me when I was in college that they could tell how I was doing simply by if I mentioned I needed to clean my room when I spoke with them.  If my room was dirty or I felt like I needed to clean it then they knew I was in trouble.  After considering that for a while I realized they were dead on with me. (Pictured above: Poker night at my apartment last winter)

You can tell how my life is going by how my apartment looks (since I’ve never owned my own home – although the internet spammers apparently don’t know that).  I’ve noticed that it can be broken down even further than that.  If my living room is clean, then I usually appear to being doing well to others.  If my bedroom is clean then things truly are going well with personally.  If my kitchen/bathroom is clean then I’ve spent way too much time eating out, have just cleaned or am expecting guests.  I hate doing dishes and my bathroom is almost always tidy, but never really clean.

So I spent today cleaning my apartment.  It hasn’t been really dirty since the first day or so I got back from Liechtenstein – but even then the mess was more to craziness of having guests right before I left and unpacking from my trip.  My home has been cluttered, but not dirty by any stretch of the imagination.  Today’s cleaning was a deep cleaning, as my fellow PCV friend Melody called it as she did the same thing.  It has been more about sorting stacks of papers, emptying out my fridge, wiping down shelves and cleaning out cabinets.

If you want to look at this as a reflection of my current mood and state of mind, I’d say it has something to do with being excited and organized about this last 10 months here in Bulgaria.  I know what to expect from my job and the people I work or teach at school.  I have a fairly good idea of what I can and cannot accomplish with regards to projects.  I’m also excited about my prospects with regards to my post Peace Corps plans.  I’ve mapped out a schedule of tasks and hope to have everything done and ready by January.  So this deep cleaning is just a reflection of my peace of mind with where I’m at and what I have yet to do.(Pictured: My front room as it looked the day I moved in - it's not nearly this stoic now)

Or it could just have something to do with the fact that until Thursday I have very little money until payday at the end of the month and needed to do something today that wouldn’t cost any money.  Or maybe it’s the roaches I have seen lately in my building.  None have been in my apartment, due in part to the boric acid my parents sent me to get rid of them.    But it’s a good idea to get rid of anything that would attract them.  Also it’s a good idea to get rid of the same ‘food’ that has attracted my latest roommate.

I noticed right before I left for my last trip that a mouse had chewed through the only window screen I have.  So I put up a small spare piece of metal in front of the hole.  I also noticed around this time a few mouse dropping in random spots in my apartment.  I guess the bar of soap I have to wash my hands tasted pretty good too because there were a number of mouse sized bites in it.  Before I left for Liechtenstein I closed up my window just to be safe. 

I must’ve pissed off the mouse because when I came back there was a new, much larger hold in the screen and it had gnawed the heck out of the base of my window making a bit of nest there.  Thankfully my refrigerator has random strips of metal that just don’t seem to fit with it, so I’ve covered that hole as well.  After payday I’m probably going to go to the local hardware store and try and buy some more screening to cover up the holes properly and maybe even to cover a couple of my other windows.  Until then, all I can do is keep a lookout for my not so happy mouse (any name suggestions?) since the weather is too perfect of late not to have my window’s open – at least not whilst I’m in the apartment.

The only bad thing about this deep clean that I’ve done today (and am still doing) is that I came across an old backup pack of cigarettes.  I’ve always kept packs of smokes in my apartment, usually brands that I don’t like, so that I have something in case I run out.  Well, I found one of these today luckily with only 1 smoke in it.  Which I felt obligated to smoke.

But then I found a whole unopened pack of my normal brand buried under some papers.  This posed a problem – to smoke them or throw them away.  I confess that I just couldn’t bring myself to throwing them away and thus am slowly smoking them.  It’s frustrating, but the guideline I use for quitting is smoke what you have until it’s gone and then go from there.  I’m trying not to smoke in my apartment since I’d already cleaned (including my old ashtrays).  We’ll see if that holds up at 1am when I don’t want to walk downstairs.

Sigh, such is life.

Posted by: mjmarble at August 27, 2006 21:33 | link | comments (2)

Comments:

#1  27 August 2006 - 22:34

 

If you're going to quit, quit. Otherwise, why not give it up right now? Perhaps your heart isn't in it right now,

Anonymous

#2  29 August 2006 - 19:02

 

The problem is that I enjoy smoking. I honestly do. But I know that it's something that will only do me harm now and in the future. For this reason I have to continue to give it my best shot. And I will continue to do so, even if it means set backs here and there.

But I do agree with you on one thing. I've often said that you're either a smoker or not - there is no in between. So if I'm going to quit, I need to just quit.

Now if it were just that easy.

mjmarble

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