is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Stealth Grinch. And Happy Holidays.
The woman I�m house/cat-sitting for told me that her cleaning person would probably come some time during the week or so I�ll be here, but she didn�t know when. So of course she came at the absolute worst time: Christmas eve, some time between 10 and 11 in the morning. I�m unshowered, trying to make a pie and coordinate the various things I have to bring to different houses. I have piles laid out here and there to put into bags, handwash hanging in the laundry room, crap all over the kitchen, etc. I told her she didn�t have to deal with the kitchen at all, etc., and that she didn�t have to wash the sheets on the beds because I�d do that before I left town, but from the get-go she formed no intention of listening to me and just got to work. She threw my drip-drying handwash on the floor in a pile. She seems to have thrown away or permanently hidden some of my toiletries, including my deodorant and a sample size of very expensive face lotion. She neatened up all my different piles into other kinds of piles. She also seems annoyed every time I have to walk through the area where she is working. Basically, for the last four hours, every time I try to do something new (something that I really do have to do now rather than later because I�m on a schedule to get to my dad�s on time with various food items and gifts) I want to kill her (metaphorically speaking) for moving or modifying my stuff.
Now, don�t get me wrong. I have tremendous respect for how hard it is to clean houses for a living. This is mostly about me, how I hate having other people touch my stuff, and how this is the absolutely worst moment she could have chosen to start touching my stuff. It is Christmas Eve. I have a lot of things I am supposed to be doing for my family. And I don�t feel 100% well.
But come on. Some of the things she did just aren�t cool. Why did she throw my nice clean shirts and underwear into a pile on a dirty floor? And why does she want to deprive me of my toiletries? Why does she want me to cry and/or stomp my feet? It makes no sense at all. And so I have decided that she is a stealth Grinch.
In other news, last night I had a lovely tasty dinner with Evany, Liz and Heidi. We went to Salt House and consumed good food and wine. I had a glass of rose, a perfect dish of buckwheat polenta and grilled autumn vegetables, a glass of Marsanne, and a little bit of bourbon, and today I am not even hungover. The booze Santa is a good man.
It was super fun to hang out with my ladies�everyone was in a good mood and full of jokes and cheer. At one point we were having a nonsensical argument about whether it is ever OK for a man to tell a woman that she �cleans up good��meaning, she looks good in a nice dress and make-up. Some of us objected to the comparative nature of the phrase (�wow, you usually look like a dog but tonight, what with all the effort and cosmetic help, you look terrific!�) but others weren�t so sure. Evany�s dad had said something like that to me when I saw him last week. He thought I had put makeup on but all I had done was change clothes. I didn�t mind when he said it, and in general I don�t mind the phrase or the sentiment. But I suppose there always are a large number of other and better ways a person could tell another person that she looks good in the present moment.
In any case, if the cleaning person had been so inclined, she could have told me, having walked in on me unshowered, wearing PJs covered in flour, frantically treading around the kitchen, but then also seen me later, in a nice outfit with my hair all did and my face made up, that I literally �clean up good.� But she did not. And that�s OK, what with our unspoken epic battle around her moving my stuff around. She just left right now.
Yay.
And now I�ve got a couple of minutes to sit around and relax before heading out on the road. It seems like I often end up being slightly sick around Christmas time. Weather, travel, lots of social engagements, and the break between semesters all conspire to make me sore of throat and thick of head just in time to make navigating the shops, driving and last-minute thinging a bit more challenging than it already would be.
Tonight I exchange gifts and have dinner with my sister and her husband and baby, my cousin and his wife and baby, and my dad and his wife. We�ll eat lots of good food and open up some gifts. Then tomorrow I�ll spend the day with my mom, we�ll cook a good meal, and also exchange gifts. My sister and her husband and baby will come over for a while in the morning, and then they�ll take off to see the other inlaws. When it comes down to it, holidays with my family are fun and relaxing rather than stressful or hectic, and for that I am thankful. I only wish Gus were here, but of course it makes as much sense that he is with his family this year as it does that I am with mine. And then we reunite on Dec 31 and share some champagne with a big old house full of boxes. Here�s our new place!
2:05 p.m. - December 24, 2009
sduckie - 2009-12-26 02:58:07
Great looking place! Yes my friend used to have a cleaning lady and I could not understand what exactly she would do, I was visiting and she would just take my stuff and deposit it around the house in other places where she thought it should go... it really was not helpful at all! I can understand your agitation!
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