Sooooo, I was cleaning today
(if you are getting bored of hearing about this, be reminded that this is Monster's breakfast here and the boy cannot in any way be deprived of his sustenance, I mean, he is ski-i-neeee, and I'm fairly certain is getting tired of 'fish and chips' down unda....if you know what I mean)
anyway, so, I was cleaning today and I had my list as usual. On this list is a few things I need to know for the day so I can do my part of the job......
first of all, it tells me all the rooms I have to do. Since I have my own section now, I do the same rooms everyday pretty much, give or take a room. Like, the other day I had 201-218.....whew baby, dat is a LOT of rooms rightcher, you know what I'm sayin'? My back was ACHIN' dat day alright!
Well, today I had 201-209.......not so bad, right? 201 is what is called a "long term stayover". That means he has been here for almost 2 months
(at $90. a night, multiply that times 30 or 31, depending on the month and you will realize what he is paying for the privilige of staying in a room in POH's section....believe me there is no cut rate for long term stayovers, I checked)
and it does not appear that he is leaving any time soon. He doesn't want service everyday, but on the days that I have gone in to empty his garbage and/or change his bed you could swear that he has moved in for the rest of his life.
Room 209 is a stayover too but only for a week and they were emphatic that they do not want ANY service for the length of their stay, although when she ran out of coffee for the coffeemaker she was hustling me up for that quick enough....suuuure, hit the maid for coffee why doncha?
Okay, so, it's looking like an easy day all around.
Then all of a sudden I see three little notes at the bottom of the page:
1.) vacuum hall
(I do that everyday anyway)
2.) vacuum stairwell
3.) move furniture around
Sheeeeuuuuuu,
I was instantly and irreversably transported back in time to the summer of 1999...a period of time indelibly imprinted on the ICB (inter-cranial collection box) of one adopted child, and her erstwhile adopted mother, otherwise known as Little POH.
The summer of 1999 has come to be known by said child and adopted mother as "The Summer From Hell".......for both of us.
The child did something fairly serious....which means it was worthy of some kind of disciplinary action, all of which had previously failed to change this particular character flaw. Something new must be done but Little POH was at a loss. When at a loss there is only one route to go......pray, baby, pray!
Out of this came a daily regimine of housework, exercise, Bible memorization, doing counted cross stitch kits, more housework, cooking, reading.....you get the picture, right?
Well, I would make these little lists for her with all of her chores on it for the day. It was hard for her, and sometimes she cried. It was hard for me too and sometimes I cried too. In fact, I felt like such a meanie-ogre that I cried myself to sleep every single night. I felt, and still do, that I did what God was telling me to do but it was hard. I know it was hard for her......it was hard for me too. It was different from what I had ever done with a child and I hated doing it. I would wake her up at 5:30 am to make breakfast for Dad (and I had to teach her how to make my famous fried eggs...and I also taught her French Toast) and she could go to bed at 8pm. The whole of the day though she was pretty much busy, except for meal times.
Funny, the only thing lacking on my little list with the three things to remember on it was the little boxes on the left side to X off when the job was done. Sheeeeuuuuuu, crrrrraaaazeeeee, huh? Just another little irony to add to the amazingly long list of ironies in the ironic life of POH.
MOM IS GETTING THE LISTS NOW, LEANDRA.....
ARE YOU SMILING YET??????
AHAAAAHAAAAHAAAA!
Yep, life has a funny way of taking it's twists and turns on a person, doesn't it?
One day, a few years later, I over-heard Leandra tell a school friend who was over at the house that "Mom is a perfectionist"........I sputtered and coughed....almost tossed my cookies, donchaknow....
I said, "No, I don't think so so much.....that designation is solely reserved for Bomma (MY mother) and I am not even worthy to be mentioned in the same breath with that kinna perfectionism"..........
Well, I said something like that, I'm sure....come on, I can't remember the EXACT words I used!
Yeah, I clean my hair out of the shower drain after each shower, and I hang my towels up on the rack rather than leave them all over the bathroom floor for someone else to pick up......if that is being a "perfectionist" then I plead guilty. Other than that, I just did the best I could with all the pi........er, terribly busy children who didn't have time to clean up after themselves.......I lived with.
Nah, I am definitely NOT what you would call a perfectionist, in spite of the fact that Caleb told his sister Courtney that I would have her apartment all clean-ified for her when I stayed there (I did, in fact, wash the kitchen floor, do some dishes, and wipe up counters.....hey!, it was FUN!.....are we opposed to having FUN around here? Huh? Huh? Huh?)
I can't tell you what a chuckle it gave me though to see the list of extra jobs on my "Daily Maid's Report". Sheeeuuuuu, Leandra.....you should be clapping your hands in GLEE on that one! As for me, I'm smiling just thinking about it. The big difference between the two situations, as far as I can see, is that I actually enjoy the work........
in fact, I'm taking such pride in my little section of rooms that I make sure every time I clean the shower to get the top rim, you know, that part that always gets gross......the first day every one was i-i-icky! Now that I do it everyday not at all. I get the tops of the free standing closets everyday too....I have to climb on the bottom shelf to get up there, yeah, it makes me feel very young and nimble, donchaknow. I always think of my grandmother, Nonnie we called her, and my mother, when I get all the tops of picture frames and door jambs. That and 'hospital corners' are the legacy of my mom and I appreciate that. I always have.
You might even be interested in this little tidbit, Leandra. I have a hide-a-bed in a room that has a small rip in the back of the cushion....barely noticable....in fact, I only noticed it because I pulled the sofa out to vacuum behind there. I asked, (notice I wasn't told to do this) if I could bring in a needle and thread to fix it. I was told YES! Whoo-hoo for me, right? I tol' ya, POH knows how to sew! Hey, Peggy will confirm that we even took lessons during the summer when we were kids at the Singer Sewing Center in beautiful downtown Burbank......ummmm, no, I mean Rochester, New York.
Yeah, back then there were no video games, VCR's, PC's, etc. We had to MAKE our own fun, and sewing WAS fun.....leastwise POH thought so. I took typing lessons too.......at 13, with a bunch of adults! But seeeeeee, it's all good, that's why I can pound out long bits of silliness like this in less time that it takes me to clean one bathroom at my bootyful hotel.
Yup, the irony of POH's life.....never ceases to amaze me. I hope there are some people enjoying the comeuppance........if not, it's all for naught. Well, maybe not, I got another tip today, and on top of it was a picture, drawn by the 4 year old little boy of the couple who stayed in the room. It said, "For the mai" No, that isn't a typo there. He left the d off of maid. I kept the picture though....it was just too frikkin' cute, and who knows when I'll get another one like it since I don't hear from my grandchildren. I got the added bonus of knowing that these parents are teaching their child, from a young age, to tip the maid. Oooops, sorry, there I go about tipping again. Just seeing that cash on the desk did my heart a WORLD of good though. It really did.
So, how was that, Monster? Are you full now? *wink*
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