Mess

My apartment is a pigsty. A mess. A disaster of epic proportions.

Little fact about Meg of the LPB: Total. Neat. Freak. I don't like clutter, I don't like mess, I don't like dirty. I love my Hoover Pet Cyclonic. Clorox Clean Up is my friend. In college, I couldn't work on big term papers until my apartment was clean--I just couldn't focus, and to this day, I can barely write a lesson plan if there is a mess behind me that needs attention.

So you can imagine, I'm sure, how difficult it has been to...get past my crazy-clean tendencies with four kittens in my bathroom. Marian advised me to avoid exposing their delicate little systems to harsh chemicals, so other than daily sweeping, vacuuming and some soap and water wipe-downs, I have left the bathroom to become dirtier and dirtier.

Earlier this week I decided that, to help with the sadness of parting with my wee Peanuts Gang on Saturday, I would come home and bleach the hell out of my apartment. Not just the bathroom, but every inch of my 750 square feet. So I've been holding off on major cleaning, opting, instead, to leave it for one big clean-up job.

I'll start tomorrow, after my morning job interview. I have plans to tackle the bedroom first. It's very organized in there, down to my walk-in closet, but it's getting pretty dusty and the sheets could use laundering. I'm going to pull smaller pieces of furniture out from the walls and vacuum behind, and I'll probably wash down the windowsill and the baseboards.

Next will be the 2nd bedroom. There's a lot of dusting that needs to be done in there: my Snoopy collection, the piano, my bookshelves...I also need to wash out Millie and Harley's litterboxes, put new bags in, and all fresh litter (sometimes I go a little too long just scooping and topping off with fresh litter). Again, I'll wash baseboards and pull furniture out to vacuum.

After the babies go to their new foster home on Saturday (*sob*), I'll tackle the bathroom and kitchen. I always do these together because it's easier to only have to mop once. I will turn the bathroom fan on and go in there, armed with a full bottle of Clorox Clean Up and rubber gloves. I plan to sanitize every single surface and scrub, scrub, scrub. I can't tell you how many crazy places those kittens have managed to fling poop to from their litter box. It's horrifying.

Anyway, before I bore you to tears with all the details, I'll just add that I've been focussing on this big cleaning spree as a means of keeping my mind off how hard it's going to be to say goodbye to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy. They have wormed their way into my heart, and though they are a huge responsibility and very, very messy, I'll miss their rumbling purrs and squeaky meow choruses whenever I go in the bathroom. I'll miss their tubby little tummies and teensy feet. I'll miss Lucy's fearless nature and Snoopy's playful wrestling moves. I'll miss Charlie Brown's obsession with attacking my feet and Linus's sweet clumsiness.

Though I will be glad for things to be normal for Millie and Harley (and my bathroom!!!) again.