The Days of Epic Cleaning

It’s been 584 days since Catherine died, 569 days since the last family from away left our house, and 154 days since anyone other than Olivia and I set foot in here.

Which is to say: the place needs a good scrub.

Especially since my mother, who I haven’t seen in the aforementioned 569 days, will be moving in next week, a way station en route to her new home just up the street.

My mother is a kind and forgiving person. And it’s not like there are squirrels living in the house (I restrict the squirrels to the office). So it’s not so much stanching the squalor as it is cleaning the things I’ve trained my eyes not to see.

We paid a visit to Canadian Tire this afternoon, stocked up on various cleaning aids, and I will spend the week casually cleaning.

So far I’ve cleaned the shower, two toilets, three sinks, and the guest bedroom. The to-do list goes: wash bathroom floor, sweep living room, vacuum library, clean out fridge, mop hallway, buy new pillows. And on from there.

The bonus of all this is that a clean house is a nicer house to live in.