B,
Here's the reality about my relationship with O1…
She isn't just my housecleaner. She is a friend and you may feel she's taking advantage of my good nature BUT if you know the amount of things I've asked her to help with, you'll understand and can let this go.
Starting from the beginning, over 4 years ago now, she has made sure the home I purchased was clean from top to bottom.
I've never lived in a clean home before. Growing up my parent's weren't into being crazy about cleanliness.
I think I've told you how their house always smelled of stale fried food, mustiness and dust. They never washed the drapes (and they always had to have drapes and curtains on every window), nor mop the floor or deep clean the carpets. The kitchen counters would be kept clear but not behind and under the stuff they had on them. I loved them both so much but neither was good at housekeeping.
It only got a tiny bit better when my mother discovered she liked wearing perfume again and discovered Febreze!
Then when I moved out on my own...my "smells" were better but everything else just got the basic treatment and/or was only done infrequently.
It's when you move you realize how dirty a house can get when you don't keep up with it. The corners! Dusting. Floors. I hated doing floors. It's why I still wear slippers in the house to this day However, I don't have to if I don't want to!
Every single time I moved, the zillions of times, I've had to clean the place. If I had just maintained, it wouldn't have been bad. I did get better over the years but I still hate cleaning.
My home is where I spend most of my time and having it clean -not having to worry about cleaning is worth a million dollars to me. Have I mentioned I HATE cleaning? :P
The whole time I've known her, I've said that I would give up any other comforts to keep her.
When you live alone, there is only you to do everything and I think you may have forgotten since you've not lived alone in decades :P
But it's not just about how she keeps my home clean...it's about all of the extras:
-Cleaning out the spare room so I could rent it out. Moving furniture/boxes and then giving it a deep cleaning.
-Putting up pictures and helping moving furniture
-Coming to my aid when I had a bad RA episode. I was a mess and in so much pain in my legs and ended up peeing both on the rug and the bed in my room. She cleaned up both messes. She made sure I had something to eat and went out to purchase adult diapers for me because getting to the bathroom was hard. I was alone. E hadn't moved in yet. And so when I called her, crying, she dropped everything to come over here and help.
-Cleaning on credit and letting me pay her later. So many times she let me do that. Taking the deal was a way to ensure I never have to do that again.
-Cleaning the spare room again and painting it and providing the beds.
-Bringing over, giving me 2 matching awesome, pretty comfortable loveseats.
-Just always fulfilling my asks.
But the most important thing she has done is introduce me to O and V. They are my life now.
Both of them, have been through a lot, just like I have and we share so many experiences of moving and surviving crap, and we're really making this a home for all of us and it's so nice to not have to divide up chores and/or worry about cleaning up after 3 people living in not-the-biggest space.
So...she's making money off the deal. Good for her. She's like your brother. They found a smart way to make bank. And we love them in spite of that.
