40 Days of Gratefulness - Day 16

Guess who shoes these are? Nope, they're not mine. They belong to the little cleaning ladies who come to my home twice a month. Why do I have a picture of their little shoes? Chalk that up to the 3rd grader in me. (Day 9) Their shoes are so little and I love how they just kick them off the moment they hit the door - like they're home. LOL. For the record, I do not have a maid, I have a cleaning lady. There is a difference. One is that the maid does everything - she washes clothes, cooks and even washes the dishes. When the cleaning lady comes - she cleans, period. She does the floors, dusts, sweeps, mops, vacuums, dumps the trash and she does the dreaded, bathrooms. Now, she could do the dishes but I don't like how she does them. First, I never know where she's going to put them when she finishes; every now and then I may catch a frying pan in the cabinet over the sink. And when she does do the dishes, they sparkle. How in the world does that happen? I'm convinced she's using some secret cleaning lady concotion and I'd rather have my dishes dull and squeaky clean like everyone else.

My roomie teases me all the time. She says the cleaning lady is in here drinking tasty drinks and rolling around in our beds because the house is already clean. When the cleaning lady comes, I do tend to get a little stressed - ok, that's a lie - I'm stressed! She can't clean properly if everything I wore this week is thrown on the floor. Or this week's mail is all over the kitchen counter. So for at least a day or two before she comes, I'm hopping. Washing clothes, folding them, washing the dishes, putting them away - now, for the record, I have hid dishes in the oven. What? I had a meeting and ran out of time. My friends, know too - 'Good grief, I forget about the cleaning lady, call me later.' Now, could I do these things myself - absolutely. But time is money and I'd rather spend my money paying  for her time.

Look at us getting it in. We do have a small language barrier ;-) but we communicate just fine. I do all the talking and she does all the smiling. She was a treat that I decided I deserved. I've had her almost a year. I know, I've mentioned it before but Whitney passing last year threw me into high gear. All of those things I had planned, dreamed, wanted or thought about doing ... I was going to be about doing them. Finishing that kitchen, organizing my office, purging unneeded items and let me tell you this blog is no different. I had casually talked about blogging because it sounded interesting but I killed it. (Day 6) But first on my list was getting neat and organized. And since I struggle with being neat, the cleaning lady was my way of keeping me accountable.

And let me tell you, there's nothing like coming home after she's been here. The place is sparkling, smells lemony fresh and looks oh so pretty. I mean it puts me in a straight good mood. In fact, I'm convinced that getting organized, being neat and purging unneeded items freed up space in my life for other things. No, I'm serious - what I created here in my home made room in my life for so many other things. I didn't change over night because I've always been me. I've always had whatever it is that I have. But, I'm like Cel on steroids. Rockstar, make it incredible, living intentionally in the moment, searching for joy, forever in the 3rd grade. You get it, right?

By creating this space in my life and filling it with good things, I'm now in a space where I know how to 'choose gratefulness.' I now exercise semi-regularly and I even enjoy it. I go to church more, read the bible more, I'm working on the potty mouth ;-) and I believe I may even be a better woman. Aah, if only I could shout. Not new and different, just Cel, exposed. I now blog - which is incredible - and you can't know what its been like. Let me tell you, here's the last entry in my journal.

"Hey you! It's Valentine's Day and it's going to be a good day. Started my first blog yesterday and I'm pumped - haha- could it be a budding author in your midst - you do know your talking to yourself here, right. I hope it's as rewarding as it feels so far - ok, it's the first day but we'll see - gotta go, the cleaning lady may be here soon!"

So on this Day 16 of 40 days of gratefulness, I'm grateful for freeing up space in my life for good things and ... my cleaning lady.