It has to be done

I hate cleaning house

     Years ago, when we were young, Thursday was the house cleaning day.  I would do the bathrooms, Jackie would do the rest of the house.
     Oh don't roll your eyes.  We didn't have any furniture in one room.  The dining room only had a table.  I would do the vacuum thing.  (By the way, this is a word I have to look up every time I use it.  Who thought of spelling it this way?  Unnatural.)
    Once the MS was diagnosed, it became clear there were more important things in life for her than cleaning.  So we hired a person to come every other week to clean.
    That ended about six weeks ago.  Now I clean.  She tries to dust, but sometimes it is just too difficult for her.  She can get a lot of the great room dusted.  It takes a while.
     I start by doing the bathrooms.  Today I was cleaning the spare bathroom and I was dusting the doors, so decided to do the other bedroom door, then the closet door, then the den door, then I dusted the other bedroom, and the pictures in the hall.
     I finally got back to the bathroom.  After I dusted that, listening to the Beatles all the while because it makes the work more fun.  (OK, sometimes I end up playing air guitar and pretending I am 20 and rocking with the boys in Liverpool.)  And when I say dusted the bathroom, I took all the stuff out of the drawers, wiped them out; emptied the medicine cabinet and dusted the shelves; emptied the vanity and dusted the inside of the vanity.
     I don't do an extensive cleaning every week.  Thank heavens.  Because by the time I vacuumed the two rooms, mopped up the floor, it was time for lunch.
     I realized then I don't have a friendly work schedule.  I was up at 8, but worked on the Trib crossword, read the paper on line, had tea and granola, played a couple of games of solitaire.....my usual morning.
     I take a Swiss lunch by the way.  Two hours.  Gives the food time to digest.
     Then I tackled the master bath.  Emptied the drawers, cleaned out the bottom, (the vanity's, not mine), remembered the bathroom door squeak wakes me up when Jackie hits the can in the middle of the night.  Found some spray lubricant.  Popped the hinges to get the spray inside.  Checked the other doors, dusted the bedroom furniture, and decided it was time for a coffee.
      It was now pushing 4.  Luckily most of the work was done by then and all I had to do was mop up the laundry room, finish the master bath, do the half bath, vacuum....and I was getting tired.
      At some point my favorite Illinois daughter called and invited us out to dinner.  Good idea, because I don't think we had any thought of food.
      So I finished the bathrooms and laundry room and managed to dust the dining room furniture.
     The only thing left is cleaning the floors, which I will do tomorrow.
     I like a clean house, but I don't like cleaning.
     I also think I am getting the short end of the deal.  If I am doing the cleaning that we paid someone to do, then shouldn't I get the money?  I am doing the work, although it does take me a little longer than it should.
     My argument fell on deaf ears.  Which is funny, because I am the one hard of hearing.