Cleaning the apartment

Have you ever noticed that the anticipation of a guest to your home inspires unusual cleaning activity?  Well, that very thing happened to me yesterday.  I knew my date was picking me up, and I invited him up to the apartment before our date (this was a 3rd date).  As I looked around my apartment, I noticed dust and grime in places where I had not looked for a while.  For instance, I decided to remove the burners on my stove and clean the detachable metal pans in the dishwasher.  I even cleaned my Sonicare toothbrush stand and cover because they were looking dirty.  Even Zoe's little squeaky toy got thrown in the dishwasher.

I did laundry, ran the dishwasher, dusted shelves, moved pictures and candles into more desirable locations, cleaned the floors with my Swiffer Wetjet and vacuumed the carpets.  While I was putting my toaster in the cabinet, I knocked down a glass jar of cinnamon.  This jar was from Whole Foods - delicious and full of cinnamon.  The container fell onto my tile floor and exploded into glass pieces and powder dusting of good smelling but painful-to-clean-up spice.  The cleaning exercise became exhausting and required many paper towels, a vacuum and Swiffer.  I had to take a break from the activity to eat something.

Ultimately, my apartment looked great - and I realized that I took so much more care when I was having a first-time visitor.  Shouldn't I care that much about my own surroundings?  The answer is yes, but in reality, we all get busy, and cleaning the stove pans isn't a priority when bills have to be paid.

Nonetheless, I found the entire exercise to be pretty funny, and I figured other people probably could relate...happily, I had a great date, and my place still looks awesome!

Also, it is worth noting that my date met Zoe (my poodle), and he passed the test.  He really seemed to like her, and he played with her.  She loved it.....she's pretty easy to please.  I'm just pleased that he not only tolerated her but also paid attention to her.