Giving up

I am really bad at cleaning.

Really, really bad.

A failure.

My house has not been cleaned in probably a month. Last week I went out and bought a Swiffer Wet Jet even though it goes against everything I believe in:

1. It requires its own expensive and probably-not-pet-safe-despite-what-they-say cleaning fluid.
2. It requires expensive disposable cleaning pads.
3. (and I didn't even know this until after I got it home...) It requires four AA batteries. I hate anything that requires batteries.

Anyhow, I bought it. I thought that maybe if I bought this thing, maybe just maybe I would clean my kitchen floor. I did a little work on the kitchen floor the day I brought it home. However, it was raining that day, so I was unable to put the rugs out on the deck and do a really good job.

Today DJ was going hiking. He got his hiking boots out of the garage because that is where they have lived since last fall when he went on a particularly muddy explore one day... and neglected ever to clean them off. He put them on and walked through my kitchen, and loads of dried mud crumbled from his soles and skittered across my pergo.

So then he swept, and I vacuumed, and later (after spending approximately 90 minutes trying to make the appropriate decisions while cleaning out two bathroom drawers, because this is how lame I am), I shook the kitchen rugs out on the deck and got out the Swiffer Wet Jet to try to finish the kitchen floor.

And I could not find the box of expensive, disposable cleaning pads that I bought to stick to the bottom of this thing so I could use it.

Seriously. I could spend another hour searching for this product and feeling overwhelmed and discouraged and guilty.

Or I could blog a little and then go read my library book, The Help, and dream about having some.

(Which is in direct opposition to the message of the book, I'm pretty sure, but right now--I'm not very far, so no spoilers please--I am totally mind-melding with Celia Rae.) This option promises guilt, too, although probably not overwhelmedness and discouragement, at least for a little while.

Bet you're really wondering what I'm a-gonna do next.

Bet whatever it is, I'm a-gonna feel guilty.