Oh, my, the most wonderful thing of the summer happened today. My complimentary house cleaning (the first of two), courtesy of the Cleaning for a Reason organization and Boulder County based 2 Buckets Cleaning, was today. The young woman assigned to me arrived thirty minutes early, at 10:30, and she was charming and understanding that I just had no energy to chat or supervise or anything. I kind of pointed at the areas that where I wanted focus, like my shower/tub that I just don't have the strength to clean myself, and then I turned her loose. I lay on my bed for most of the time, mindlessly watching TV shows about people who can afford pools that cost more than my whole house, and walked out into the rest of the house a few times for water or snacks, and she was diligently applying herself to the whole main floor.
It wasn't a deep, strip the gunk out of the grout sort of clean, and I didn't expect it to be. It was the stuff I can't do for myself while I'm so weakened by chemo, and that the Mr can't get to while he's working enough hours to compensate for my inability to do any work at all. The bathroom sparkles now, with a squeaky clean tub. She even folded my towels in a cute hotel-like shape. She tidied the piles of junk I never moved off my piano in a year, and dusted the whole thing. I had cleaned nearly all the debris off the end table, and she gave it a good scrub. The rugs are freshly vacuumed, the floors have been damp mopped, and the baseboards look like zero cats live here. It's not sterile and empty, it's just tidy. And it lowered my stress level by about sixteen notches. Bless this woman, and all the others who got her here.
When I was first devouring every shred of information on the internet about cancer, while I waited for my diagnostic mammogram and biopsy, I came across mentions of Cleaning for a Reason. I didn't know then whether I'd get a positive diagnosis, nor whether that would automatically lead to chemo. In fact, when they first told me I probably would only need radiation, I remember thinking, oh, well, I won't be needing those guys. And when I seemed to bounce back sort of okay from the first round of chemo, I thought, maybe I'll make it. I am so glad I asked to get a consultation with the social worker at RMCC. She has referred people to CfaR before, and she said she didn't get a whole lot of feedback on whether it worked. When I followed up with her yesterday, to make sure that my doctor's note had been received, so the local service would get compensated, if that's how it works, the social worker was pleased to hear that they had matched me quickly and that my appointment was coming so soon.
If you are interested to learn about this non-profit organization, read more at CleaningforaReason.org. There is information you can share with people you may know who are going through chemo, and struggling to keep up with their homes because of it. If you are of a mind to it, consider donating to them, to pass a little of this goodness forward.
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