Bye Bye Cleaning Lady

We said So long, see ya, bub-bye to the cleaning lady. We had become increasingly unhappy with her performance. She only came twice a month, but it WAS nice. Lately it didn't seem like she cleaned much more than what it looked like before we left that day.

She had been with us for just over a year. And things started out good (at least I think it was good), but then there was a couple times I came home early (when she should still have been cleaning) and she was gone, but the little card she left for me said she was still there (I pay by the hour, so it's kinda annoying.) So, that got to me. Then she changed the time to when I would never be there unless I was home sick.

But then I had a baby and of the 8 times she was scheduled to be there while I was on maternity leave, she called and rescheuled 6 of them. And then there was a coupe times she was running behind schedule, so she cut our cleaning time short (which also meant she cleaned less), but we only got charged for her actual time since I was there to see her come & go. But I was annoyed that she was cleaning less for us when she had agreed to clean for so long. It would be one thing if she finished cleaning everything she is supposed to clean in a shorter amount of time (but still nice & clean), but to not clean some things and cut out some of our time. I just felt like she was taking advantage of my good nature.

I've actaully been able to find a little more time now that I am back to work to clean -- isn't is amazing that when you get busier how you get more done, but when you are relaxed you tend to put things off and not get things done as quickly. Anyways, with the baby I just found that if I have a couple minutes I better clean or do laundry or cook while I have the time otherwise that time might go away and I will have missed my opportunity and yo udon't know when it will come again. So, anyways, I am getting more cleaned myself.

But the last few times I noticed that the house doesn't look all that cleaner than how I left it. And she wasn't vacuuming giving an excuse that the vacuum wasn't working, but she knows we have more than one vacuum, because she has gone to the basement to retrieve another one before. So, it was annoying.

See, wehave hard wood floors throughout pretty much most of the house and areas rugs in every room. She was completly ignoring the floors, no sweeping (except the kitchen & bathrooms) because "the vacuum wasn't working". She didn't even dust to take up the extra time she was supposed to do. I had previously told her she can always dust if she has extra time and gave her a list of small projects she can get to if she ever has time. But what does she do? She marks down she was here less than scheduled (at least she was honest there), but I wanted a clean house. And with 2 cats & a dog I need the floors done.

So, she's gone. I talked to a couple other neighbors who have cleaning ladies. One likes their's, but she isn't taking anymore clients, and the other is kinda unsatisfied with theirs too. I don't want just anyone coming into our house, especially since it will occurwhile we are both at work. So, I want to find a cleaning lady that someone I know uses and go from there, but until then. I have to do all the cleaning myself (well, with Andy's help too!). And right now as I type I am missing an opportunity to clean some toilets or something.