Cleaning House

Should be reading 100 Years of Solitude, but instead I'm googling phrases such as "blogging about cleaning the bathtub." I found a woman who blogs almost daily about taking a bath and inevitably, about cleaning the tub. Sometimes she takes two a day. Not really very interesting. The "crazed woman" (self-described) rant was more interesting, but only mildly so. "Crazed woman" was nine months pregnant and annoyed with her family for not cleaning up after themselves in the bathroom. The soap scum got the best of her.

Last Thursday, I made a day out of cleaning the bathtub. I started with the curtains.To the washing machine with bleach. Then the towels, smelling slightly of bathroom. And the bath mat.

Donned canary yellow rubber gloves for scrubbing whatever it is that accumulates in the tub. Find it odd that we clean the thing that we clean ourselves in.

Threw out rubber non slip fish mat for reasons that are embarrassing to disclose.

Drove to Linens and Things. Explained to child why we could not purchase anything other than clear, anti-bacterial, anti-mildew, machine washable tub mat. Argued a bit and agreed to package of tub ducks.

To the washing machine to retrieve curtains. And towels. Separate loads.

Rinsed tub. Rehung curtains. Inserted tub insert. New plastic smell.

Bathed children in clean tub.

One Hundred Years of Solitude opens with a family tree and this sentence:

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

Today I am going to omit domestic project. Instead, I will read.