Cleaning Up The House Part 2

it's nearly midnight in the holy city of zefat. i have been washing the floors now for the past 11 hours. i started at 1:00 p.m. before that i was lying in bed all morning. i simply, could not get out of bed.

i didn't have the baby to deal with today so i started getting the downstairs apartment ready for next week's rental. i have been painting the laundry room all week long and trying my darndest to make it look like a lounge or salon. i am expecting a family of ten for a few days and i needed an extra room.

i just found out that i have gone through my inheritance already and that i am nearly broke. boker tov! i have been spending it pretty fast. it's not like i've been going out to dinner or staying in hotels on vacation. i haven't bought any new shoes or clothes in years. i haven't even seen a dentist in years. it's pretty much been paying the utilities, taxes, house insurance and helping out the kids. food and electricity are expensive here. the cost of water has become exorbitant.

i really have nothing to show for all the money i've squandered. i didn't buy any new furniture, or antiques. i now have to get down to business and buckle the money belt and really cut corners. how will i start. i barely surived the cold of last winter. i got by on half a tank of heating fuel and i froze most of the time. i was one of the lucky ones who heated her house.

i'm going to have to stop buying diapers and baby food for the kids. they are both working now and are going to have to start pitching in. i'm babysitting for free and that leaves me unable to work outside the house; not that there are any jobs in zefat, anyway.

i threw tons of buckets of water around all day long. the floors were disgustingly dirty. with keeping the windows open during the day, the dust is unbearable. what can you do? one does needs air. i washed my enormous kitchen floor, the hallway, two bathrooms, the t.v area and the two back bedrooms. i didn't get to do the master bedroom or the living room today. there's always tomorrow.

i did do the entire downstairs guest apartment. i scrubbed all of the four bedrooms, the giant laundry room, the hallways, the bathroom, and the kitchen.this was no easy job. my toes are killing me. i stood in my bare feet for over 11 hours in sudsy water. i didn't spare the detergent, either. i can feel my toes crying out, "enough is enough".

i will make up the beds and finish the wallpapering on the plaster board wall on saturday night. my body is really hurting now. i managed to twist my back at aroebics last night. i was doing a yoga pose and i suddenly rolled over on my right side. i heard a click. i didn't even try to get to yoga this morning. i was beat. i guess shlepping the baby around in the heat yesterday wasn't all that smart.

i walked to and from the supermarket because i didn't know how to fold the stroller. i did a quick shopping while the baby slept and i got a free cab ride home. i had the cabbie deliver the groceries to the house while i walked home. i gave the driver a little something to put the groceries in my front yard. i bought tons of bottled water and a little food to make for shabbat. i then walked another half hour to exercize and walked home afterwards. i didn't fall asleep before 4:00 a.m.

i am definately starting to budget. we are going to have spicy deviled chicken wings for shabbat dinner. i also bought a small peice of niles perch to stew with tomatoes. i am going to oven fry some potatoes and sweet potatoes. maybe i'll make a potato kugel too. i have some melon for dessert and i am planning on baking a banana cake. i will make a beet salad, carrot salad, tahina, an israeli salad with cucumbers and tomatoes, egg salad, a morracan cooked tomato relish, and i'll serve the humus that i bought this week.

we can have some smoked turkey meat for lunch with the left over salads. i don't want to leave the electric hot plate on all shabbat long. it's simply too hot for that. i can live without hot food on shabbat day. as long as i have the electric water thermos going, i'm a happy camper.

i don't have to watch the baby tomorrow so i'll be able to make the shabbat meal without any pressure. the floors are all clean so i won't have any last minute sponger to do.

wishing you all a great shabbat!