White glove service

While you wait for the conclusion of the Keri Russell post, here's some other LMNT goodness.

Let's face it, I'm cheap. I have a strange relationship with money. Buyer's remorse is really a standard symptom of my craziness. It's something I have with a lot of things, big ticket items sure--buying a house stopped my heart; but I sometimes even have it when I buy mundane and necessary things like groceries. I know that's crazy, and it's not like I don't buy the groceries, but I get very anxious about trying to keep each trip under a certain (and arbitrarily set) amount. I've always had this thing with money, and it was especially heightened when I was working in education and living on an extremely strict budget.

I don't work in education any longer and can live comfortably without having to count every penny, but even yet, I have some very cheap tendencies. It's hard for me to splurge on things--even on things I can afford--but, as I've learned, sometimes you have to get over yourself and just splurge. I did that this week.

I even feel weird saying it here, like I'm going to be judged. Judged because I'm spending money on what some might consider a luxury, especially in a down economy. Judged because I'm spending money on something I could do myself. Judged because I know a lot of people that don't pay other people to do this, so when I pay for it either I'm rich, spoiled, and privileged, or I'm not able to do everything on my own. Both might be true, but neither of those may be bad things. I know that I need to get over the feelings of being judged. I shouldn't care, but the fact of the matter is right now, I do.

So what did I do? I hired a woman to clean my house.

I love a clean house, and I actually love to clean, but the fact of the matter is I wouldn't do it. Working and life just keep getting in the way and when it comes right down to it, what little free time I have I just don't want to spend dusting, scrubbing, and vacuuming. So why not give someone the gift of employment (see how I can trick myself out of thinking of this as a luxury and into think of it as altruistic). Note to self: There are people in the world who actually really want to be cast as Cinderella.

As much energy as I spent on worrying about spending money or being judged about not being able to handle cleaning my own house, I can tell you now: OH MY GOODNESS! My house is so clean. It's Saturday, everything is spotless, and I didn't have to lift a finger, except to open up my wallet. Judge me all you want, I tell you what, keeping the country employed is worth every single penny.