Never say never.

I've been a housekeeper for a while now. It's been about six years or so, since I have been cleaning for other people. It's a humbling job, but humility is good. It helps you grow. Let me tell you, I'm growing like my eyebrows...by the minute! Before I had the full time job I have now, I used to do a lot of "spring cleaning" jobs, or clean a house after someone had moved out of it, so they could sale it or rent it. I used to be appauled and disgusted, by the dirt and grime that I would find in these houses. There was dirt on top of dirt, yuck on top of yuck, crust on top of crust, and on top of all that...more dirt. I used to ask myself, "How do people live like this? Eewww. I would never let my house get like this."

Yep. You guessed it. Huge mistake. Huge.

My mother used to always say, "Never say never, because as soon as you do, it's going to fall right on the end of your nose."

She was right...again.

You would have to know me before I started working full-time. I was a crazed lunatic! I was the woman wiping her walls down once a week. The woman who couldn't sit still if there was a crumb on the floor. The woman who dusted twice a week, okay..three times. The woman who wiped her bathtubs out every time water ran in it. The woman who wiped the toilets down... every day. The woman who climbed on a ladder, obsessively cleaning the ceiling fan...at her best friend's house when she visited. (My friends always liked me to visit) I was...the woman...that I now miss.

I don't know how I did it, when it happened, or how it happened...but it did. I have become one of those people I used to talk about. I'm ashamed. Honestly I am. Of talking about those people, and becoming one of them. I guess I saw it coming. Things are harder for me to keep up these days. It takes me longer to get my chores done. And it seems like there is no end in sight...none. I've been notincing a little dirt here and there, but I never (there's that never word again) thought that it was this bad.

Until...

I was struck with a sudden illness this past week, which caused me to miss a few days of work with doctor's orders. It gave me four days in a row in my house. In MY house. Two of those days, I was alone in the house...with the dirt. Just me...and my filth...and the dirt...and the grime...and all the yuck. I tried to ignore it, but it was everywhere! I couldn't hide from it...or pretend that it wasn't there. Then it hit me...I've become my worst nightmare. Needless to say, my walls haven't been wiped down in...yeh, they haven't been wiped down...at all. There are crumbs on the floor...every day. I try to keep the floors clean, but I have been known to, just let the dogs out and allow them to have a nice snack. My bathtubs? Well, let's just say that if I would spray those little "scrubbing bubbles men" in my tub...and I mean IF...they would most likely run right out! And my ceiling fans...it's a wonder we can breathe in the house.

Okay...so maybe I'm exaggerating, and it isn't quite that bad (or... it is), but it's just not me. Or...is this...really... the new me?

Never say never.

Big mistake.

All that dirt...is sitting right on the end...of my nose!

I guess I could hire someone to clean it?

Nah...I'll save myself the embarassment.

Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Leviticus 19:16 Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

II Corinthians 12:20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.