Whew

Well, the actual cleaning is finished, except for a quick vaccuum in the morning when I won't disturb my neighbours. My house smells like a combination of orange (because I've been using Citrosolv on everything from the counters to the carpets) and an Indian temple (because I've had Song of India's India Temple essential oil on a metal ring on a lighbulb for the past two hours). I still need to take out the recyclables and last of the garbage, and I still need to do a little straightening in the bedroom and living room. If I have time, I'll dust, although it's mostly okay on that front. I think I'll do the essential laundry and put the rest in my walk-in closet as neatly as possible, then do it a little at a time. I found that two of my little wire carts with sorted papers on them fits in the hall closet, a happy thing, as I usually just store pet food, purses, my dolls, some mementos, and my MRI films there.

Cerys is rolling on the floor. I hope the potpourri carpet freshener I put on it won't cause her any trouble. She loves to roll. She doesn't do it too much anymore outside, but she loves rolling on the carpet.

I moved Darius' litter box (well, one of them, he has two), so there's one on either side of the apartment. He has a sort of kitty irritable bowel syndrome, so I'm hoping he'll get the hint and use the box instead of the floor as he sometimes does. I have fresh pine litter in it, too. I was out of the clay and the co-op only has pine and wheat litter, and I'm allergic to wheat, so I figured the pine would be best. He's never had trouble with it before.

It's been a productive but tiring day. I think I'll take a break and get something to eat and maybe nap for about a half hour (if I can find my phone in all this; I use it as an alarm clock), and then start toting out bags and emptying mop water. A few friends with houses have Rosies for recyclables, so I'll just take those to the car and put them in tomorrow.

Tomorrow it's back to work at the hospital. I'm looking forward to it, but I don't know what time the inspection at the apartment will be, and I'd kind of like to be there. I am going to leave the animals in the bathroom when I leave, though, just in case. Cerys occasionally has issues but Darius is the real culprit. I've been weighing putting him down; there have been a couple of times he's lost control of his bowels on ME whilst he was on my lap. But first I need to find a vet that will take payments and see if there's anything else to be done for him. He's pretty spry for fifteen and although he's a little skinny despite eating ravenously, he's generally doing well and has become quite loving, especially considering for years he hid from anyone who wasn't me or my dog. After Spock died, he became even friendlier, wanting to cuddle. I'd hate to put him down just over this issue, but I don't want to be evicted, either. A friend of a friend has offered as a last resort to take him in at her farm as an outside cat. He was an outside cat when I found him, and he's a good mouser, but we're not sure if he'll be lost in the shuffle since she has many cats and dogs.

Ai, so much uncertainty. And after all this, I'm not sure I'll be able to pay all my rent this week, so it may be moot. I do know one thing, once my pets are gone, I'm taking a break from pets for awhile. As much as I love them, they're a lot of work, especially when very young and very old, and with working three jobs I'm not really the best at spending enough quality time with them. Maybe I'm just one of those people who should like animals but not necessarily have them. And I can definitely say, especially after dealing with whigning kids (there was a ten year old who sounded two) at the store yesterday, that it's good that I don't have kids, either. One, they'd probably drive me completely crazy, and two, I'd probably have them taken away from me with my tendency to hoard and my housekeeping and financial issues. Maybe someday, if I'm ever more stable in those areas, I'll adopt. But not now, or for any time in the forseeable future. All I can say is, for those who have well-behaved, happy, well-adjusted kids, more power to you. We need more of you in the world.