i would first like to say that i nailed my business writing presentation this morning. we got to choose our topic and i chose “business writing in networking” (i came up with that title on my own :up:). i used specific examples from e-mails i’ve been writing and receiving in regards to sponsorships for the Gaming Club and my professor said that my letters were “perfect” and “professional”. cha-ching! i sense an “A” in the future.
anyway, i am about to go over the edge. since i’ve been living “on my own” or at least out of the dorms, i’ve become a bit obsessive about cleaning. mostly since i’ve been living in the apartment that i’m currently in now. i have always been a bit compulsive about things being tidy and everything having its own place, but that’s not so much my concern here. not everyone is organized and that’s an entirely different issue here.
my problem is grimy-ness and uncleanliness in general. animals take this to an entirely new level and when you have animals, you have to not only take care of them, but their messes as well. this includes everything from the floor after they pee on it to their litterbox to any other surface on which they may reside. i make a habit of dusting and vacuuming and mopping and cleaning counter-tops and all of those normal activities included in a good cleaning. but… it’s gotten to the point where i might just lose my mind.
i know loki used to be really bad about going to the bathroom in the apartment when i first moved in here with her. that was due to a few reasons: 1) she was still very young, 2) she was in a relatively new place, 3) she was on an irregular schedule, which is hard to work around in college. sometimes i could’ve done better about that but i will admit to it. she’s only gone to the bathroom in the house once in the last 3-4 months, maybe even longer than that, and that’s because she’d been stuck in the apartment all day while we were gone to a football game. REGARDLESS, i always clean up after her thoroughly.
my roommate has 2 cats… 2 cats that used to be potty trained. somehow, one of them decided to stop using the litter box. i am not sure if this is because she neglected to clean the litter box on a daily basis or not. some people have suggested that it’s due to the fact that the cat is not neutered. either way, it should be noted that when a cat pees or does any kind of anything on any surface, it should be cleaned up. immediately. i’ve cleaned it up the last 20-30 times that the cat has peed in the apartment, whether it be on the kitchen floor, the kitchen counter, the stove, my laundry bucket, my bathroom floor, my desk, my carpet, the living room floor, EVERYWHERE. i have cleaned it up. i will say, “the cat just peed in the kitchen”, and nothing is done. so i clean it up.
i know i should speak up but i am afraid of disrupting what is generally a very healthy roommate relationship. we get along great, and have a lot of fun together, and are very good friends, and that’s an easy balance to rock. but something has to be done, right? i mean, i really can’t stand living that way.
i already brought to her attention that the litter box HAS to be cleaned out every day. not just with a pooper scooper… all bits of #1 and #2 need to be rid of on a daily basis. she didn’t seem to thrilled when i told her this, but that’s the responsibility that comes with having a cat. i have to take loki out multiple times a day. you can toss the junk out of a litter box once a day. that isn’t so much to ask, and it might relieve me of my cat-piss-cleaning duties. CAT PISS SMELLS AWFUL.
right now there is a spot in the corner of the living room… actually, 2 spots. i’ve been staring at them since at least yesterday. they may have been there before that but we partied pretty hard friday and saturday so i could’ve overlooked them. who knows. anyway, they’re there and nothing has been done. there was cat pee on the kitchen floor today and i stared at it for a while, and nothing was done. i mentioned it… and yeah, nothing was done. so i cleaned it.
i’m going to give it until this weekend. that will give me time away so that if i am not here to clean it up immediately, maybe she will. i am leaving this weekend for at least a day because my step-sister-in-law is having a baby shower sunday, so if there is cat mess scattered about, i NEED to get this speech out of me before it comes out in a very unfriendly manner.
on a lighter note, i have found another blog that i can already tell will become one of my favorites. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman reminds me a lot of Dooce. Dooce has had me sucked in for years now, and i’m sure this one is about to do the same. it’s incredible–the things you learn from people you’ve never met, but you feel like you know them so well through their writing. i sometimes wonder if i’ve ever had any readers like that. i can’t imagine my life is nearly as exciting as these women’s, but one day. i’d absolutely love to live like that… out in the country, with nature surrounding me, the love of my life, a few animals, someplace to go fishing, someplace to hang a hammock. far enough out there to where i don’t have to stare at buildings, but close enough to where i can drive 30 minutes to town. the pictures that this woman takes have me mesmerized.