I didn't think cleaning would take me as long as it did..

This morning when I woke up, I was going to go out and watch the marathon. I was going to get inspired for next year when I'm running in it. (Keep your fingers crossed, that's the plan for now.) But I kept hearing this weird noise. Rain. It's called rain. So I laid back down for a while.

To get ready for the day, I picked out the clothes I wanted to wear and a towel and put them in a zip lock bag with my phone and computer. Then I chose exercise clothing I could live without for at least 'till after I get back. Why? Clothes coming into my apartment have to have been cleaned and in a sealed bag.

Instead of watching runners, I went to the Y and did some running of my own. In the scramble to get out of my house I took the oldest pair of legitimate running shoes with me and sent the rest to be cleaned. What I've learned is these are no longer legitimate running shoes as they give me shin splints and hurt my legs. I refuse to believe I'm that out of shape after not running for five days. And one of those days I did other stuff.

Then I got home and realized I had food there so I cooked myself breakfast. Yum. I am in an egg mood lately. I have no explanation. Nonetheless, yum.

The list they gave me for how to prepare the condo for these people is mildly insane. Everything is off my shelves. (Seriously, what shelves?) I went through all my files and put them in sealed bags. Books and magazines are in giant zip lock bags (yes, they do make them that big), my DVD collection is in an under the bed sweater box, all my extra shampoo, toiletries and hair accessories are similarly bagged.

I had to take the pictures off the wall and the face plates off the light switches and plugs. Remember that super disgusting sight beneath the face plate of the buzzer? That's getting cleaned too. I hope.

I think I took out about seven bags of trash including the best pillow ever. That one will be replaced for sure. At some point during this process I realized I could take a little spending spree at Ikea or Bed Bath and Beyond when this is all over. I made a list of the stuff I need to replace. There's also a few things like a new scrub brush for the dishes, new dust mite covers for the pillows I'll buy, those were kind of the bigger things. Also, have I mentioned the mattress and me sleeping on top of all these Dying bugs? I'm still not cool with it.

I ran into my neighbor Steve again. He said, in the middle of all this, his toilet tank cracked and leaked last night. It was only then that he learned that his shut off valve to his toilet doesn't work properly. Home Depot apparently opens at 7AM. Not something I'd like to learn the hard way. He's got it worked out at least for today and he'll call a plumber tomorrow.

After all this nonsense and grossness I took a shower and put on my nice clean clothes. I thought it would just be in, out and on my way. I underestimated the project. I wound up being there about five or six hours. Some of that was cooking and some of that was being on a secure internet connection to do some banking. I had a few unexpected expenses this month... Now I'm nice and clean and sitting in Carribou Coffee enjoying the free internet here. I like their decaf lattes better than Dunn Brothers. I don't feel like they were really making them decaf for me. It is fun to imagine someone pretty much going off caffeine and then giving them esspresso but it's not fun to be on the receiving end of it. I'm thinking about Chinese for dinner. Mmmm. Egg drop soup. (Yes, still with the eggs.) The plan is I'll go home and call my parents. Is it wrong to sit in Caribou and call the restaurant next door to make my order?