thank god for mr. c

in a recent post (the last one, actually), the baron revealed to you, reader, that she doesn't care much for the washing of dishes. she had been prepared to defend herself, to claim that this - her avoidance of this type of cleaning - is anomaly, and that she generally works to keep a clean house.

but.

that's kind of not true.

what IS true is that the baron is fighting an unending battle against the dogs' hair, hair that pulls loose from their coats and puddles in the corners of the house, finding its way under the sofas and beds. to handle this most worthy adversary, the baron uses the Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner (maybe, by the way, the best gift the husband ever gave the baron), and on the whole - by waging two battles a week - she is mostly able to keep the hair at bay.

what is also true is this: that's pretty much all she does. yes, yes, she does laundry, and the occasional furniture wipe-down to catch the dust, but reader, the baron doesn't clean the floors, or the bathroom, or the kitchen (beyond keeping it tidy between uses), or the windows or the mirrors...



instead, over the last 18 months or so, she has come to rely on a man she'll call mr. c. (doesn't that make you think of mr. f, reader?). introduced to her by someone at her job, mr. c is the godsend who comes to the baron's house twice a month to CLEAN! he does the floors, and the bathroom, and the kitchen, and the windows, and the dusting, and reader, never have you seen joy until you've seen mr. c trying out a new cleaning product.

at first, the baron was just glad to have someone around to do the work she DIDN'T want to do; she'd heave a sigh of relief knowing that it was almost time for one of his visits.

but.

it turns out, mr. c is more than just the sum of his cleaning products! he's also a whole person, a humane, funny, snarky librarian with a wit that could cut you, reader, right to shreds. and his boyfriend? an opera singer. the baron, though grateful for his cleaning services, is also grateful just to know him (something that happened almost right away, as soon as she noticed that he remembered all the dogs' names and was not put off by baron's incessant barking).

see how that works, that positive reinforcement? deny housecleaning and get a friend!!