Cruising, Packing, and a Mop..

[Realblonde474]

Forgive me, but I had to post this silly question here because mainly women are on this group and maybe you won't think that I am too crazy!

 

Does anyone else CLEAN like a mad woman BEFORE they leave for a trip?

Yes, I have packing to do, Yes, I have work projects to wrap up and we are starting our drive down to Ft. Lauderdale in about six hours...

 

BUT what am I doing: mopping the kitchen floor and changing the sheets on the bed!!!

 

My ex and current think that I am crazy but I can't leave the house dirty or things UNDONE before I travel..

 

Does anyone else have this little compulsion or am I the only one?

 

Donna

[lhanson38]

Not crazy

I'm the same way. There is no way I could go away with out my home being spotless. You know the cats need a clean house..LOL

[luckycruzer]

dont fergit to clean out the fridge/freezer.. And I live alone !

[JediMom]

Another one who has to clean before leaving. We also leave the (empty) dishwasher open a crack so it doesn't smell mildew-y after being shut for a week.

[Realblonde474]

I forgot the fridge...actually I did that this morning while I was cooking B'fast for the kids. :)

 

And I made my son do the cat litter last night.

 

Thanks y'all...glad to know that I am not alone.

[cmego2]

Same here.........clean, clean, clean. All I have to do upon my return home

is dust and vacuum. :) DH doesn't get it!

[Realblonde474]

That's great ideal about the dishwasher and maybe the front loading washing machine as well.

[CowPrincess]

I like having the house clean when we leave, too. (As another poster mentioned, the cats more or less insist :D ) Didn't clean this time pre-cruise, ran out of time. OMG on getting home to a grotty house. Yesterday, not only did we have to unpack and start laundry and grocery shop AND cook our own meals, I had to start cleaning. GACK!

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

Love coming home to a clean house. I always love the packing part, but hate the unpacking and putting everything away. Since the house is clean, it makes it easier. Then we go out to eat because there is nothing in the fridge, kind of makes the vacation last a little while longer.

[kellane]

I'm the same way anytime we're going to be away for a couple of days or more and it drives my dh crazy! LOL!

[Gunner22aa]

Yes, not only does my lovely wife clean like mad so we come home to a clean house but she insists that I become activly engaged in her project as well! Yes we do like to come home to a clean and tidy place. My only question is why do I always get the toilet bowls?

[Realblonde474]

It would be too easy to post a silly comment about men and their aim (hence that's why you dear sir get the toilets) but I am a Southern woman and we don't tease about things like that.....:p

[iheartbda]

My name is iheartbda and I'm a pre-cruise cleaner.:D

[Laurie S.]

Nope, not me. I have a rough-coated border collie and a cat and there is no sense in cleaning before I go because it will be a disaster when I come home anyways.

 

The worst was when my cat was still a kitten and proceeded to de-tinsel the Christmas tree while I was on a 13-day B2B. My dog helped distribute the tinsel throughout the house. We came home, turned on the inside lights, and I stood there wondering why the living room floor glittered. I still find bits of tinsels in the house!

 

My neighbors were feeding my critters and watering my plants, but never did a thing about the tinsel and watched it get worse and worse. And, before anyone asks, the tree was up because my fiance came up from Mexico for a few days before we left on Christmas day for the cruise and we wanted to enjoy the tree. The rascals behaved until we left.

 

So, no, I don't clean before a trip. :)

[JanineM]

Add me to the list of people who clean the whole house before going away. I cannot STAND coming home to a mess! The pets go to the "spa", so no worries about them messing it up, but even when we had a pet sitter come in I still cleaned the whole house because I didn't want her thinking I was a slob :p.

 

Not only do I clean the house, I leave the "right" food in the freezer so we have something to eat when we get home that afternoon or evening ...

Diet Coke in the fridge, bread in the freezer, and WINE!

[Jan_In_Maine]

I always clean the house before we go on vacation.....and I really appreciate coming home and not having to clean before I do mountains of laundry! Jan

[xenagurl]

More cleaning than normal? No.

 

I do laundry regularly so there's never a pile to be done when I get home short of what I took on vacation. If I wanted it to be sparkling before I left I'd hire someone, but I'm not big on putting added stresses on myself unless necessary.

[sail7seas]

Not crazy at all, IMO

 

:D

[Suitcasefull]

Reasonable cleaning - - laundry and dishes all done. Housesitter can take care of anything that comes up. We do turn off water to the washing machine.

 

LS - Glad your critters didn't have bad consequences by eating tinsel. It can be a killer.

[murfturf]

I do clean before we leave - but my room is usually quite a mess from getting ready to go! Clothes I didn't take scattered on the bench or a pile of discarded items! Of course the litter box and the dishes are done, trash taken out, toilets cleaned - those won't do too well staying 7-10 days, YUCK!

 

Note on the washer. I always leave doors and drawers open, drives the hubby crazy. However, we read that if you leave your front loading washer open it will keep it from smelling like mildew. Well, I do that naturally so I told him it was better that way anyway :)

 

This trip my niece, who is my new housecleaner, is house sitting for us. So for ONCE I don't have to have it perfect. She'll clean for us while we are gone (and I'm paying her too!) so it will make the day before a little less stressed.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We don't clean any more than usual. Make sure the dish washer has been run, clean bathroom and changed sheets. We're retired so except for the cats the house doesn't get out of hand. We left for our last cruise the day after Christmas and did not spend any time cleaning before we left.

 

Mary Lou

[Laurie S.]

Reasonable cleaning - - laundry and dishes all done. Housesitter can take care of anything that comes up. We do turn off water to the washing machine.

 

LS - Glad your critters didn't have bad consequences by eating tinsel. It can be a killer.

 

They didn't eat the tinsel, they just pulled it off the tree and scattered it around the living room mainly. Little bits got in my dog's fur and she scattered it more, including at my office (she goes to work with me). I even checked the litter box and no tinsel in the tootsie rolls.

 

I've had cats my whole life and have yet to have one eat tinsel. They did try to eat the icicles the one time I tried them, so didn't do that again. I had to take them off the tree the same day. Ornaments are far game! Little monsters......

[5326jan]

I clean house, change bedding, do laundry, wash dishes/empty washer, (I always leave clothes washer door open), take out trash from bathrooms, recycling and garbage from kitchen, clean cat box- plus leave extra litter box and leave loads of extra food in case pet sitter has emergency and can't get there.. It's happen before!:eek: I know it's gross, but I also leave the toilet seats open in case the cat sitter can't get there and her water bowl goes dry, at least she'll have water. (All the more reason to clean them well before we go!) PS... I also know of a cat that died from tinsel!:(

 

We also stop mail and newspaper, ask neighbors to watch for UPS packages, set a light timer a few days before we leave, notify our neighborhood watch person, go to grocery store to be sure we have some coffee creamer, something easy in the freezer (usually frozen pizza) and wine for late arrival home.

 

Just as we leave, we double check that the cat didn't get out, set the alarm and security cameras, and make sure all outside lights have fresh bulbs. Whew! I'd better get started now! :)

[Happy ks]

I used to go crazy with cleaning before we left, but now our grown children (21 and 24) don't go with us on cruises. If I did clean like crazy, I know they would like it, but then I'd have to clean like crazy when we arrived back home.

 

So now, we catch up on laundry, our bedroom is clean, the house is tidy and the kids are more likely to clean up their messes before we get back.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

OP, you're not crazy. I too clean the house and change the sheets. It's nice coming home to a clean house, no laundry (except cruise laundry) and a fresh bed.

 

A few weeks before, I also start making a few freezer meals. It's nice to have something easy to make those first few days home; especially when the post-cruise depression sets in along with unpacking and vacation laundry, stacks of mail, etc....... We just pick up bread, milk and eggs at the convenience store, to hold us over until we can get to the grocery store.

 

 

 

:)