I have a cleaning person come once a month to do the heavy cleaning. Not the dishes, or laundry, or things like that, but mopping the floor, cleaning the bathrooms, degreasing the stove and hood. That stuff.

She's very thorough and worth every bit of the money we pay her. She works for my housemate's family also, and was delighted to get this extra income, so it's a win-win situation.

Oh, the tradition part? Since she's arriving tomorrow morning around 8, I'm spending this afternoon picking up clutter, dusting, trying to put things away, etc. It's a tradition to clean before the cleaning lady comes, and I can see why. Imagine her having to deal with the real mess!

Her once a month visits inspire me to put stuff away that would otherwise sit around until covered up by other stuff. So you see, cleaning up before the cleaning person arrives--the tradition continues....