$30

On Friday, Feb 13th (an auspicious date), the movers came. They came to pack up all of our wordly goods in to cardboard boxes (I'm sorry, trees), put numbers on them, load them into a van, and drive off with them. Some we will see in DC, most we said farewell until we will be in a much stranger country than when we saw them last.

After the movers were done, we were left with an empty apartment and the usual cleaning that comes after having moved out. We had checked the weather forecast, and snow was coming that evening and the next morning, so Brandon and I decided to clean and then get out of town before the snow came.

We hoped to be gone by 3:00, but when 3:45 came and we still had not vacuumed the floor, cleaned out the freezer, wiped the counters, cleaned the sink, or given away the rest of the food we could not finish or throw away (and by the end we were throwing away a lot of stuff. I'm pretty sure that I saw Brandon throwing away some dirty washcloths. But that's why we have money, right?), I knew that it was time for action.

So I called one of my miamaids and gave her an offer: bring over the vacuum (ours had already driven off), vacuum the floor, wipe down the counters, sink, and freezer, and I'd pay her $30. She was over five minutes later. And it was worth every single penny.