Biker Betty, that international woman of mystery and
adventure, has reinvented herself a few times over the years. Housewife, mum,
student, gay divorcee, author, biker, teacher, blogger… The latest incarnation
is Sadie the Cleaning Lady by the Seaside.
The local school has had no need of my services so far. My
innards, however, have had a continued need to ingest nutritious food, and my
BANK has continued to require mortgage payments (how rude!) Then there are all
the other bits and bobs and incidentals – utilities, fuel, the occasional
bottle of wine *grin*. So – I find myself with three, yes three, casual cleaning
gigs at the moment, and what a time I’m having!
Gig #1 is at the wonderful Adobe Mudbrick Holiday Flats
where I used to stay as a guest. #2 is at a local motel and #3 is occasional errands
and cleaning of holiday houses for a local real estate agent. How very
different the routines are (so I will never get bored!) – and I’m probably too
busy now to be teaching!
People who have known me for a while will know that
housework has never been my strong suit, and will find a certain irony in my
current situation. I have a bit of a laugh about it myself. (and you know what?
I get quite a kick out of seeing the spic-and-span-ness when I’ve finished a
house/flat/room). Also, as a Pommie by
birth, and knowing what England is like these days – where cleaners are almost
always foreign – I’m also loving the ironic role-reversal of cleaning the
occasional place after Indian or Eastern European guests have departed. I love
this country!
So – how are the various Betties finding life? Well…
Author Betty is revelling in the minutiae of lives spent in
motel rooms and the pieces of themselves that people leave behind. Such rich
material (and so many toenails *cringe*)
Teacher Betty, far from feeling bewildered or bereft, is tired
and sweaty at the end of every cleaning shift, but somehow invigorated. She
goes home to Basil knowing that work is actually OVER for the day – and that’s something
that no teacher can ever say at the end of a school day!
Biker Betty is wondering when the hell she will be able to
get Piglet out of the shed and go for a ride.
Gardener Betty is having a ball. I dismantled most of the
vegie cage (take note, Andrew M!) The vegies can now run free (well, they will when
I’ve planted them in the lovely raised vegie bed I haven’t finished putting
together yet), and I’ve preserved a couple of horse-whispering platforms for
Basil and his horsey buddies. I’ve pruned, dead-headed, weeded…. There’s still
so much to do in my garden. It’s a bit like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge,
I suspect: when you get to the end, you go back to the beginning and start
over.
Hedonist Betty is very, very happy. I have the time to do
the stuff I want to do! Never in my life have I been able to get a 20-minute beach, lake or bush 'fix' - but now I can! Oh, how wonderful it is to live on the coast!
Bill-payer Betty is sometimes a little twitchy, but I’m sure
it’s a temporary thing. It takes a while to adjust to the 70-80% pay-cut, and
to have to really think about every cent I spend. Still, in my years as divorced-mother
Betty, that was a given – it’s not like I haven’t had to watch the pennies
before!
Blogger Betty is gathering material. Watch this space J
Life is beautiful!
2 comments:
I think we've all done our share of room cleaning. I've done it for a large resort back in the day. I used to dread the times I got the floors with the sports teams. It is one of the reasons to this day I always leave a tip for housekeeping. I know every bit of cash helps and I appreciate the work that goes into a clean room.
It sounds as though you are enjoying the free time in the evenings and your days off. Sometimes things happen for a reason and maybe not finding a teaching gig is the way things were supposed to be for you.
You sound happy and that is good.
Bravo! Been wondering how you were getting on :-)
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