Life on the home front remains--eventful.

I spent two hours on research Sunday night and have determined that the b-u-g issue is not what we suspected--it's a beetle, instead, of the "carpet" variety. (Clearly I have been slacking off on cleaning the baseboards next to the carpet, since that's where they tend to come from. In my own defense, I doubt that anyone could keep that 20 year-old carpet really clean, but the truth is that I have not really focused on that part of the floor. I am now unlikely to forget it ever again.)

I've been frantically cleaning around and next to baseboards for several days. We haven't seen a bug in four or five days*, but I am Deeply Suspicious of any surface--especially any close to the floor--that hasn't been swept, vacuumed, cleaned, and then disinfected.

Even after last Wednesday's cleaning frenzy, I (and the R.C.) found it possible to spend most of the weekend cleaning. Laundry (bedding and clothes, over and over), floors (including spot-cleaning a couple of stains) over and over, bathroom (no bugs there, but it has to be done every week anyhow), kitchen (no bugs, but ditto), hauling out yet more trash, taking donations to the charity drop-off, moving a few things to storage, etc.

The hall closet is now clean and tidy--a project the R.C. and I have been meaning to get around to for six months.

My bedroom closet is both cleaner and neater. Not exactly tidy, but there were things I wanted to do that I can't do until after tomorrow.

I've managed to get to 75% of the baseboards in my bedroom (must unload that last bookcase's bottom shelf tonight and finish the job) and about 50% of the living room (there are only so many hours in a day) and the ex-ter-mina-tor comes tomorrow so that should help finish getting us cleaned up.

I was supposed to meet friends for dinner this evening but I've had to cancel. I have too much left to do this evening and I just can't think about anything but that my living environment is Unclean! and that I am a disgustingly bad housekeeper.

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* In reality, we only ever saw them during one 12-hour period. I saw them at 3:00 one morning, we started disinfecting the apartment at 2:00 that afternoon--the R.C. saw one at that time, I saw three, and we never saw another one. Nor have either of us been nibbled on in our sleep. I suspect I got all, or nearly all, of them that first day. Which has not prevented me from Wigging Out on a daily basis ever since. Every piece of lint I see on the carpet leads my brain to see b*u*g*s and I go into a short cleaning frenzy for that entire area.