The House is Always Cleaner on the Other Side (of the road)

Anyone else have neighbors like mine?  Our across-the-road (and we live in the country so it is a road, not a street) neighbors are empty-nesters.  They are very kind, sweet and helpful.  Their house is ALWAYS clean!

Now, I realize that they are heading towards retirement age and toddlers and young children have not lived in that house for many, many years.  Intellectually I know this is not a fair comparison.  I spend a whole day cleaning and when I wake up the next morning, little gremlins have come out of the woodwork to destroy my previous day's efforts.  She cleans her house and there is no one coming behind her to undo it all.

Hold on now!  Come on!  How is it ALWAYS clean?!!!  She works a full-time job.  It isn't like she spends all her days scrubbing surfaces with a toothbrush.  Doesn't she ever have a really busy week when the unread mail piles up on the kitchen table, the laundry overflows the hamper and the dishes get stacked in the sink?  (I know about the laundry because I always use the back door which opens into the laundry room)  I AM home everyday, albeit I am running around after the tornado I have claimed as my children, but if she can do it why can't I?

Ok, now I know you are asking how I know it is always clean.  Easy.  Random drop-ins.  We rarely call ahead.  We will both just walk across the road and knock on the door.  When I am on the receiving end of the drop-in, 9 times out of 10, I feel a little embarrassed at the state of things.  I KNOW she must be judging me and wondering what the heck I spend my days doing. (Ok, probably not really, she is too sweet, but I can't help but think it)  When it is reversed and I perform the drop-in, perfection!  I head back home in awe of her domestic prowess.  Not just in awe, but perhaps even a little jealous.

Until the evening everything changed.  I walked across the road to perform one of my drop-ins.  I walked up to the door and I could hear country music blasting from inside the house. This was odd.  My neighbors are not the type you would expect to shake the window panes with Miranda Lambert.  I knocked at least three times and rang the bell, but no one answered.  Now, I feel comfortable enough with my neighbors to come by unannounced, but not enough to actually walk into their house uninvited.  I had given up and was walking down the porch steps when the door opened behind me and I turned to see a woman I didn't recognize.  She said, "Sorry!  I couldn't hear you over the music!"  I asked her if my neighbors were home.  She said, "No, I don't know where they are.  I'm their cleaning lady."  Mental head slap.

I learned an important lesson that evening.  A lot of energy is wasted in comparison and, odds are, perhaps things aren't exactly as they seem.