Vacuum or Dust – Which Should You Do First?

So how has your week been? Good? Awesome. Mine has been spent feeling tired, weird, and generally pretty grumpy and I’m blaming it all on daylight savings. Seriously. I don’t remember daylight savings taking such a huge toll on me when I was younger. This year, though, it has been made even worse by the underestimated snowstorm that Mother Nature dumped over our area of the state. Either that or someone made Elsa really, really mad and she decided to take it out on us because we live in Maine and since Storybrook doesn’t really exist she figured our little coastal area was the next best thing. Really, though, I like Elsa and since she can’t always control her magical powers I’d forgive her way more easily than Mother Nature. Or meteorologists. Never trust meteorologists. Needless to say I’m glad it’s Friday. I actually spent a great deal of the day playing my favorite Pandora channels really loudly while cleaning because the two obviously go hand in hand. I mean, if I’m gonna do something so not fun as cleaning then I at least want some good music that will give me a good excuse to stop for a dance break every now and then. 

While cleaning today I came to the realization there are a few things worth paying someone else to do for me. If I could afford it.

1. Cleaning the bathroom. We have one bathroom and besides me there are three males living in my home. I don’t really need to explain why this is gross and why it would be worth paying someone else, right?
2. Dusting. Dusting just reminds me how much clutter we have and no matter how hard I try to minimize the clutter it always seems to come back. This leads me to an important question. Do you dust first or do you vacuum first? No, really. This is a quandary that has puzzled me since my teenage years when I was forced to both vacuum and then dust a million little knickknacks that crowded the shelves and counters of our home. My mother insisted I do it one way, but I was never convinced it was the best way. To this day I’m still not sure.
3. Laundry. I should clarify. I have no problem washing the clothes, it’s the folding and putting away part that I’d like for someone else to do. I must turn the dryer back on 5 or 7 times to “fluff” the clothes in order to delay the inevitable. I swear I’m a generally environmentally conscious person, but this is one area I falter and I don’t even feel all that bad about it. Judge me all you want little miss eco-friendly perfect pants, but I bet you have your own not-so-green habit you’re too afraid to share for fear of losing your Ed Begley, Jr. wanna-be badge. For example, you leave the water running when you brush your teeth, don’t you? Admit it. I promise you will feel so  much better when you get it off your chest.

Now that we can all agree I’ve had a worse week than any of you, I’d love your help with my dilemma. Which came first? The chicken or the egg? No, wait, I meant which do you do first? Vacuum or dust? If you can back up your response with scientific evidence, you’ll totally win because YAY FOR SCIENCE!