I have a brother who is a bachelor.  He is always going to be a bachelor, even though he's good looking, has a great job and a warm personality.  We've tried setting him up with nice women, and they get along okay, but then something happens and soon he's alone again.  Every year on his birthday, my brothers and sisters and I always pitch in and buy him a certificate for cleaning service so that at least one day a year his house can be clean.

Last year, my brother invited us over for the holidays.  His house is pretty nice, so I figured why not?  When we got there, we were really amazed.  We were all expecting that we would have to scrub down every inch of his house in order for it to be clean.  When we stepped in the front door it was sparkling.  My brother said that he had some dinner waiting for us after our long flights; there was this delicious scent lingering in the air.  We were all wondering when he learned to cook. 

The next day was Christmas Eve and we were all waiting for the bomb to drop.  My sister and I cooked the ham while my brothers relaxed in front of the TV.  We have this deal; if you cook you don't have to clean up after dinner.

As we were getting closer for dinner time, the bomb finally dropped.  My brother was setting the table.  Usually, he eats off of these mismatched plastic plates, but from the kitchen he produced china gathering holiday Lenox china.  How could he afford 10 place settings of this china?  Each place setting must have cost over $150.  Like I said, my brother has a good job, but why would he spend all this money on china? 

We finally got it out of him.  My brother had rented the China for two weeks, so he could impress us.  He told us that it took a team of five people from the cleaning service eight hours to clean his house.  The food?  It was catered from the restaurant around the corner from his house.  This just goes to show you that things never change.