Oh thanks!!! I definitely definitely make less than that!
The main answer is that I get the pets out of the house while the cleaner is there, and that works best for everyone. If you’re going to the trouble to hire someone to clean as a once in a blue moon thing, you especially should get your pets out of the way.
For regular cleaners, I do have them meet my pets. I prefer hiring a cleaner or service where the same person/people come to my home every time.
Right now, I live in a very small place. Even though my dog would be fine being crated the whole time, I know that: (1) it’s loud and disruptive to have someone cleaning near/around his crate and (2) having my dog in his crate prevents the house cleaner from being to fully do their job (moving the crate, vacuuming between it and the wall, etc.).
So when the cleaner comes, I let him say hi to her and then take him to the park. If we need to be out of the way longer, I piggyback errands on the way home.
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My parents want to get me a sewing machine for Christmas. Recommendations/advice on picking one out for a total novice? I’d be interested mostly in making dresses and quilting.
Eta paging @Ckni27.
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I have used Janome, Singer, and Viking machines. My industrials are Juki. For longevity I recommend one with less plastic parts where possible. Almost all are made with plastic parts over metal but metal bobbins and cases are better in my opinion. I wouldn’t worry about getting one with tons of stitch options, you need forward, backward and maybe zigzag. I don’t think I’ve ever used any of the other stitches on mine and they’re more things to lose/break with the required attachments.
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I always figure that I’d do embroidery by hand if I wanted it anyways. And I don’t know enough about non-enbroidery sewing to know about any machine stitching other than forward/backward/ zigs. 
A really good modern machine is going to cost hundreds of dollars anyway, so do yourself a favor and just find a refurbished Singer 221 Featherweight. All metal, manufactured pre-war, and makes the most perfect straight stitches you will ever see. And makes a beautiful decor statement as well. 
Will last you your entire life if you take care of it, unlike cheap modern machines. I have never regretted buying mine. I have a cheap Brother (<$100 refirb) I use for “fancy” stitches that I almost never use. I love my Featherweight. (I have almost all the attachments for it also, so I can do things like buttonholes and blind hems and automatic ruffles, and zigzag (though zigzag is a pain, you have to use the buttonholer (zigzag is the main thing I use the Brother for). Also it will accommodate some modern attachments if you check on model #s (I have a modern walking foot for it)).
I MEAN LOOK AT IT
ETA: Fun fact! The Featherweight was the first “portable” sewing machine, (at least, the first widely marketed one). It comes (came) with its own carrying case. It does weigh around 12 lbs, so it isn’t exactly “light” by modern standards. All that metal and such.
ETA2: I first learned to sew on my grandmother’s treadle Singer machine (which I hope to inherit one day), so old machines have a special place in my heart.
ETA3: I guess I should say, if you just want something to get started, find an inexpensive machine at a thrift store and make sure it goes forward and backward. Or buy a refirb or an open box unit from one of the brands Ckni27 mentioned. You could even ask on Buy Nothing. People often hold on to machines for a long time even if they don’t use them. If you could find a Singer from, say, the 70s, that would be way better than a modern low end Singer. But there isn’t really such a thing as a “good” cheap machine.
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I had a featherweight as a child, which I’m sure means it’s still around somewhere, but the machine I use most often is one of those 70s full-size singers. I also have a singer treadle, and I use it occasionally, but I find the zigzag as an actual feature to be nearly indispensable. There’s also not a lot of space under a featherweight, unfortunately, but if you’re doing little things and then packing it away, it’s great for that. My machines are out all the time, both of them, or at most folded away in their own tables.
I leave my Featherweight out all the time too (why not? It is beautiful!), but the Brother stays on a shelf because it is not that nice to look at and doesn’t get used that much. Once I (hopefully) get the treadle it will get a place of honor. 
The bed extension on the Featherweight is short and wide, so there is that. It’s not a quilting machine by any means. A 70s Singer for sure is a quality machine, if you can find one. Hm, in retrospect, it depends on what you are sewing if zigzag is a necessity. I mostly sew woven fabrics (cotton, linen, wool), both for clothing and things like napkins, table runners, etc. I only rarely sew stretch. If I did, the lack of zigzag would be annoying for sure. But not necessary for wovens (except button holes).
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Oh, yeah, my treadle s in the entrance hallway. 
I plunk myself down in front of it on a ladderback chair just like my grandmother used to if I need it. Right now, it needs oil, so it’s just for looking at until I get around to that again.
I did not get the treadle i was taught on, but I found this one at a swap meet for 40 bucks about a decade ago.
The 70 singer (which, come to think of it might be late 60s, since it’s avocado green) actually came from a thrift store. It was in decent shape, mostly in need of oiling, and a few adjustments i could do myself to get it working properly.
The point being, it is possible to find a good, solid older machine for very little money if you have time and patience.
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Avocado green, SWEET!
Some googling suggest that singer may have called the color “jadeite.”
Oh, is it that minty green? Maybe your machine is mid-century (which is ALSO cool).
My grandma has a beautiful old Singer that sews wonderfully. It is heavy and all metal and built into a table with the giant iron pedal and it’s wonderful.
Also second the recommendations for used machines.
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IF you are going to buy new, the brand I’ve seen most consistently recommended in entry-level machines is Janome. They have a small one intended mainly for kids learning that’s somewhere around $100 IIRC but normally I think they start over $200.
No experience with sewing myself
I’m definitely looking at the $100-$200 range, not more expensive machines. The Featherweights are beautiful – and the only times I’ve ever used a machine, way back in the day, I used a treadle and loved it and would really want a machine with a treadle – but $300 plus is more than my folks can afford and, really, more than is worth it for me right now as a newb who doesn’t know how much of themselves they want to invest in this hobby!
I suspect I will be asking at my local fabric shop. I have to pick up some buttons there anyways…
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See if you have a local sewing machine repair shop. Often they have refurbs.
Yes, that color. I think, much googling later, that it’s a 291, which was one of the very early ones with a zigzag option, and yes, mid-century. Works quite well still. Had a lot of googling to do because the serial number isn’t readable.
The treadle is a 66, this one made in 1924. Frankly, if it had a zigzag / buttonhole, I wouldn’t need any other machine. It’ll sew through anything. I turn to it by preference for denim.
@diapasoun , you seriously might try thrift stores.
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I’ve never seen a sewing machine at a thrift store, ever. 
I’ve seen a few very old pre-electricity ones in East Coast antique shops, but that will be less helpful for Californian me. Buy Nothing is unlikely (our local one is pretty meh) but more likely than any of my local thrift shops.
As you can tell, our thrift shops are weird.
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It’s too bad we are not closer, I have an “extra” inexpensive Singer (it’s a 7467 Confidence), if I could figure out a couple things. If you think you might be, message me and I will give you the down low.
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