My Messy House

I have always considered myself a neat person. I strive to have a house where all the stuff we own has a home (no, seriously). This got a little harder after I got married, but Brian eventually came around to my way of thinking (or at least figured it was easier just to go with the flow. Remember, "a happy wife is a happy life"!). We keep the house fairly clean. It's not spotless, but you're not afraid to walk around barefoot, either. So why lately does it look like Toys-R-Us exploded in my living room? Take a look at this picture!

What happened here? Seriously, the only reason the coffee table looks clean is because "Caitlin the Destroyer" manages to clear it off with a few subtle moves after she gets out of bed each morning.


And look at this kitchen!



These rooms were both clean this morning when I woke up. I swear. I had nothing to do with the living room, and everything to do with the kitchen. The sad thing is, I cleaned up all the breakfast dishes and the countertops after breakfast. This is what it looks like since 9:00 am only. Heaven forbid I should show you what it looks like on the days that I don't get the breakfast dishes cleaned up until right before my husband comes home!

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if having a messy house didn't completely stress me out. I can handle nature being chaotic and unpredictable, but not my house. I am completely relaxed in order. I've tried hard to change my attitude, and I've let my standards slip a little, but I've never been able to live well in a mess. I watch shows like "Neat" or "Clean Sweep" or "How Clean is Your House" (all three of which I've seen every episode) and identify with the hosts comments. I simply do not understand how some of the participants can let their houses get so bad. The messy part and pack-rat part I do understand - although there is such a thing as cleaning out your closets. But the filthy part? That is incomprehensible to me. What I can't figure out lately is how my kitchen manages to have a messy life all it's own. Does it come alive when I'm not looking, and it attracts all this stuff? My conclusion: Yes, yes it does. Currently I am in a heated battle with junk mail. I, for one, will be happy on so many levels when the November 7th elections are over. I mean, how many trees are we killing with the barrage of political ads? I toss them the moment I get them. I have about a trees worth of paper in the recycle bin as we speak. My table has also become magnetized, if possible, to paper items. The newspaper, the main, random other useless crap - it all manages to find it's way to the kitchen table. I didn't show you a picture of the table on purpose. It's embarrassing. On the good side, I did manage to get a load of laundry done today. It's still hanging out in the dryer, and might well be there until I do another load of laundry, or need my jeans, whichever comes first.

Okay, enough writing. The kids are conked out for a while. I need to clean my messy house and take a nap. Or, take a nap and then clean my messy house. That second one sounds like a much better option.