Tuesday, September 21, 2004

I admit, I am an obsessive, compulsive clean-freak! I should have learned by now that being a single mom of 3 teenage boys and being an obsessive, compulsive clean-freak are not compatible traits for one person to have.

Nevertheless, I still hold out hope every night on my drive home from work that I will walk through my front door to find a calm, organized, non-sticky, free-from-dirty-dishes, pillows- where-I-left-them, sock-free living room. HA! Gotcha again.

So, one would wonder (I know my sons do) why it upsets me so much to come home each night to the same inevitable mix of chaos that greets me each night, inside my home sweet home. Its not like I don't prepare myself during the 30 minute drive from my work to my home to expect the worse.

Oh, but I do. I tell myself, nothing could be worse than last night when I came home to find the half eaton carton of ice cream left out in the living room, melting in pools over my Better Homes & Gardens magazine, dripping down the table onto the carpet below. Or last week when I discoverd the lid to the frog tank missing, all four frogs unaccounted for and our cat anxiously hovering around the room.

The ultimate test of my sanity was once (again with the frogs) a bucket the boys had filled with at least 40 tiny, baby frogs, tipped over in the car on a return trip from the lake. I was still finding them hopping around the car a week later.

Probably though, my greatest obsession is with the bathroom - the one and only bathroom we have. The words boys and bathroom, together, can only bring to mind horrific visions of unspeakable atrocities. Go ahead, imagine it - - had enough? So it was last night that I encountered a freak moment of gross. Tired after a long day at work, and being a Monday, it was definitely bath night. I gathered together my bath pillow, candles, bath bubbles and prepared myself for a moment of relaxation. I fixed my drink, got my book and locked the door. As I pulled back the shower curtain to start the hot water, my eyes gazed upon... [Pshyco sound effects go here]

...A huge, green, slimy, gloppy BOOGAR!!
Setting aside my bath bubbles, I instead grab the disinfectant spray and do what I do best, clean, clean, clean.

Tonight, I will drive home, thinking, it can't get any worse. Prepared, that's me.

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