The best way for me to get my house sparkling gleaming clean is to plan a party. It's not that I don't keep things in order, but underneath the neat façade lurks some nasty stuff. I am not admitting I have little or no self-discipline or that I am lazy, but I put off scrubbing corners and straightening cabinets until dirt and grime reach a critical point. It should be shameful enough to know my family’s health might be compromised by the dreaded e-coli germs advertised on the Lysol commercials, but without outside influence I am not motivated to scrub, scour and polish. Martha Stewart would be horrified at my lack of interest in house cleaning.
When I see that cobwebs have become friendly spider hotels looking like Halloween decorations scattered with whole communities of creepy crawly families, I know it’s time to invite a few people over. When the stairs are piled high with stuff needing to be transported upwards or downwards creating an obstacle course as dangerous as climbing rocky mountains, it’s time to be thinking about menus. When opening closet doors is as hazardous as an earthquake, I pick a date for the event.
In my party invitation guest list I always include my feared picky neat-nick friend. She is the super motivator. I know her eyesight is 20/20 and mouth the size of CNN News. It may seem like backward organization but my process is to invite everyone first, then begin the arduous task of cleaning. In the past I tried cleaning first and then inviting, but it produced disastrous results. It was a year and a half before I completed the cleaning project, the guest list was obsolete and the spiders had moved back in.
So, while I don’t want to offend any friends that are invited to my next dinner party thinking they are only an excuse for house cleaning, I do want to extend a big “thank you” in advance for their motivating presence.
When I see that cobwebs have become friendly spider hotels looking like Halloween decorations scattered with whole communities of creepy crawly families, I know it’s time to invite a few people over. When the stairs are piled high with stuff needing to be transported upwards or downwards creating an obstacle course as dangerous as climbing rocky mountains, it’s time to be thinking about menus. When opening closet doors is as hazardous as an earthquake, I pick a date for the event.
In my party invitation guest list I always include my feared picky neat-nick friend. She is the super motivator. I know her eyesight is 20/20 and mouth the size of CNN News. It may seem like backward organization but my process is to invite everyone first, then begin the arduous task of cleaning. In the past I tried cleaning first and then inviting, but it produced disastrous results. It was a year and a half before I completed the cleaning project, the guest list was obsolete and the spiders had moved back in.
So, while I don’t want to offend any friends that are invited to my next dinner party thinking they are only an excuse for house cleaning, I do want to extend a big “thank you” in advance for their motivating presence.
