Two weeks ago I posted about my intention to clean the house from top to bottom. That was before mom informed me that things were going to get worse, a lot worse, before they got better. We’re in a crazy phase of remodelling, with sheetrock and plumping and electrical all being installed in various areas of the house and addition. This is the part I intensely hate about home improvement: chaos.

Nothing is in its place, because half the things cluttering our house are temporarily homeless. My own room is crammed with animal supplies awaiting the storage area to be finished in the addition. There’s a fine layer of dust on everything. And cat hair, because no one really has time, energy, or motivation to brush the cats.

You have to understand that we are a clean people, near obsessive at times. An ordered environment is the outward sign of an ordered mind, or something to that effect…my parents have done their best to have us fairly well indoctrinated. And now there is grime built up in places we would never have allowed before, because at this point, the measure of a clean house is one with enough usable dishes and clothing to get us through another day. Vacuuming is an excercise in futility.

Most of the time it doesn’t bother me too much. Yet even my uber-laidback Type B+ personality can become overwhelmed by the dirty dishes and dirty floor and dirty laundry and dirty counters…I can’t wait for this project to be over.