Friday, November 25, 2005

Fending Off Divorce or Why I Should Quit the Clutter

Well, I finally have a load of laundry in the machine, the kids are fed and the dishwasher is loaded. Woohoo, what an exciting life I lead. (Said in a Ben Stein monotone.)
People are always facinated when I tell them that I met my husband on the Internet. That will be another entry whenever I get the inspiration to write about it.
Before S. and I met, he was a responsible, single-guy musician drummer in a roommate situation. His last set of roommates were nice enough guys but one of them had cats and wasn't too keen on picking up after them. Unfortuneately, we were ususally relagated to making out or watching movies in his bedroom; just enough space for a full-sized futon/bed and a 35" t.v. His previous situation ended because his roommate and her boyfriend moved in together. Yes, his roommate was a female. At first it struck me as kind of weird but in all things, I try to be open-minded. After getting to know D., even if there had been a "tryst" it never would have worked. I asked S. how he and D. came to be roommates and he admitted that he preferred female to male roommates as they are much neater.
One of the first things my mom asked S. when we went to CA for our first visit together: Are there still piles of clothes on the floor and in the closet? The look he gave said it all. In all honesty, I can let the dishes pile up but no more than a couple days in a worst-case scenario. (I'm the type of person that must wipe counters down when I do dishes otherwise it feels half-arsed.) I manage to do a good once over in the bathrooms at least once a month (I prefer every other week) and I always wear clean underwear. Its the "clothes" things that gets me in trouble. I can separate it, wash, dry and fold it but it stops there. I don't know why and it feels like a disorder, quite the opposite of OCCD.
The other problem is "horizontal" areas. Any flat surface become a breeding ground for mail, magazines, my daughter's school work, etc. I'm being suffocated by the clutter!!! I feel so overwhelmed and don't know where to begin.
God bless his soul, my husband is not a perfectionist but hates a messy house. We've been together over five years and he's still around. Maybe the oral sex??
We moved to AZ this past June; going from a 2,700 sq. ft. house to a 2 bedroom apartment is hell! I hate stuff! I feel like chunking everything, let the dumpster have it.
I saw this great Oprah about how some people are so attached to stuff that they don't even throw their garbage away. That's pretty extreme but I'm close enough. Thank God I throw out my garbage, that could be a problem.
So I'm seriously considering the following:
1. Cleaning out my closet. I love my clothes but I hate the space they take up.
2. Not putting up a Christmas tree. Too much space, need to find another option.
3. Secreting out some of the kids' toys. Damn McD's and their Happy Meals!
I know that it's crazy to think that doing these three things will change my life but maybe it'll put us all in a better mood... and save my marriage!

Peace and blessings!

2 comments:

k. said...

As one who never throws anything away, I can totally relate ...

keep on writing!

k

MusikMom said...

Sn, thanks for the tip. I went into my settings and hopefully I fixed that. I post things anonymously at times, too. Thanks for the reminder!

:-)