Aaaaaand, cut!

It’s 1:47 am, and I just finished as much cleaning as is going to happen tonight.  Tomorrow my dad and stepmom are coming to visit.  Nathan said to me while I was trying to clear out the living room, "I don’t know why you wanna try and pretend that we are clean people when someone is coming over.  Because we are NOT."

He’s right, I guess.  But I want us to be clean people.  And maybe if enough other people believe, it will happen.  Twenty minutes ago, I was mopping and shaking my ass to some vintage Jackson 5 and then a little PJ Harvey.  My house looks more like I want it to, though it’s far from the pristine-yet-lived-in look of my fantasies.

This morning when I was getting dressed, Sophie was at my elbow chattering away.  She stopped mid-sentence and looked up at me, beaming.  "MOM!" She said, breathless, "You’re getting a mustache!"  She was proud, dammit.  So proud, that for a second I was, too.  Nevertheless, I see a tiny tray of bleach in my immediate future.

I’ve had a very satisfying materialistic few days here.  Over the weekend, I went to Ikea (twice) and now I’ve got the red corduroy couch and chair I’ve been drooling over for a couple of years, along with a new TV cabinet (with doors that close so we can pretend we don’t have a TV sometimes, which is easy now because we don’t actually have one but eventually we will since we’ve got the cabinet for it and everything).   Then last night my mom came and watched the kids while we went to the Honda dealership and bought a new (used) minivan.  We had to get a second van before next week when I start commuting to work (thank maude — working from home with my kids is torture.  I love them and am almost always happy to see them, but this summer bit in a big way). 

On Saturday, my little brother is getting married to his longtime girlfriend.  I’m really happy for them, and only a teensy bit jealous that their honeymoon is going to be a long trip to my favorite place; Barcelona (sigh).   All my kids are going to be in the wedding.  The girls will be flower girls, and the boys ushers.  Nathan told my brother that he wanted to be the ring bearer, and J (my brother) told him that he was hoping he could be an usher.  Without missing a beat, Nathan said, "Sure, but you’ll have to pay me."

He wasn’t kidding, either.

10 thoughts on “Aaaaaand, cut!

  1. Marsha

    My dear husband is always telling me we should be keeping our house company ready all the time. I hand him the mop. :), hope your visit, and the transisition of working outside the home all goes well.

    Reply
  2. Lauren

    Hi! Just stumbled onto your blog; I completely understand the whole “wish i was one of those people who have perfectly clean houses all the time”…I hate those people! My house is perpetually messy except for 5 minutes before company comes over- Anyway, love the blog…Lauren

    Reply
  3. =^..^=

    Don’t feel alone. My husband and I have decided that as long as our visitors don’t actually SEE the monstrous hairballs from our seven cats, we’ve succeded. If no one sits in food left from one of our children, it’s a miracle. And if no one leaves with a layer of dust on the lenses of their glasses, then the house is too clean and we should mess it up a bit as soon as they leave. =)

    Reply

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