Dust

Why is it that you are never quite so aware of just how messy/filthy/disgusting your house is until your mother-in-law comes for a visit?

Friday I felt relatively satisfied with the appearance of the house. Sure there were a few toys strewn around. Sure I had a pile of paper on my "ledge" that needed to be dealt with. Sure, my basement floor needs a good sweeping/mopping/buffing/re-tiling. But, all in all, I didn't look at my home and see "squalor."

Entre in-laws. I see dust, not only on the top of my television, but stuck to the SIDES of the TV cabinet. Since when does dust stick to vertical surfaces? And why, when you eat out every meal, does the kitchen look like a small tornado ran through it when the weekend is over? Why, I ask. WHY?

So this afternoon after they drove away I tried to watch my Chiefs get SMASHED by the Steelers (the only team that I even half-heartedly support AS LONG as they aren't playing the Chiefs) and just breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't have to clean anything for the rest of the day.

But no.

All I could see was the dust. And the piles of CDs I never listen to. And the videos I never watch. And the laundry that I typically do on Monday kept calling my name.

Hello? A little date for domesticity to kick in, doncha think? Now that there is no one around to observe that I actually DO know how to load a dishwasher, wield a dust rag, sort unused stuff, vacuum popcorn out of the carpet.

So much for resting on the Sabbath. One, kids don't allow naps. Two, who can rest when the dust mocks them with the friendly words, "Your mother-in-law doesn't have dust growing on the inside vertical walls of HER TV cabinet!"

And neither do I, now.

UPDATE: I should note that she didn't make one ugly comment. It is all my obsession.