Take good from the bad

The dog got out of the yard. I don’t know how. What I do know is that when I discovered the resultant mess, Chaos was out of the yard chatting with the Neighbour Who Loves to Complain™ and both Mayhem and the hound were nowhere to be seen.

I got Tessa inside and at least got a direction to look out of him. That was almost all the helpful he was. Only after I’d gone running up the footpath to the main road - visions of gory consequences flashing through my head - and come back in blind panic did he tell me exactly where both son and hound were.

Then he flat out told me I didn’t deserve to have kids.

With a smile on his face.

Knowing his fine tradition of dobbing us in to every authority he could conjure, I instantly knew he’d be calling Child Protection Services. And the house is still a wreck from Christmas/New Years’.

So, of course, I panic and start cleaning like a mad thing. But at least I had a brilliant idea. Call some cavalry.

I don’t have much of a network. Just one friend. For the sake of privacy, let’s call her Powerhouse. Powerhouse is everything I wish I could be. Organised, efficient, taken seriously… With her on my side, instead of dithering around from one task to another, we got together and started an organised dervish of cleaning.

And when I say we got a room and part of a hall done, I mean we got it DONE. Heck, it’s practically scotch guarded against further pollution. Past “just for now” debris is gone. Or stacked neatly and looking like it should be there.

It was an anxious, sweaty day.

BUT, I do try to take something positive out of any negative thing. So.

I got a room and a part of the hall done.

And once the whole house is done, I’m sure I can keep it up. And badger the rest of the lazy slobs in this house to keep it clean.

And with Powerhouse as my adopted un-sister/personal trainer, I’m determined to turn a new leaf and keep it turned.

Nobody taught me to be neat when I was a kid.

Something tells me I’m about to get schooled in a good way.

P.S. I also found $50 in the clean-up. Yay!