Helping her get the place ready for a houseguest—who happens to be my brother. And, you know: when the Sultan of Software comes to town, everything has to be just so.

Here, late at night, I can clean things with some impunity; that's probably why I elected to spend the night. But when my mother is around, the rules of engagement are different. It is paramount that she interrupt me every few minutes with some of the following types of concerns:

• "No! Don't put those piles of paper together. I had them sorted!"

• "Oh! Instead of dusting, would you fold laundry?"

• "No!" (This one's directed at the dog, but I swing around, wondering what I'm doing wrong.)

• "The way I usually do that is, I . . ."

• "You're not throwing that away, are you?"

Of course not. When you have a house that's cluttered up to the rafters, and you're trying to transform it into a livable environment, the last thing you want to do is throw anything away. Particularly when it's a partially used paper towel, or the plastic lid from a carton of cottage cheese.

Mandy decided I was probably playing some kind of fun game, and got in my way a lot until I lost my shit and yelled at her, warning her to not jump on me while I was doing housework. That subdued her for a while.

Meanwhile, I have obligations creeping up on me from my volunteer life. But for the next day or so, I'll want to focus on Matricide Avoidance.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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