Sunday, June 25, 2006
Can selling a house cause OCD??
Because I've been doing a lot of things lately that are very unlike me. It seems everywhere I look in my humble abode, I see dirt, dust, something unsightly that wasn't there the day before. I mean, last night, I took a toothbrush to scrub the edges of all the faucets in the house, and the night before, I found myself using a hand vacuum to get the dog hair off the bed! I'm even considering scrubbing the INSIDE of the washing machine! I'm starting to feel like Lady McBeth! Out, out, damned spots! When did I go from clean to never clean enough??
A friend of mine told me that when she was trying to sell, every time someone would use the restroom at her house, she would grab the Lysol and Mr. Clean immediately so she could scrub the toilet. I thought this was funny and a bit over the top. And then I realized that I've been practically chasing Chip around with a bottle of Windex! EVERY SINGLE DAY, I've had to clean his nose prints off the sliding glass door. And I find myself going from room to room looking for things that might be amiss. Part of the reason for this paranoia is that I'm stressed, and my memory completely sucks right now, so I don't trust myself that I didn't forget to clean or put away something. I have to admit it would be kind of embarrassing if someone came for a showing and there in the spare bedroom are my undies on a drying rack.
I think the other part of the problem is that I haven't gotten the virtual tour video set up yet. I want everything to look its best, but every day that I wait, the more cedar bedding Chip brings into the house stuck in his fur (which naturally falls out onto the carpet), the more times I must scrub the sink, the more dust insidiously deposits itself. Once I get that little movie of my house online, I feel like I can relax a bit. And the cleaning service starts on Thursday. I think that will certainly save my sanity. Then I can just concentrate on normal stuff like dishes and laundry instead of when did I last dust the book cases.
I miss my old lifestyle, the cluttered but comfy one. The one when I seldom forgot to take my meds because the pill minders were sitting right on the countertop where I couldn't miss them. Where I had some 300 music CDs to choose from instead of the 50 or so that are on display. The life that meant not losing important lists and documents because I tidied up and forgot where I stashed them. I hate scrubbing dishes by hand immediately after meals five times a day instead of letting them sit in the sink until the end of the day and then doing just one washing. I hate realizing that I've already put in storage something I need and that I either have to do without it or get a new one. I hate making the bed; I always figure I'm gonna be back in it in a few hours, so why bother? Most of all, I hate the waiting. It's like getting all dressed up for prom only to be stood up by your date.
If anyone needs me, I'll be the one in the corner in the ball gown with a toilet scrubber in her hand.
A friend of mine told me that when she was trying to sell, every time someone would use the restroom at her house, she would grab the Lysol and Mr. Clean immediately so she could scrub the toilet. I thought this was funny and a bit over the top. And then I realized that I've been practically chasing Chip around with a bottle of Windex! EVERY SINGLE DAY, I've had to clean his nose prints off the sliding glass door. And I find myself going from room to room looking for things that might be amiss. Part of the reason for this paranoia is that I'm stressed, and my memory completely sucks right now, so I don't trust myself that I didn't forget to clean or put away something. I have to admit it would be kind of embarrassing if someone came for a showing and there in the spare bedroom are my undies on a drying rack.
I think the other part of the problem is that I haven't gotten the virtual tour video set up yet. I want everything to look its best, but every day that I wait, the more cedar bedding Chip brings into the house stuck in his fur (which naturally falls out onto the carpet), the more times I must scrub the sink, the more dust insidiously deposits itself. Once I get that little movie of my house online, I feel like I can relax a bit. And the cleaning service starts on Thursday. I think that will certainly save my sanity. Then I can just concentrate on normal stuff like dishes and laundry instead of when did I last dust the book cases.
I miss my old lifestyle, the cluttered but comfy one. The one when I seldom forgot to take my meds because the pill minders were sitting right on the countertop where I couldn't miss them. Where I had some 300 music CDs to choose from instead of the 50 or so that are on display. The life that meant not losing important lists and documents because I tidied up and forgot where I stashed them. I hate scrubbing dishes by hand immediately after meals five times a day instead of letting them sit in the sink until the end of the day and then doing just one washing. I hate realizing that I've already put in storage something I need and that I either have to do without it or get a new one. I hate making the bed; I always figure I'm gonna be back in it in a few hours, so why bother? Most of all, I hate the waiting. It's like getting all dressed up for prom only to be stood up by your date.
If anyone needs me, I'll be the one in the corner in the ball gown with a toilet scrubber in her hand.
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