Monday, April 19, 2010

Type "A" Personality

Here are a few things about me that I loathe. While they may come in handy, at times, mostly they are just an enormous energy suck:

1. I can not leave the house for an extended period of time (for example, a weekend) without everything being straightened up. I like to come home to a relatively tidy place, with the only chore being unpacking.

Conversely, our house is, on any given day of the week, the victim of a Nowell tornado. It is rarely straight. The floors are strewn with clothing, toys, and unidentified "special" items from nature.*

2. I am, by nature, a "piler"** and I have managed to delude myself into thinking this is organization. I can stack and stack and shove stuff together and make some beautiful pile art. And, if anyone asks, I can tell them which pile, how far down, and what color the receipt is they are looking for.

Yet, I routinely lose my purse, keys and check book.

I mostly find them in *SURPRISE* a pile.

3. I rinse dishes better than most people hand wash them. Truly, if I just added soap whilst rinsing, we would always have clean dishes.

But, do I do this? NNNOOOOO. After rinsing, they sit on the counter, waiting for me to unload the dishwasher, for a very, very, very long time.***

Every time I rinse, I figure that today will be the day I have victory in this department and I'll manage to unload and reload the dishwasher before I'm interrupted. So far, in our marriage, my record is something like 2,345 to 1.

Today, I heard an ad that said dishwashing saves something like $40 on your annual electric bill IF you don't "over rinse". My face flushed and I looked around to see if anybody was pointing at me. I felt so outed. And on public radio!!!


I am completely positive that those of you who know me well enough could add copiously to this list. Even those of you who know me casually could do it, I'm sure.

Let's just say I'm attempting to win the battle by starting at the bottom of the ladder, with my weaknesses first. Ever so slowly, I'll be moving upward to improve those things that are my strengths.

I can assure you I'll be winded before I get off the first rung.


*All three of my boys use the word "special" to mean "GET YOUR HANDS OFF THIS THING." Cicada shell from Fall 2009? Special. Bee wing? Special. Broken piece of glass from a beer bottle thrown on the street by a passerby? Special.

**I'm positive piles don't constitute anything being tidy. But, thankfully, Mike acquired the piling gene. Two pilers in one house makes for some honkin' big, bonfire size, stacks of paper. Yet, it also makes for two people who can't gripe at the other about the piles. That, kemosabe, makes for a peaceful marriage.

***Let me just admit that the dishes from last night's dinner hit the dishwasher sub-8am this morning. And I'm staring at lunch dishes from today. It's well past 3:30pm and I hear a little voice telling me it's time to start planning dinner.

3 comments:

  1. Hector and I are both pilers as well. Yesterday, we spent the day shredding old documents that had piled up to a "bad" level... (checking account registers from 2004, credit card statements that we paid off 2 years ago, resumes that have our old address on them)... 2 trash bags full of shredded papers when it was all said and done! Somehow, it is comforting to know that we are not alone. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Speaking of shredding, we have about four week of junk mail to shred!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have a pile two feet deep to shred right now. Sadly, I don't consider that a pile--it's just auxillary and unsightly, unlike my artistically piled bills and receipts :)

    ReplyDelete