who knew?

A crystal vase full of orange tulips.

That’s all it took – a crystal vase full of orange tulips. For weeks I’ve been so overwhelmed by the landfill we call a home that I just felt paralyzed. The less I did to change the situation the worse it got – of course. The worse it got the more paralyzed I became. Can you say vicious cycle?

But last night, in an inspired burst of self preservation, the Film Geek practically forced me to buy some tulips at the market. My mood never did get much better yesterday and the man has a strong will to live. I put them in a gorgeous vase and put them in the living room and all of a sudden the strangest thing happened. I WANTED to clean my living room. Just the sight of those flowers made me want the rest of the room to live up to them. I overcame the feeling last night and took to my bed with an Agatha Christie and a big glass of Chardonnay. No point in going crazy, after all.

Today, under the threat of death and the unconstitutional withholding of their allowance, the kids all pitched in and actually did their chores. As I write this, the aphrodisiac sound of my husband singing while he vacuums the living room fills my ears. My house isn’t what anyone would actually call clean, but it’s tidy and picked up. You can even see the floor. Surfer Dude threw in his two cents and picked a bunch of lilacs and brought them in for me. They’re in the dining room. Life is good.

That’s it for me today. I want to go and take advantage of this motivation while it lasts.