"Everyday Homes & Gardens"

Tomorrow evening I am having a few guests over for a Pampered Chef Show at my house. It should be fun with food and laughter and good friends. (You all are invited by the way!)

So why do I care what my house looks like?
Does anyone really care what the top of my refrigerator looks like?
Why is it that when we are having company over, that suddenly it becomes of vital importance to clean the house to perfection? Why not just clean it the way we always do, (or never do as the case may be).

I like a clean, organized house. I always have and I probably always will. I like looking at pictures of beautiful homes and dreaming. But I bet that when the homeowners knew a photo shoot was planned for a particular day, they cleaned and organized the same way the rest of us do when company is coming. Maybe there should be a magazine called "Everyday Homes and Gardens-What it looks like every other day of the year" Then the photo shoot could be unannounced, totally random and spontaneous.

I think that as mothers, we take it personally if our children have messy rooms. Or, like my mother, with all of her children grown up and with their own homes, she may feel that if my house is chaotic (I love that word!), it reflects badly on her. Let me just say that my mother taught me and my sisters well. I got married at 18 years of age and I knew how to clean, and cook, and love my husband well, thanks to her example. She did a really great job teaching us considering what she had to work with. (Kimmy, Roxie, and Val...Just kidding!) Thank You Mom.

Now, I know my house gets messy at times. Okay, that may be a bit of an understatement. It is messy most of the time. Usually, it is the normal stuff: dishes that need done, laundry (both dirty and clean), floors to be swept, clutter to be put away or thrown away, paper (schoolwork, junk mail, important mail, papers from work, articles to read or file, etc.), shoes (they are like rabbits at our house and multiply rapidly), and the list goes on. Usually, I have the ironing board set-up with ironing that needs done and I have remnants of my projects here and there. So, my house gets Messy. Disorganized. Chaotic. Pigsty. Cluttered.

Utterly and completely lived in!

I said it before: I like a clean and organized house. It actually is hard for me to focus or relax when it is in a shambolic (now that's a good word!) state. I feel like a cat with all my fur rubbed the wrong way.
I don't like having people over when everything is crazy and that is something I would like to change.
I think my goal would be to have a mostly clean house that when you walk into it, you feel welcome and not afraid to touch something for fear you would "mess it up".

If you are familiar with the Bible and the Book of Proverbs, it talks about "The Wife of Noble Character" in the very last chapter. She is a rather iconic "perfect" woman. She works hard, she is organized, she cares for her family. She seems to be flawless. She is certainly a woman of character to strive to be like. But....did you ever notice that even she had servant girls (verse 15). She didn't do it alone, she had help. Now that is an "aha" moment!

Life is about living it. I don't want to spend all my time cleaning. What about creativity? What about just relaxing (which we do to little of)? What about being able to be totally yourself when people drop in? It's okay if they see a mess; it might just make them feel better about their house and take some pressure off of them to be perfect.

Unless, my house really is the only one to ever get Messy. Disorganized. Chaotic. Pigsty. Cluttered.

I think I need a few servant girls...

Love,
Dianne