Thursday, October 6, 2011

Preparing for Guests

My stepson and his family are visiting next weekend. I can't wait. We have not seen them in over a year as he was deployed over seas and his wife and kids were on base, half the country away.

Since we have not seen them in such a long time, we are in "heavy cleaning" mode around here. Is that weird? We clean whenever anybody visits, but for this visit we are purchasing new sheets, area rugs and even a new tv. These are all things we needed anyway, but we made a priority to get them for this visit.

I try not to put too much thought into it, I'm just happy the cleaning is getting done. But, I think we are doing it because we want everything to look as nice as possible and we want the visit to go smoothly. Steve knows me and knows that I will fret over things like a stained rug and old sheets.

I've always been a "the house has to be clean" type of person. In therapy the other day, I questioned whether I am borderline OCD. My therapist says its not OCD unless it interferes with my life. Since, normally, I prefer a clean, organized house, but am willing to let things slide for the sake of time with my family or work deadlines, I think I'm ok.

However, when it comes to visitors I become a mess. I stress for weeks over things like cobwebs in the corners, shampooed rugs and perfectly organized closets. Don't even get me started on the garage!

I get this way when we go away, too. I hate to come home to a messy house and I have a real fear of something happening while on vacation that would cause someone to have to enter our home. What is weird is the only people that would come in during an emergency would not really care if there are toys on the floor or laundry on the bed. They would be more worried about dealing with the emergency.

Anyway, with that being said, please excuse any erratic posting next week. I will be focusing on cleaning behind the refrigerator and stove. I'm just going to accept that this is my week to do my "fall cleaning" and leave it at that.

Do you do an all out cleaning when guests are expected? Should I put mints on the pillow?

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