Jo's Boys

Creating a Monster

You know how they say "thirty days to a new habit"?

As in, if you do something for thirty days it becomes a habit, right?

Right.

Well, the house has been on the market since July of last year, which means that I've been keeping the house insanely clean for six months.  Which is five more than required for the New Habit. 

And you know what I've discovered?

Okay, back up.  I have very much the obsessive/compulsive personality type.  As in, I'm a nutball.  Really.  People who know me in real life can totally and completely back me up here.

What I've never ever been, though, in my nutball life is obsessive about the cleanliness of my home.  No, I've never been shut down for health code violations, but I've certainly never torn up the "immaculate home" world, either. 

So I was going through pictures the other day that were taken a year or so ago.  And I was SHOCKED at the state of my home in those pictures.  SHOCKED.  As in, was my home really, truly that hideously cluttered?  And messy?  And were things really truly scattered all over the place like that?  With no rhyme or reason?  Holy Cow!!!!

And now I've realized that keeping my home insanely, ridiculously, obsessively clean has become not just a habit but an ingrained way of life. 

On its face, this would sound like good news, yes?

No.

It's just more feeding of my obsessive/compulsive monster.  So now, I cannot leave my home (literally) unless it is PERFECT, as in could be shown at any time.  This is not good.  My obsessive/compulsive monster did not need FEEDING, it needed STARVING.  And now it has grown LARGER. 

Not good, not good. 

Not Dead Yet... Feeling Much Better... (not)

Okay, for those of you who know your Monty Python, just wanted to quote from the Grail...

It's now officially been four months since my husband left. 

No showings on the house since before Christmas.

Have dropped the price continuously, to no avail.

He has gotten to visit us once a month for a few days at a time.

The new job is getting very cranky about him coming home once a month (his average leave request is three days a month) and is threatening to stop allowing him to come home. 

I've consulted several lawyers about this and evidently there is nothing that he can do if they begin denying his leave requests. 

They have also made it clear that he will not have any chance at a promotion (he was PROMISED PROMOTIONS OR HE WOULDN'T HAVE EVER TAKEN THIS JOB!!!!!!)  until he is no longer leaving once a month for a few days to see his family.  In fact, we have reason to believe that he is currently being passed over for his first promotion opportunity as we speak.

As a "good Republican" it's hard to hear this, since the reason why he has no recourse at all if they begin denying him his leave requests (he has the time on the books, they just are under no requirement to allow him to take it when he asks to) and promotions promised is that PRESIDENT BUSH, who I have supported as you know if you've been reading for a while, changed the game in his department and now all bets are off ~ no employee protections or rights whatsoever.  No joke. 

That's pretty much all that's going on here. 

I'm trying really hard not to whine.  I know that there are many husbands that are gone (like those in the military) and are in danger/war zones, etc.  My husband is not in a war zone, thank GOD, and we get to talk to him on the phone every day and, thus far, we've even gotten to see him once a month for three days, which is more than can be said for military families, so I have no reason to complain. 

But if I'm not blogging, it's not that I'm lazy or something.  It's just that morale is very, very low here and there's really no reason to depress the rest of you. 

He was home for Christmas!!!!!  This was a big blessing.   We were lucky to have him.

Wow.

That Sucks.

I think this is hysterical

But that's only because I have a really sick sense of humor

Funny Video