December 5, 2014

Neatness is a virtue

I want things neat.  Messiness doesn't bother Scott in the same way it bothers me.  He likes to know where things are and gets a kick out of organizing all his stuff, but it doesn't scrape at his soul when there's a mess lying about.  I don't deal well with messes.

Life According to Steph

However, one day a few weeks ago, Scott went pheasant hunting with some coworkers.  He took them out and they came back here to clean the pheasants.  I should tell you that we have a rule:  no dead animals in the kitchen.  You see, there was an incident once in which 15 snowshoe hare were skinned and gutted in the kitchen sink and I ended up finding clumps of gray fur on the floor and in the dishwasher.  I completely lost it. It was one of those moments that would go down in the history of our marriage.  Like, it would get a special subheading in a book:  Snowshoe Hare Incident. Scott's friend's house served as the gutting/skinning/shelling/cleaning/plucking station from that day forward.  It was sort of a legendary moment that set forth a proclamation of "Let's go to Taylor's house. We know we can't do that stuff here anymore". That was in March of 2011.  Scott knows that the fish and birds and carcasses must be dealt with outside.  Of course, on this day a few weeks back, it was only 10 degrees out and they had a lot of birds to ...clean.  So I granted access to the kitchen.  But first, I suggested the sink in the basement.  Weren't we thrilled to have that thing down there for this very purpose?  Why yes.  Would Scott escort his buddies through the basement and into the laundry room before the plucking and de-feathering could begin?  No.  He could not.  Because "it's kinda messy in the basement".  At least he had the good sense to look sheepish when he said it.  You see!  He does care.  While it doesn't shake him to the very fiber of his being like it does for me, messes DO bother him.  This felt like a small victory.

Birds were cleaned in my copper sink.

He also had the good sense to clean and sanitize the space.  And then I went over it again with more Lysol because that's just what I do.  It's a trust thing.

Anyway.

Last week, I continued my mission of get-rid-of-all-the-cardboard-boxes.  We still have a lot of things packed up in boxes that came from Alaska and we've spent hundreds on Rubbermaid tubs in the last few months but organization isn't cheap.

Basement before picture:


After:



Those are boxes full of my teaching stuff and all of our books that cannot go on the living room bookshelves (because I'm picky about that too).

6 comments:

  1. The legendary moment. The Showshoe Hare Incident. I would have done the exact same thing. I think our most legendary moment in our marriage was over a trash can...with family in town visiting. Let's just say it was my proudest moment. I'm not sure I ever blogged that event (it was way back in our first year of marriage). I'll have to double check and if i haven't, I will! You know all of my insides did a flip reading this (not the showshoe hare bit, but the rest of it). My anxiety has reached all new levels.

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  2. Yup that would be a no go in this house too. I am a neat freak, Kyle always says that his idea of clean is really my idea of neat. That doesn't fly in this house haha.

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  3. I could NOT have birds being cleaned in my kitchen sink, haha. Sick.

    I need to get better about being cleaner. I'm not dirty or messy at all, I just tend to let things pile up until I finally get around to dealing with them...like you should see my bookshelf full of yarn right now. It's all mixed up and not even close to organized. It's just so hard to get motivated...

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  4. I am dying. The legendary moment. We have a few of those. Hilarious!

    Great job on the basement clean up!

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  5. Oh my gosh! I understand you. My Scott doesn't hunt, but he does just cut, tenderize, and season steak and other meats right on the counters and thinks wiping it off with the dish rag is sufficient. Ugh. My house is put nearly as neat and clean as I would like. That is due to a combination of unfinished remodeling projects, being busy, lack of storage space, and someone who doesn't mind leaving things all over the place. I deal ok on a day-to-day basis, but sometimes, I panic and get stressed out about it. Then I go crazy and start getting rid of stuff!

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  6. oh my goodness, I don't think I could handle it if my husband hunted and cleaned animals in my house. No thank you! We definitely have some of these moments in our marriage as well. My husband claims to like everything in its place and neatness, but he cannot for the life of him put things away neatly when they are in a cupboard or closet. He only cares about what can be seen and it drives me bonkers because he just throws towels and the like wherever.

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