Dear House,
We’ve had some good times; we’ve had some not so good times. In the beginning, I think we both tried
really hard to get along. I did my best
to move my stuff into the space you were providing. You appeared comfortable and clean. It didn’t take long for things to break down
on my end. I quickly ran out of rooms,
and left several boxes unpacked in the dining room. It stayed that way for months. I finally tried to unload those last few
boxes, but I fear by then, the damage was done.
You see, in the time that I left the boxes unpacked, I
started to see things I hadn’t seen before, when we were just talking about coming together. Your kitchen is very small. So small I can’t fit a microwave in it. Your living room is dark. I know, I know…you are saying, “But I have
that fantastic sunroom!” This is true…there
is the sunroom. But let’s be
honest. The French doors into the
sunroom are really taking up more space than they are worth. Eventually I gave up. I admit it.
I’m the one who gave up on our
relationship. I let things get out of
hand, and how could you be responsible?
Papers in piles everywhere, shoes in every room…let’s not even discuss
the infrequency of my vacuuming.
Over time, I’ve made halfhearted attempts to pick things up
again and regain your trust. It hasn’t
been enough. I realize now that we are
in this together. We have a committed
relationship, you and I. At least until
May 21st, 2014. And with that
in mind, I am going to make the following vows to you, so that we can both be
proud to be seen in public together again.
1.
I resolve to finally clean out the sunroom. I will get rid of the papers I don’t need,
organize the ones I do, and make the rest of that space a fun place to read or
knit, or whatever. I WILL THROW THINGS
AWAY.
2.
I will pay more attention to the closet in the
front hall. While I have my doubts about
throwing away the box the TV came in, I’ve been counseled against keeping
it. I do feel the need to keep the
Christmas tree and its box, although I will agree to search for a better
storage solution for that. Perhaps a
nice shoe rack in there would make you smile?
3.
The living room…well, I’m afraid the living room
is a bit of a challenge at the moment. I
will do a better job of exposing the furnishings and keeping them free of dust
and cat hair, but there’s not much I can do about the general condition of the
couch at this time. It will continue to
be a saggy, dingy mess. At least for a
while.
4.
You know as well as I do what comes next. I think this is one of our biggest areas of
conflict. The kitchen. I promise to stop complaining about how small
it is (I should love you for you, right?) and make better use of the space you
do offer me. This will involve things
like running the dishwasher nearly every day, wiping down the counters, and
organizing the cabinets so that everything fits neatly inside. I’ll go back to keeping the cat dishes in the
dining room, to make more space. I will
commit to emptying the trash every other day, or every third day at most.
5.
Let’s talk about the bedroom. I know you want a headboard. I know you do, and I’d love to give that to
you. But for now please understand, it
can’t happen. To try to make up for
that, I promise to make the bed every day and even put the big fluffy pillows
up there. When I do that, it gives the
allusion of a headboard. That’s
compromise, right? Whatever is in the
Rubbermaid bins will be donated or tossed.
I hear you when you say if I haven’t needed it yet, I’m not going to
need it. In place of the bins, I will
substitute hampers, which I will utilize, daily. Laundry will not be allowed to take
over. I will control it. I know it’s my responsibility, as I wanted
the clothes, not you. It’s not fair for
you to suffer as a result.
6.
The last room, the bathroom, hasn’t really been
a major problem for us. I could do a
better job of wiping down the mirror now and then, and I can definitely clean
out the drawers. Our main issue is that
laundry sneaks out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. This must stop.
Please understand that I want us
to be successful. Things didn’t go bad
overnight, and they won’t magically get better overnight. But I am making the commitment now, here in
front of God and everyone, to do better.
You deserve it, and so do I.
Your roomie-
Sara
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