Prepping

As I left the house today, I bid my husband farewell. Instead of the usual, "I love you have a good day," coming from the bathroom, I heard, "Stay. Stay!"

No he wasn't anxious about me leaving. He was talking to the dog, Toby, as he attempted to bathe the dog before work today. Tom is back on the night shift, so as we prepare for Mom to arrive from Oklahoma, we are alternating taking care of tasks. I work on a room in the evening, he takes care of tasks during the morning.

There is some irony in cleaning the house for my mother's visit. She obviously has known me all my life and thus my housekeeping habits. i have been messy from birth despite my mother, college roommate and now my husband. I care about the person I live with, so I try to keep my natural tendencies towards clutter in check. I am a more organized person now living with Tom, the the house now, only midway through the cleaning process is probably neater than when mom would visit when I was single.

But Tom is a new son-in-law, and an excellent husband, so he feels that urge to de-clutter and clean that takes much longer to activate in me. Thus he was washing hte dog this morning. For those that haven't met Toby, he is a wonderful Golden Retriever. Toby loves people, more than going outside and more than his food. He loves to swim, wallow in mud puddles, walk in the rain or through water any chance he gets. He however hates baths, despite the fact that he gets extra attention after the bath, because his fur is so soft, you just have to pet him. (We use Plum Silky shampoo on Toby. He smells so good and feels so soft that Tom has been tempted to use it on his hair.)

Thank goodness the cat is self-cleaning. We have a lot of work before Mom arrives on Friday in Baltimore.