house cleaning elves

When are they coming? The house cleaning elves? Because my in-laws are getting here tomorrow, and I don't know that I'll have time to get it all done myself, and I'd really just love it if they showed up and tackled all the little things. I've already done the bathrooms. Do you think they'd mind just doing the laundry, or say, cleaning out the fridge?

I really don't think my in-laws will mind the state of our house too much. They're wonderful people, and I think that maybe they know that we live in a little town called chaos most of the time, but that we do our best not to freak out about it. My husband, bless him, sent me an article from The New York Times titled "Say Yes to Mess". I'd publish the link, but I'd have to remember my password and it's just not anywhere in my brain. But it was about how we all want to be more organized, but that it's creating a backlash. It also mentioned that a mess may be the sign of a creative brain. Yeah, I guess that's it. I'm just too busy "creating" to clean.

Actually, I do clean our house regularly, believe it or not (some of you who have visited our home may actually choose not to believe this, as is your right, but it's true). But we have too much stuff, and not enough house to fit it all in. But I love our house, and I refuse to give in, so it's in the process of being organized. And it's not like we're "savers". My dad was raised during the depression, and when he died he had a collection of jumbo coffee cans in his basement, just in case. I'm not like that. I can be kind of brutal in my throwing things away. But I could always be better. Thus, the overflowing state of things.

But you know what? I don't care all that much. As long as there isn't food rotting on the counters....wait, what's that smell? Oh, the old oranges. Well, at least there isn't crap on the floors...oh, wait, did Lulu hit the hallway carpet again? Yeah, I guess it can get sort of gross. But perhaps if I smile at my mess, and whistle while I work instead of curse it and frown at it and make myself miserable about it, maybe, just maybe, the elves might show up.

It's worth a shot.