Call me crazy.

I'm not sure why, but ever since I can remember, I've given the house a good cleaning right before leaving for vacation. It seems a part of the natural routine.


Do the laundry.


Sort the laundry.



Pack the bags.


Clean the car.


Scrub every bathroom, change the sheets, clear the countertops, sweep the floors, put away all random crap.

Funny, since I don't live in that state of clean. But it exists, in my absence. Hmmm.

And then for fun, I went around the house snapping pictures of the "mess" I am referring to. And by mess, I am referring to the PILES of stuff I seem to accumulate. Everywhere. As well as the general dirt-and-grime sort of slobbery. Pictures will only reference the piling...amoebas and general dirt parasites are hard to catch on film.

So. This is what my house looks like, on any given day. Except when I am on vacation, apparently. Come to think of it, that's probably why I go on vacation. So that the house gets cleaned.

This year, I have formulated a new plan--and that is, to pack FIRST, clean second. Rather than stressing about it all up to the very last second, I figured I might as well feel prepared to be away from home. And then worry about the state of my house...which, I might add, becomes a complete disaster 2 minutes after we return home and unload our crap.

Mike is at the ballgame tonight, leaving me a free night to work...and to freak out about how much there is to do. We'll call Mike my mood stabilizer. Because on top of it all, I wouldn't be my crazy ol' self, if I didn't bite off a huge (gigantic) crafty project for myself.

I think vacations make me crazy.