06/06/2009 Disorder on the 18th Floor
When we moved to Chicago 3 years ago, we decided on renting an 18th floor 1 bedroom unit in Lincoln Park. The place has a great view of Diversey Harbor, Lakeshore Drive, and Lake Michigan. Looking south from our balcony we can see the Hancock building. The inside of the place is small but it works just fine for the two of us. However, when you live in the same place for 3 years, stuff begins to accumulate. And in small confines, the level of disorder increases ten-fold. My wonderful cousin will be arriving in a few days from England for a 10 day Chicago vacation. We're excited to have him stay with us, and he claims he doesn't mind sleeping on our aerobed in the living room. I love how having a house guest opens your eyes to all the work that needs to be done in your living space. We've become comfortable with our little table collecting magazines and junk mail- it doesn't really matter when we're the only two who ever see it. I've walked past the picture frames needing dusting for weeks but have done no more than acknowledge that fact. We did go through some of our things a month ago and filled a blue storage tub in our living room with items to sell or donate. But then the cat decided he liked sitting on top and we even set a towel on the lid to increase his comfort. Needless to say, the bin remains, full of the things we intended to rid ourselves. As my cousin's arrival date gets closer, I've started a list on our dry erase board. Currently it reads: 1. Replace shower curtain liner (the one we have now is disgusting)2. Scrape mold off bathroom ceiling. Get rid of cobwebs. I mean, these are all things that we should be doing just for ourselves, I understand. But having visitors gives you that good kick in the pants to get up and start to make things more presentable. This weekend is our pre-visitor time to get the place back in working order. But I have to say that as I sit here on the couch waiting for that motivation to set in, I still just keep thinking, "ugh, do I have to? " Yes. You do. You really do.
