I keep looking for the Neat Freak.

I don’t know where she has gone. She used to be here everyday. On Saturdays she would spend at least 2 hours cleaning the main floor of the house. She was always wiping things down in a manic sort of way. She got that Swiffer out twice a day to clean up dog hair and more dog hair.

Sometimes I wish she were here. I liked that neat freak – she was a bit wound up – maybe uptight when it came to messes – but my house was sure clean. She didn’t seem that happy though even when the house was neat as a pin.

The Neat Freak changed somewhere along the way over the last few years.There was an illness that changed her perspective and then the inability to keep up with messy teens that left her tired and frustrated. Clean just wasn’t where happiness was for her – and she realized it never was.

I miss that neat freak when I see grease on my backsplash and dust on my shelves and tufts of dog hair blowing around my house. She would have jumped right up and taken care of that stuff. She would have been embarrassed if a stranger or friend came in and the house was messy. Now she doesn’t care as much – she would rather hike in the park and visit with friends, take pictures and have dates with her husband.

The other day I saw a picture of her with her horses and she was turned looking right into the camera smiling a big smile- she was happy -…I think maybe she is on to something….

Thanks for reading….