Do Opposites Always Attract??

I think there have never been two people more different than Hubby and I when we first married. My FSS (Flat-Surface-Syndrome) pictures reminded me!

I've never been the housekeeper type. At age 20 I was a decent cook, I could sew, was fair hand at canning and could pluck a chicken with the best of them. Still I hadn't a clue about maintaining a house. And having been in charge of the house since my mother's death 7 years before, I had developed my own random methods of doing things.

Then at age 20 I married a young man to whom routine was as necessary as breathing. But even though we both worked full-time jobs, he considered the housework my responsibility and expected me, the original abstract random, to do things according to his abstract sequential schedule. Whew! I agreed with him that it was my job, I just wanted to do things my own way.


After a few months, even he realized this wouldn't work. At various time, he would "help" with keeping things tidy. Oh, I always cleaned off the table and put the dishes in the sink. I'm still quite fastidious about the stovetop even. But actually putting things away was a problem.

But this was Menlo Park, California, land of sunshine and ants. I learned quickly that one could not leave meat out on the counter to thaw for a few hours or the ants came, and there went dinner. I also got much better about Always washing dishes immediately, or...Eeeew! I may have lived in the country, but we didn't have bugs in the house. Or chickens in the yard. They were fenced in away from the house!

So one lovely warm sunny California evening, I left the house right after dinner to run an errand or two. When I came back the kitchen was clean. Not a dirty dish in sight. I gave a sigh of relief and figured Hubby had washed dishes.

But over the next couple of days, there were several things I couldn't find: the gravy boat, my favorite skillet, the meat fork, etc. I didn't really give it much thought. We randoms are accustomed to not finding things on a regular basis, but they eventually show up. Like the keys in the refrigerator, or the meat fork in the tool box.

Then one evening, I decided I'd better actually mop the kitchen floor just before it failed the health inspection. I opened the broom closet, and perched precariously on the floor was a plastic dishpan (Do they even exist anymore?) filled with dirty dishes including the gravy boat, the meat fork and the skillet. He was happy as long as he couldn't SEE the mess. It didn't have to be clean, just the perception of clean. Ah, the joys of differing opinions in the recently married!

We've learned to live together. My office has cluttered counters and desktops. His are as tidy as can be. My drawers, shelves and closets are organized and tidy -- for the most part. His?? It depends. He sometimes "cleans up" by throwing everything in a drawer or a box and then hiding it somewhere. I object strenuously to MY things being treated thus. So, we have areas. My goal is to get my flat surfaces cleaned off; his goal is to organize yet one more drawer, or empty a box. And we both keep the living room, the family room and the kitchen clear of clutter. Most of the time. It works.

Hmmmm. He once stashed a couple of bags of my things -- books, a scarf or two, gloves, etc. stuffed in grocery bags in our abandoned basement. I haven't been down there in ages. I wonder if it would be worth a visit to see what "lost" items I might find in the dungeon?

Probably not worth it.