That picture is of my dining room table on Monday afternoon.
The day before, I cleared it of all “stuff” so it would be ready to be used Sunday night for our church’s home group that meets here.
I cleared it, I wiped it off, and I was done.
People brought food, and obviously bits and pieces and smears got on the table. It happens.
But in my mind, I was still done.
One of my goals is to be unembarrassed if someone stops by unexpectedly. That doesn’t mean my house has to be perfect all the time, just sans undies-on-the-living-room-floor or piles-to-wade-through-to-get-inside and such.
I want to be ready.
So the fact that we cleaned up the house on Sunday afternoon meant it looked pretty good overall. We don’t need long to make a mess, so it wasn’t perfect, but it was unembarrassing.
But often, when I think I’m “ready” I’m actually just “ready to get ready.”
That table was dirty. (I knew it was smeared with cheesecake, not snot, but the average stopper-byer wouldn’t know that.)
But I subconsciously assumed that it could wait. That if someone was coming to my house, it would only take a second to wipe it down.
Except that sometimes I don’t have a second to expect the unexpected.
Monday, I did know that someone was coming by at two o’clock. I just forgot.
So when I opened the door, being ready to be ready wasn’t good enough. The check that needed to be signed, it had to be signed on the dirty table.
Don’t get me wrong, she was nice. And honestly probably didn’t care one bit that my table was dirty. But it hit me that to truly call myself “ready” I need to go ahead and take that second to wipe down the table when it doesn’t matter.
I truly love reading your down to earth and honestly raw blog.
It helps me to know that …I. AM. NOT. ALONE.
I DO like to be ready…and most days, in fact today, I’m ready to be ready…
but if my rural post carrier, who is also the ‘other grandma’ to my grand-kids that I babysit during the day…were to indeed need to come in and use my bathroom…
I might be mortified and past ready!
…going to clear a path to the bathroom and wipe down the kitchen table, probably, as I walk by! Pat
This happens to me when we’re leaving on a trip. My husband will call to find out if we’re ready, and I feel like we are. But we take another hour and a half actually DOING all the things that in my mind were already done.
“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!” And I myself have spent this week getting ready to be ready to have my MIL come for the weekend. Then I am praying that I can use what I have learned to keep it clean and clean deeper next week before our vacation. It would be nice to come home to a clean looking house. Even nicer to come home to a truly clean house. That has not been taken over by ants during the week that we were gone. No that has NEVER happened to me every time we leave for a week. Love your blog!
You busted me. I am going to wipe the table down right now!