Clean sweep

I have been remiss in getting to the church for nearly a year now. After XSU finally left I found that by the time Sundays rolled around I just didn't want to leave the house for the 40 minute drive to the one Ukrainian Catholic church in the city. I'd end up at the Roman church five minutes away and it was all right, but not really doing it for me. And yet the struggle to get out the door on Sunday was just too much. One liturgy at 11:30 AM meant I wasn't home until nearly 1:30 or 2 PM depending on coffee hour, council chat.

I am thinking it's time to get back to basics and remember why I need to be there - lousy pastor, long drive notwithstanding. The pastor is so not good with people that at times it's all bit formulaic. However the friends and community there are ever so supportive and were wonderful during Rebel's illness and hospital stay. I found my own rhythm in that and found the need for spiritual guidance to be critical in my sanity and her health.

Then there is the deal with my two very independent daughters who insist on doing things their own way - we parents pay for teaching independence - I need to let them go and figure it out for themselves. Yet, I need to hang around for when when they rebound back.

Rebel is seriously annoyed with me when I finally booted her BF out for good this week. For some reason I am being seen as the intolerant one even though this "man" has been freeloading for the last 6 months. Full freeloading time in the last three years is probably closer to 18 months. When I suggested to him that he didn't even supply his own toothpaste, shampoo or laundry soap any time he spent all I heard back was "I fixed your car, I clean your house." sigh... In the end Rebel has decided I am the enemy and she is going to try and live with him. Again. XSU and I have had a couple of emails going back and forth on this one. He's even way more upset about this than I am. Not sure how he plans to handle it - Could he perhaps pul-eeeease tell her she is welcome to live at his place?

Then there's Rebel Junior, who called me today asking me to turn her phone back on because she was going to a party and needed to make calls. When I suggested that most houses did still have land lines I could hear the panic in her voice and the quick sucking in of breath.
"No one goes to people's houses and use their house phones!" she hissed at me.
"Well, I guess you can start a new trend," I told her.
She then told me that "next time" she was not going to clean my house!

First of all, what is it with this crew and their house cleaning fixations? I for one, am not too concerned, so why are they all worried about cleaning my house? I don't think it's THAT bad, well, except my bedroom and spare room, which no one has to see if they're on the main floor. These people have to relax a little bit. I know I certainly have!

I had to remind RJ that the only reason she was "cleaning" was because she was busy lying to me and her father about throwing yet another party in my absence and frankly, if there was any cleaning to be done, perhaps a better job of post party cleaning would have meant I could have been fooled and she'd still have access to her precious blackberry texting capabilities.

She told me to have a nice weekend and then hung up the land line at her father's place.

I think I'll go clean my house now, since all the volunteers have up and absconded. Clean and quiet. I think I'll like that as I contemplate my Sunday activities.