While I lived under the same roof as my mother, I was lazy.  I always knew that she would pick up the slack.  I'd do the dishes maybe two times a week.  I'd never vacuum unless she needed my help and I never had any problem with the grocery shopping.  Now that it's just me and my two siblings things have changed dramatically.

I've become a cleaning freak.  Today my pet project was scouring off 15-20 years worth of grease that has accumulated on the stove area.  My mom didn't even do that when she was here.  Since my mom has left, not even a full week ago, I have done more cleaning that she would do on average.  I've vacuumed twice, I do the dishes twice every day and I cleaned my bathroom.  Normally the bathroom should be a pretty quick job.  Not so this time.  It took me 4 freaking hours to scour every last bit of my younger sister out of that cesspool.  She had one of those sugaring kits to get rid of hair on her legs, it had spilled all over the cabinet that it was stored in.  Damaged most of the stuff in there.  I hauled out two large garbage bags of junk.  Stuff she'd collected over the years that she'd never used.  I can't believe I put up with it for that long.

Cleaning is a fact of life.  So why am I making such a big deal over it?  No one else is doing it, and when I bring it up they start treating me like I'm the slob and not doing all the work.  I'm working a job, dealing with other things in my life too.  My sister, she wakes up at 3pm, feeds the dogs, does the dishes and watches tv.  That's ALL she does.  Then she puts on this Holier-than-thou act.  It's really starting to piss me off.  Not to mention the changes and the going back to school has majorly stressed me out to the point where I feel like snapping at any point.  I'm going to ask my doctor for happy pills again.

The only thing that seems to be going right is work.  I'm in the top 10, which means I can bring my laptop and I get an extra $200 a month bonus.  Then my supervisor is putting me in for advanced training.  He mentioned to me today that it's not really training, it's a stealth job trial for a brand new position they're implementing. I'd get mucho pay, AND no more customers!!!! Hell YEAH!

So at least one thing is going ok for me.  At least I'm using the cleaning as an outlet for my stress.  It'll only get dangerous when I start trying to clean my teeth with Comet.

So there's been a couple of really crappy things that have happened to me in a very short period of time.  Yesterday my Great Aunt Margaret died suddenly (very sad).  My Grandfather is in the ICU after having a kidney removed, the surgery went well, but he decided to go for a walk while sedated, fell and was on a respirator for a while (totally sucks).  My physical therapist informed me there's nothing more she can do for me (a little worrying).  I find out my sister, whom with I share a bathroom, has been using my towel for months (gross and upsetting).  I missed a dose of my pain medication the other night and woke up with a useless left arm and a headache, only to find out we had guests (I was very grumpy).  My dad is still working for Siemens but no longer in Saudi Arabia, meaning he now feels he can spend his free time trying to micromanage my life again, (frustrating).

The strangest thing is, I'm not depressed about all this.  Sure I know I have a delayed reaction to death, so I expect in a couple of days the passing of my Aunt will really hit me.  Other than that I really feel very stress free.  It's very strange for me.  Usually I have something happen, I freak out, and the world collapses around me.  Not so much.  And the thing, out of everything that upset me, that bugs me the most is the fact my sister has been using my towel.  I mean, how the hell does one not realize which towel is yours?

There have been some good things happening too.  I am extremely pleased with how a Supernatural fanfic is turning out.  It's finished, just in the beta stage.  I've gotten a TON of sleep in the past couple of days, which I am now ruining by staying up late.  And my sister's ferret and I have been having some really intense bonding moments.  Maybe that's the key to not being stressed, play with a neurotic ferret at least once a day.