Thinking about it, I don’t think that Doris Day really faced the challenges of living in a house which is constently ‘work in progress’ or indeed of living with Ian. In fact, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that Rock Hudson would have thrown bits of paper away and probably did not create little rubbish piles around the house.
I remember when I first met Ian, on about our third date we were going out for dinner with Emma and Ed in one of the new trendy bars in Bristol. Ian invited me and Bob to his house first. I must admit, having known Emma then for a number of years her apparent concern about me going to Ians house was unprecedented. However, unpreturbed I went round. “But it is awful” she said – “yes” I thought – some weeks I only had a cleaner once a week, I knew what an unkempt house was like – oh poor naive me….
I am still rendered speechless at the thought of it. I remember picking Bob up before we got to the front door and not wanting to put him down, well, till the next day really. Bob managed to get his first ever tick between Ian opening the front door and us sitting down. The front room was completely full of magazines. At least 4 foot high piles of magazines strew the floor – and every surface. The living room wasn’t and the kitchen was awash with takeaway containers.
But Ian had plans. A super minimailist pad full of stainless steel and stark of belongings.
Ha.
This from a man who not only opens letters that say ‘this is not a circular – honest’ but reads them as they start ‘dear mr pullen, you have been selected…’ and then keeps these letters – and envelopes for prosperity. Not very minimalist.
Now I fully admit that I can go too much the other way, and yes, I can distinctly remember how we laughed and joshed about the fact that I had inadvertently thrown away my train tickets to Bournemouth once – but even so, there must be a limit to the number of piles of papers that one person can make.
Well as we are working on the house and I hope at some stage soon to have a glory hole where Ians debris can be stored. Or a gory hole.
So I don’t think that I am going to set Doris as my role model any more. I think wearing pinnafores and dancing round singing que sera sera is really not going to help our paper mountain issue. Tomorrow I am going to be ruthless…