There’s “junks”:

And then there’s “junks”:

As it turns out, there’s a high price to pay for collecting “junks.” Until recently, we had a cleaning lady who would come every other week to help us avoid landing on an episode of “Hoarders.” A couple weeks ago she fired us, because our house was too messy to clean. Needless to say, I’ve been a little down about this. But I perked right up after an email exchange I had with a new neighbor who moved into the house up the hill from us. I’m very excited about our neighbors, because: a) the dad volunteered (with only a modicum of arm-twisting) to coach the soccer team that both our daughters play on and b) the mom is my kind of peeps…The following email exchange regarding their daughter’s birthday party is how I know:

Me:

Hello!

I’m so sorry for the late RSVP! We’ve had to cancel our trip to Arlington, so T can definitely come to C’s party. Thanks so much for the invitation!

My new peep:

Great – thanks Adrienne! We will look forward to seeing T.

May I ask an embarrassing question? We sent out the invites & I can’t remember what time I put down for the party…any day now I will be eligible for them to pull the plug because I will have achieved brain death.

Me:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! I can’t tell you how delighted I am to learn that I’M NOT ALONE in this vortex of chaos and confusion! I don’t remember at the moment, but I’m sure I can tell you when I get home and excavate the invitation out from under the piles and piles of junk on our kitchen counter!

I was telling your husband at soccer practice yesterday that until last week we had a cleaning lady who came to clean every other week. Last week she came and left without cleaning, because it was TOO MESSY!

My new peep:

OH NO!!! It’s a dire moment when one is rejected by the cleaning person. 

Glad to meet another person who believes in the archaeological approach to filing!

A dire moment indeed…

I’m pretty sure my new neighbor and I are going to be good friends!

(Oh, and check your local listings for our family’s upcoming episode of “Hoarders”).