Why do I let this happen?

When I was in NYC, Dave had a honey-do list a mile long, and none of it got done because he had a family emergency while I was gone.  None of the things on the list were immediate needs (other than taking out the trash and doing some laundry) so we'll get to them one day.

Stuff started piling up that weekend, and only got worse once I got home, since I got sick the day after I got back.  I pretty much did nothing while I was sick other than work from home a little, watch TruTV (jury selection for the Casey Anthony trial was a laugh a minute), and be lazy.  Dave took a cue from me and didn't do much, and the result is this:

10 points if you can spot Dave; 20 if you can spot both him and the cat

Crazy right?  Laundry, dishes, stacks of mail, DVD's and library books we need to return, trash, blankets all over the place, etc.  I can't relax with the house looking like this - but it's gotten so bad that I started procrastinating because I thought it would take so long to clean it up.  Plus I'm lazy.  Catch-22 - can't live in it, don't want to clean it up.

Today I couldn't stand it any longer so I sent Dave upstairs to put his laundry away, and I started cleaning.  I decided to take a picture of the chaos - public humiliation is a big motivator for me.  If other people are holding me accountable for something, I'll do it.  If I'm left to my own devices, I'll procrastinate all day, all week, etc., especially when it comes to cleaning.  Organizing is a different story! :)

Dave wouldn't let me post it to Facebook, so I sent the picture to Bonnie asking her to time me.  Haha - I'm sure she got a good laugh out of seeing the picture.  I'm sure she's seen the house worse, but compared to her house which is always clean and orderly, mine currently looks like a natural disaster or the Tazmanian devil recently made a visit.

An hour later, it looked like this:

I"m sure there are still a ton of things I could do around the house, but for now I can relax in my living room and enjoy the long weekend (and some One Tree Hill reruns on Soapnet! :) )!

BTW, does anyone else think that the coffee table seems too big for the space now that I have the chaise attached to the couch instead of the chair?  Maybe I could put a smaller leather storage ottoman there instead?

In other household news, we finally have a blooming lily on the deck!  Wahoo!