I always feel a bit strange on my first day back home.  But this morning I was more confused than usual.  My days had all been planned out since the middle of June until now.  I still have loads of things I need to do but I have no flights planned, and no conferences and visitors until October.  And flights, conferences, visitors, and travel, have filled my days for months.

I thought about the books I could read, or the cooking I could do until I took a look around the apartment.  It’s a mess.  Just before I left for Europe I had two teenage girls staying with me.  Their room looks like they just rolled out of bed, left all their mess scattered around, and scarily like they are planning on arriving back at any minute.  Why else would I still have some of their clothes, underwear, shoes, and toiletries?  To say nothing of the rubbish they managed to gather over a five week period.

The bathroom looks like someone tried to coat it in either foundation or mascara.  There are fake nails and make-up wipes liberally scattered around the room.  Marty’s laundry basket is overflowing in the corner surrounded by dirty towels.  So far this morning I have counted at least 7 loads of laundry that need done.

The kitchen hasn’t been cleaned since I left and the living area is so messy that it’s hard to walk across the room without tripping on something.  It’s difficult to believe what a couple of weeks of neglect will do to the floors. But even I, who has seen this before when I left Marty here on his own, wasn’t expecting the remains of the dead flowers underfoot.

Marty nicknamed the girls “Weapons of Mess Destruction” whilst they were here as nothing had quite prepared us for the amount of mess that can be made by two teenage girls and a large make-up kit.  They were here for five weeks and I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to take me at least that to get this place looking as I would like.