by CrazyTaraWitch » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:10 pm
This rant is half against my brother and his girlfriend and half against myself for not saying/doing anything about it.
So my brother and his girlfriend moved back from Oregon on Monday, into my mom's house where I've been living since January. Until last July, my brother lived in the garage here and I lived in the house, but then we both moved away and have no both returned. When I moved back I took over my mom's bedroom, as she had filled my old room with plants and it had gotten very messy. When we found out my brother and his girlfriend were moving here, my mom talked about getting a trailer for them for the front yard because she didn't want them in the house, but she ended up procrastinating too long and then suddenly they were on the way, so I spent several hours cleaning my old room (as well as the rest of the house) so that they could move into it. I wasn't thrilled with the situation, especially because my grandfather is supposed to be moving here in a few weeks as well and now there's no bedroom for him, but I knew I'd make it work cause I'm good at sucking things up. So Monday night arrives, and I get home from work to find my brother cooking dinner, two unfamiliar cats pissing off our dogs, and a litter box in the shared part of the bathroom. The cats I'd only heard mention of, my brother had never bothered to tell my or our mom they were coming with them, but all I really cared about was the litter box, and even though I knew it would suck I decided to let it go cause I didn't want to fuss right when they first got here. When they went to bed that night without cleaning up from their dinner, I again let it go, cause I knew they were tired and had driven a long way. When I got home Tuesday night and found their dishes still in the sink, not even rinsed, I started getting frustrated. That night when I went to take a shower I found one of the dogs had managed to squeeze through the door and was eating out of the litterbox, so I left a note asking them to find somewhere else to put it, which they have not done. Wednesday my mom came over and cooked us all dinner, and she cleaned their dishes from Monday which were still in the sink, unrinsed, when she arrived. After dinner I cleaned all the dishes, cause if I hadn't they would probably have sat there for days and days. This morning when I went to take a shower I thought I'd just about pass out from the smell of their cats' litterbox, which I don't think they've cleaned since they arrived. Tonight I got home from work to find every inch of the counter covered in an assortment of whole veggies, chopped veggies, and dirty dishes, and my brother sitting at the dining table eating my chips with what appeared to be homemade salsa. It's now 4.5 hours later and literally the *only* thing my brother has done about it all is put his leftovers in the fridge. And all they've been doing in those 4.5 hours is watching Dr. Who.
Now I'm not a neat freak. I let my room get a bit messy, and when I was living here by myself I would occasionally have clothes scattered about the living room or leave a dirty bowl or napkin sitting somewhere for a day, but I never went more than 24 without cleaning at least some of my dishes, and since they've moved in I've been careful to wash everything immediately, with the exception of a bowl I had eggs in before I left for work and didn't clean until I got home. I've been good. They have been atrocious, not cleaning the litterbox (which shouldn't be in a shared part of the house anyway, and especially not one that's such a small enclosed space) so the it smells horrendous and, as far as I can tell, not cleaning a single dish since they've been here.
Then there's the fact that I haven't actually said anything. My mom asked me if I wanted her to tell them they couldn't keep the litterbox in the bathroom and/or had to clean all their dishes right after using them, but this was right after they arrived and I was trying to be nice so I told her no. She did however give my brother the vague directive to keep the place clean, which he is very definitely not doing. I did also ask them to move the litterbox, but when they didn't I didn't say anything, and I have yet to say anything about the food left out everywhere or the dishes. I just hate confrontation so much that I'm basically willing to make myself miserable to avoid it. I'm getting really sick of that attitude in myself, but I don't know how to get over it. I know I'll be moving soon, thank god, but if I'm not careful this could get a lot worse by then. I lived with filthy roommates last fall and I hated it so much I spent almost every second in my room because I couldn't stand to even see their mess. I really really don't want a situation like that again, but I can't seem to make myself talk to them which I know is the only thing that has any chance of keeping the situation from further disintegration.
Basically, I'm pissed at my brother for being a pig, and I'm pissed at myself for not doing anything about it.
"To days to come."
"All my love to long ago.
I hope, we'll have more happy ever after
I hope, we can all live more fearlessly...
~Jas
Today is one of THOSE days....I can tell.
My wife, daughter and I decided that we wanted to do more familyish things together; one of those was that we all help with dinner. Soooo, I gave my lovely girl an easy task: Instant mashed potatoes. Apparently, not the best task to give her because she killed them. 
That's right, she managed to ruin potatoes out of a box. 
I mean, how is that even possible?
