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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Messy Marvin

Do you remember the "Messy Marvin" commercials from the 1980's? Anything the kid touched, he'd make a mess. Here's a clip to refresh your memory.




Do you ever wondered what happened to Messy Marvin? I married him. No matter what Jim touches, he leaves a mess. He will deny this if you ask him, so don't bother trying. For example, if he decides to get a snack out of the cabinet, 9 times out of 10, he'll leave the cabinet door open. I'll come into the kitchen in the morning and see the cabinet gaping open and think, "Now why didn't he just shut that?" I ESPECIALLY like when he finishes the box of whatever, granola bars, crackers, etc., and leaves the empty box on the kitchen table AND the cabinet open. This frustrates me to no end. Why can't he throw away the empty box? Okay, at this point he would probably say that he left it on the table so that I would see that he finished said item, and that we'd need to put it on the grocery list. And I could EASILY come back with the remark, "Well, get out a piece of paper and pen, and START said grocery list."

When Jim makes his coffee in the morning, it's a whole big fiasco. Jim prides himself on being a coffee aficionado, and he grinds the coffee beans ONE CUP AT A TIME. (He uses an Aero Press, and makes his coffee one cup at a time.) He used to have a different coffee grinder that spewed the grounds all over the counter, sink, and floor, and made me want to cry daily. He has since replaced it with a different one - it was cheaper than filing for divorce.

Here's a photo of what the old grinder used to leave behind:






Do you feel my pain? I know Jim tried his best, but it was inevitable that those coffee grounds would end up on the floor, among other places.

Believe me, I am certainly not the type of person who is a neat freak. I just like things in their places and try to keep things fairly clean. But when my husband goes up into the bedroom/bathroom area, he leaves evidence that he was there by the rug:




Or any drawers he might have been in:



So the other day I'm sitting on the pot - "bare" with me here, folks, and I hear/feel Jim come up into the bedroom. Living in a trailer, you know when people are moving around, especially if they are over 200+ pounds. Now, our bathroom is QUITESMALL, about 2' x 3' if we're lucky. For some reason, it always seems that Jim likes to move around while I'm sitting on the pot. I feel like I'm on one of those enclosed rides at Disneyland where your seat moves up and down while your watching a scene. I'm not watching a movie, but I'm trying to read! I get sick easily. Anyway, I hear clomp, clomp, clomp, as Jim comes up the two stairs into the bedroom, trounces around for something, and then leaves. I finish my business, turn to open the door, and can only open the door about 6 inches. What the heck? See the blanket that's on the edge of our bed?



Somehow, some way, it is now lying on the floor in a pile right in front of the bathroom door. So the blanket stopped the door from opening further. I was able to pull it out of the way with my outstretched arm (thankfully, because Jim would NEVER hear me calling for help with the TV blasting). I shook the blanket out, refolded it, and put it back on the bed. Then I went into the living room and said to Jim, "Why was the blanket from the bed on the floor by the bathroom door?"

Jim's head came up, and it took a moment for his eyes to focus on me. "Huh?" was his response.

I repeated my question.

His reply? "I have no idea."

Messy Marvin strikes again.


(By the way, you may have recognized the Messy Marvin in the commercial. That is Peter Billingsley. He went on to become famous in the movie, "A Christmas Story".)

20 comments:

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Oh Pat - I know how you suffer! My son is like that. When he was a young teen he would wash his hands and exit the bathroom leaving the tap running. Huh?! My mother always used to say leave a room, the way you found it. But that seems to be impossible for some. Must be real right brain types.

Gail said...

...and I thought I married the mess king!

Ruth said...

Like Gail, I thought the pain was all mine!

Why oh why place the empty wrapper on the counter, when the waste basket is one foot below?

Allen said...

I understand your pain. Even though I am not married, I do know the feelings.

Kevin and I are clean freaks. We like to have every thing nice and in it place. Michael on the other hand, well he don't. He leaves the cabinet doors open, and glasses all over the place. I just cannot figure out what is so hard to carry it to the kitchen and put it into the dishwasher.

Anonymous said...

You should stab him, then claim you didn't know where that knife came from.

Unknown said...

i feel ya sistah! i married one, too. take off shoes? throw 'em on the floor. make coffee? coffee splatters/drops ALL OVER the counter. take a shower? leave towel on the counter or floor...

and on and on and on...

somedays, it's all i can do to keep myself together...

Rae said...

I am a neat nut and that would drive me insane. Thank goodness I married someone similar to me. I find myself becoming more tolerant of messes as I get older though. Maybe by the time I am 70 I will be like Jim and not see anything out of place.

Carletta said...

I'm sure our husbands MUST be related!! :)
When I first dated my husband and early in our marriage he would leave the cabinet doors and drawers open. He had at home and his Mom never made him close them. I stayed on him and he only rarely does it now. But, he leaves things out everywhere.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

I finally gave up years ago. My mother-in-law was his enabler and they never really grow up, you know.

Betty Manousos said...

Pat, I am neat, and i know what it feels.
hugshugs

Lindy said...

Argh! Makes one want to smack their forehead! Mine's great about cleaning up his messes/spills. What I can't figure out is that he knows WHERE to find something in a kitchen cabinet but can't figure out where to put it back when he's done - unless it is his own personal item. I think there's a disconnected wire some place!

Valerie said...

I knew hubs had a brother!
Ooo Pat I'm not laughing, honest, but it's the way you tell 'em.
I'm always nagging about drawers left open, low ones that bruise the legs when I walk into them. And the running hot water tap. And the unlocked doors to allow burglars in. Etc! I like Laura's idea! Loved this post, I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only sufferer.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I'm really the messier person at our house; my mom always said "a place for everything and everthing in its place -- never followed that UNTIL we started living in an RV. (too late for her to know I finally learned what she tried to teach me all those years ago).

But the thrill ride when I'm in the tiny toilet cupboard? I can totally relate to that. Dunno why every time I go in there, somebody else (the only somebody else) in this 5th wheel has to get up and move around!

Boy, it's never boring though is it?

Sunny said...

Your post cracked me up as I just wrote about being a neat freak. Anyway, here is my suggestion, and it's not easy to do but...don't pickup after him, after tripping over a few open draws and whacking his head on an open cupboard, he may learn...then again...
Good Luck!
Sunny :)

Mike said...

Oh, he can't be that bad!? LOL!

Missy said...

I must have married Messy Marvin's brother! LOL

SquirrelQueen said...

After reading all the comments I think Messy Marvin had a lot of brothers, I've got one too! There is no hope we just have to live with it, oh well!

Judy

Snowflake said...

Missed you at the pool this morning. Thought maybe the blanket had you trapped and you couldn't get out!!LOL

Brian Miller said...

smiles. yeah i have a place on my side of the bed...i really have been meaning to pick it up...

AiringMyLaundry said...

Haha, yes, I also have a messy husband.

And right away when I saw that commercial I was all, "Oh, that Christmas kid.."