A day with perfection

      I was looking up different ways to describe yourself and came across the word perfection. That's probably the first word that some-one else would use to describe me. I am a virgo and the description fits me perfectly.Virgos have the strong impulse to dot their i's and cross their t's.The house is not cleaned until the last dust bunny is caught.Virgos way of accomplishing tasks are orderly and no-one in their eyes can do better at their job.This causes Virgos to be the most stressed out as well. So I am forever stuck with the word perfectionist in my description.

      To describe a typical day in a virgos life can have you exhausted just reading about one.They tend to exhaust themselves out by critizing their own work until it is perfected by their standards. If it is not done by the time they settle into bed it con sumes their minds.They know that one unfinished task will start their day off unstabilized and they cannot cope with that emotion.If anyone thinks for one moment that we love this trait added into our personalities, just try to live in a day with perfection.

      Just trying to write this is very frustrating because I am editing as I write. Why?
"Perfection the first time saves time" is the motto embedded into my brain. I just read advice on how to write an article effectively, but in my mind, my way is better. I would probably cringe at hiring a editor.I would be paying them to proof read perfection.
     
      As I was raising my three girls, who are all just a year apart, I think I drove them crazy with the craziness of order. This is what you would see if you walked into their rooms when they were little.If you wanted to find a dress in their closets when you opened up the door it would amaze you. They would be lined up from the smallest to the biggest. I would absolutely freak if one wasn't in its place. I guess the one good thing was that I didn't color code them. That was saved for their crayons which the colors were separated to make it easier to find a color. Their beds were wrinkle free after I was through making them.Even the curtian pleats were  evenly spaced by a ruler. I never waited until the end of the day to see to it that their bedroom was picked up. The minute I saw anything out of its place that wasnt being used was quickly snatched up and put in its designated spot.

      After my girls were sent off to school with their ironed clothes and neatly cleaned hairs all done up, I would start my daily tasks that were written down in my task book.  If it wasnt written neatly enough I had to write it over. My own handwriting had to be perfected. I would hurry and wash the kitchen floor before my two older sisters would arrive to eat breakfast with me. But just washing it was not enough, I had to wax it as well. By the time I was done cleaning and injesting 5 cups of caffeine,I was ready to make anything.

      When the knock at the back door was heard,I would open it and hand them each a towel. The laughing would begin as they put them down under their feet and slowly slid there way into the chairs. They have slipped once too many times and were afraid to walk on my floors. Thank God they had a sense of humor when it came to my quirks. Most of the laughing that occured was aimed toward me. But after drinking that much coffee ,your behaviour starts to change. Your words are coming out at such a high speed that they get wrapped around your tongue.When I was done preparing our food and washed the newly dirty pans, I eagerly sat down to join them.But as ususal,I think of some task that needs to be done and pop out of my chair. I figure I can get a jump start on it between eating.

      Rosemary and Linda are just finishing up when they hear the sound of spraying. They start yelling at me to stop. I have been spraying furniture polish in my front foyer on the wooden floors  for minutes on end. The finger that is attached to the nozzle gets frozen there by my brain. "What is that smell?'" Rosemary is uncontrollably laughing as she is looking at me. Linda chimes in and tells our oldest sister that just the other day my girls came running down the stairs, slid across the foyer and into the front door. At that moment I thought Rosemary was about to pee her pants. But to get to the bathroom which is on the second floor, you would have to walk across the floor I just fully covered with polish.     

      The afternoon begins after countless loads of wash, sweeping the front porch and watering the plants. Half of my task list is successfully checked off when I finally settle down to watch the cbs soaps. They have been a part of my family since 'Love is a many splendid thing" was on. But there in front of me on the floor was the loads of clothes I just cleaned waiting to be folded. I look at the clock to make sure I am work free by the time the girls arrive back home. I then decide it's time for another cup of coffee to get me though these piles of little girls clothes. I am guessing by now this is about mug number 8.
      The smell of fabric softner is smelling up the whole neighborhood.One bottle of fabric softner in my household barely makes it through 10 loads. By now you must be thinking " shes not a perfectionist, shes a cleaning freak!". That is okay because when I explain to you about my cleaning quirk with bleach, I know you will feel justified. My clothes needs to be the softest and smelling the best I can make them. Bleach on the other hand provides me whiter and the best part, germ free clothes!

      My ex-husband comes flying in the front door, amazingly not slipping once as he rushed up the stairs.I hear the bathroom door slam shut and the bathtub water running at full force. Curious to why he is home since he worked in contruction up until dinner time, I walk up to the bathroom door just to see it fly open before me. I remember it was unsually hot and humid on that day in June.Standing before me was a man who was all white except for where is tightie whitey's once were. It was bright red with blisters popping out in places where I would never want them on my body.I remembered back to the day I washed them. It must have been because I presoaked all his underwear overnight will a full gallon of bleach to insure they became clean! Did my perfection backfire on me? Well it is all in how you look at it. At least they were clean when he had to go to the emergency room! That task was successfully done.
                                                                                                    By the evening and after roughly 12 cups of coffee, its time to bathe the girls. I feel bad for them having to live with someone with a  condition.Their hairs were scrubbed until they literally squeaked.They were probably the cleanest kids on the block when I put them into bed at night. I would dry them off until not a drop of water was left on their soap smelling bodies. Then I would powder them down so they wouldn't sweat at night thus wake up dirty. But it didn't end there, I would retreive the blow dryer and start the process of drying thier hairs. What reallly sucked for them is when we stayed out late and the girls have fallen asleep in the car soundly,I would still fulfill my urge to bathe them. If I didnt then my night was pure hell thinking about that task that I didnt accomplish.

        AS the years moved on and I became a grandmother to 7 beautiful babies,my perfection slowed down along with injesting that much caffiene. I had to start serioulsy rethinking how my perfection became a addiction and then how to lower my standards.Talk about withdrawals! Ita a emotionaly painstaking event to have to go through.My worst symptom is failure,which is not okay what so ever in a virgos world. Then you have to super glue blinders on your face so you stop staring at whats out of place and have an anxiety attack.The one thing that helped me was stopping all the caffeine. One remedy, take the energy away and allow your body to relax. That is a very trying task for the virgos because they have been cursed with needing to be a perfectionist. But looking back on my life, I wouldnt have changed a thing because it was the base of building the character I have today.Work dosent scare me, infact I invite it as a challenge. Will it be perfected? Probably so......