"Fish and visitors stink in three days."--Poor Richard's Almanack

I'm feeling smelly this morning. Although I am not staying with relatives, I do feel like I have overstayed my welcome on this Christmas vacation. I think I might have started smelling yesterday--my room didn't get cleaned completely. It was like the housekeeper started to clean, emptied trash and replaced dirty towels, but took a break or was kidnapped by aliens before cleaning out the coffee pot or making my bed. The desk clerk offered to move me to another room, but after three nights here, I felt like I couldn't imagine packing up to move for one more night--if I packed I was moving home. Besides, I don't make my bed at home every day anyway, and I could rinse the coffeepot out myself like I do at home. Still, I can't help but wonder if that wasn't a hint that it was time for me to leave.

I would already be on the road this morning if I weren't going to do some cleaning out of my parents' house. Since my father passed away in May, my siblings and I have decided to sell the house, but no one can find the time to get it ready to sell. I'm the only one who doesn't live here and had intended to work in the house during Thanksgiving vacation, but I was a lazy cow then and reneged. Then I had planned to work there on Sunday, but it was raining and very cold (no electricity in the house now), and I kept finding Christmas errands to run for myself and family members. Yesterday, I could have worked, but I had to go to the bookstore to get my nephew another book since he had already read that one.

Now, my sister just called and she's ready to go work, so I will take a shower now--get rid of some of that visitor smell and go do some manual labor and work up another smell, I'm sure. :-)

It is a beautiful day here. Maybe I'll make a trip to the cemetery on the way out of town this afternoon and tell my mom happy birthday. For now, I have to go.