Eating an Elephant

There is nothing easy or pleasant about eating an elephant.  I know that it's got to be done one bite at a time.  However, just the idea of taking the first bite and then the next until you get the entire creature devoured is depressing.  That much chewing is sure to be painful.  It's easier to spend the time avoiding the beast all together than to actually begin carving it up.

I spent much of today dancing around my elephant.  It's tough to actually wade in and take a bite when the elephant is buried in toys, clothes and paper.  Four mess makers vs. one mess cleaner is not good odds.  Clearing all of the clutter away from the elephant took me until 9:30pm.  The sad part is that the only reason I caught up is because the mess makers went to sleep.  There's really little hope of actually attacking this elephant.  I'm not sure that being able to see the elephant is a really good thing either.  It looks just as large as it did when I could only see the mess. 

As a reward for my de-cluttering efforts treated myself to cup of coffee and a two pieces of chocolate.  Not just any chocolate,  Holl's Chocolate.  If you ever find yourself in Parkersburg, WV this is definitely a place to stop.  Heck, if you ever find yourself in any part of southeast Ohio or western West Virginia, it's really worth a detour.  Swiss chocolate, delicious combinations and a shopping experience you won't forget.  Plus, free samples.  YUM!

So, my elephant remains whole.  The house is straightened but dirty.  I know the realtor is going to have a long, long list of things that need to be taken care of before we can list the house.  My list is longer than my arm and I love my house and feel very attached to it.  I tend to view it with a parental eye excusing it's shortcomings and praising it's strengths.  I have no clue where I'm going to find the time and energy to really dig into this elephant. I'm thinking hiring a professional elephant eater might be my best course of action.  Maybe a magic elephant eating fairy will come in the night and make my elephant disappear.  Maybe this elephant will look smaller in the morning.  Maybe, after a good sleep, I'll be really hungry for elephant.  After all, tomorrow is another day.