Day 43 2/20/08 BEDder late than never

Some days the bed doesn’t get made until late afternoon. Mind you, it is always made before we crawl into it for a night’s slumber, but sometimes just hours before. The rich brownie colored comforter can lie in chocolaty mountains atop the crispy cream sheets for hours. And it’s not that I don’t love making the bed, it’s just some days the morning gets away from me and I abandon the bed, disshelved (the bed, not me). I have an order in which I make the bed and a select compulsiveness with which I attack this task. Sheet and blanket, together, are pulled over the pillows, and I often ignore the bumps and take little time to smooth everything out and tuck everything in. However, the final touches of straightening and arranging the comforter and pillows must be done “just so.” The comforter on the side of the bed exposed to the doorway must always be pulled down enough to cover up the lackadaisical covers underneath and the pillows must always be centered in the bed. There are a total of two pillow shams which cover up any exposed pajamas surrendering themselves under the pillows. In front of and on top of the two shams are three decorative pillows. Someone once told me that anything decorative must be done in odd numbers, so the three pillows are arranged in strategic order to complete the presentation. I can spend a good two to three solid minutes examining the bed with little tuck here and a yank there. I think this is the reverse metaphor for my actual life. In my bed, I want the top/outside to be presentable, caring very little for the imperfections underneath. However, in my life, I’d rather be complete and whole on the inside and worry less about what I look like on the outside. It’s possible that I spend more time making and straightening the bed, than I do actually getting myself ready for the day. Ah, what would a shrink say about that?