Superman fights Lex Luther. Batman fights Joker. Spiderman fights the Green Goblin. Superheroes are in constant battle with their enemies who, while they never triumph, never completely disappear either. Well, move over, boys, because there’s a new super hero in town. Meet Clean Irene, or as she is known to her family, OCD Woman.
Like my male counterparts, I have been fighting a monster who has tried for years to invade and overtake my home; banging on the doors, climbing through the windows, creeping in the cracks. Ever on guard, I fend it off; beat it back -- sometimes with weapons and sometimes with pure, determined, brute strength. This monster, this thing that threatens my sanity, my peace, is a shape–shifter. One day it is a sink full of dirty dishes, another it is dust, and another it is a trail of socks and cast off shoes. In other words, it is the detritus of the people with whom I live. People who, although endearing and skilled in many areas, have not mastered my sense of organization or the skills for keeping that order… in order. Were it not for my vigilance, this monster might just huff and puff and blow the house down, forcing my three little pigs to go wee wee wee all the way to oblivion.
