I had the best forcing function to spruce up our house two days ago.

Our carbon monoxide alarm went off at three in the morning, and we knew we had to call someone to come by later and check on our house about the alert.

My husband immediately went outside to turn off the water heater and the propane line to the house. We aired out all the rooms by opening windows throughout, then we all slept in one bedroom with the windows wide open, door closed – dogs, cats, kids, and all. I also shoved a long pillow by the door to prevent as much air from getting in, just in case. The alarm didn’t go off again, so everyone went back to sleep for a few more hours, except for me. I stayed up for about another hour, just to make sure I’d hear the buzzer if it got triggered again.

In the morning, we got the kids dressed and ready for school in a fully ventilated room and got them out the door as quickly as we could. Then I got down to cleaning up the mayhem in our house, expecting someone (a guest!) to inspect our home soon.

Instantly, I turned into an efficient cleaning machine. I was determined not to display my house (and myself) in disarray to whoever was coming. All the organizing shit I’d been putting off for weeks got taken care of in minutes! They were all minor little things I didn’t want to do lately, and all the clutter had piled up. But in less than two hours, I had a presentable and orderly home (except for a couple of bedrooms – I’m no supermama!).

I was pleased and relieved that I made a considerable effort to declutter my home. Two fire engines with eight firefighters showed up! EIGHT – just to check on one tiny alarm that turned out to be expired. The damn thing was just expired! That’s why it was going off. Geez.

How embarrassing!

But really…not as embarrassing as an unkempt home. Good job, me.