Germophobia Or How I Contracted the Bubonic Plague

You may or may not remember a previous post in which I said that I didn't care if the house was teeming with germs as long as it looked clean. This is, however, no longer the case. In fact I have been continually resisting the urge to do some Adrian Monk style cleaning of my car, bathroom and bed, and have to remind myself that I don't want to give into the slippery slope of germophobia.

That is until today. Today I snapped. It all started with Jelly Bellys. I know what you are thinking. Probably something along the lines of "Cate, seriously enough with the Jelly Bellys", but really they are a very significant part of my life and if you can't see that, then I don't even know you anymore. Anyways, we are attempting to save the boxes of Jelly Bellys for a promotional program coming up, but they were being quickly eaten by all the guys in the office. I had one of the guys tape them up securely in order to keep the guys out, but this has also unfortunately kept me out of them too. Today I decided that I was IN CHARGE of the Jelly Belly promotion and I could have some Jelly Bellys if I really wanted them. So I snuck into the sealed boxes, pulled out a secret stash of Jelly Bellys and resealed the three layers of boxes protecting the magic beans. Then I took them out of their little bag, spread them in a single layer on my desk and covered them with a flyer so that Steve wouldn't know and I wouldn't have to share. I got a phone call and had to stop my snacking in order to talk, and while I was talking I looked over at the distant reaches of my desk, only to discover (prepare yourself) mouse poop. Eww. Eww Eww Eww. It was disgusting and gross and implied that a mouse and his little disgusting feet had been crawling around on my desk. The desk that had spread across its surface my precious Jelly Bellys. Eww.

And then the germophobia really hit. The mouse had probably been on my chair, and my keyboard, and my mouse (haha). I was sitting in a virtual pool of Bubonic plague. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the first thing in a spray bottle I could find. It happened to be Windex. I then sprayed Windex on everything I own. This turned out to be a bad idea, as wooden desks and leather chairs and lamps don't particularly like Windex, but it had to be done. After I finished I washed my hands, then took out my trash (he had probably been in there) then washed my hands again. And again. The bottle of Windex is now positioned strategically on my desk in case there is still a spot of disease waiting to attack. The bubonic plague could still be nestling itself happily in my stomach because of the desk-infected Jelly Belly's, so I'll keep you updated. I'm going to go home and vacuum the curtains or something.