The Filthy House

Susan's neighbor came over for a chat and Susan's house was FILTHY.
Not just messy. It was FILTHY, with nowhere to receive company comfortably.
Oy.
Susan doesn't mind if her house is just messy, that's the hallmark of a real person who has things to do. Susan's house today indicated that Susan doesn't give a sh*t.

As with most real houses, there are a few trouble spots. The table in the kitchen normally piled high with cookbooks, newspapers, magazines and a bowl of fruit is one. It doesn't even belong in the kitchen, it was brought upstairs sixteen months ago for a party & never left.

Before you even get to the kitchen you have to walk through the living room.
In order to keep the mongrel dog from sleeping on the couch all day, the last person to leave the house places something on the couch to impede access. It's always the same thing, a ladder back chair from the computer area which is very lightweight and does the job nicely.
When Susan comes home she takes the chair off.
However, not today.

Susan has a nice fireplace and a handsome fireplace screen which was given to her by the mother of the twins. Susan threaded Christmas lights through the screen and plugs them in everyday because she likes to see the pretty lights.
Not today.

Most days Susan has a fragrant candle lit on the mantel. Not today.

Every day Susan's daughter uses the decorative mirror in the living room to perfect her hair straightening and styling. There is a small table beneath the mirror which holds a large glass cylinder filled with stalks of forsythia. As a result of the daily styling regimen the forsythia is set on the floor and the table top becomes adorned with a straightening iron, bobby pins and maybe a glass of something Susan's daughter was drinking. It remains this way until Susan notices it. Susan hadn't noticed it yet this afternoon.

Susan forces herself to keep the dining room table tidy and clean. But, like the seashore another wave of mail, schoolwork, folders, grocery coupons and little Star Wars Lego men are going to wash over it any minute. And, although she likes to keep it clean enough to eat off, because that's where Susan's family eats, it's not always in that condition.
Like today.

But, that's where Susan and her neighbor sat, at one dirty table overlooking another, situated next to a disorganized and unkempt laundry alcove while the mongrel dog came and rubbed and sniffed, begging for attention without a shred of self restraint.