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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I'm Moving to Finland

OK, not really. But I think I'd like to.

Marci sent me an e-mail with all of these Top 10 lists and did you know that Finland is apparently the cleanest country in the world? Cleanliness is obviously a high priority in Scandinavian countries overall because the list of the cleanest countries in the world looks like this:

1. Finland--my new country
2. Norway (I'd have to learn to cross country ski and then shoot a rifle first all while wearing a heavy sweater.)
3. Canada (Hmmm, not so far away, but probably slightly less quaint than Finland)
4. Sweden (Architecture there is a little too modern for me. I figured this out by watching Wallander on Masterpiece Theater)
5. Switzerland (Excellent hot chocolate--it could be a contender)
6. New Zealand (Lots of sheep)
7. Australia (Appears hot and dusty in the Outback--not for me)
8. Austria (Stechelberg, anyone?)
9. Iceland (Perhaps a tad too remote)
10. Denmark (They give you 6 months of maternity leave there. That would be important if I could mentally handle another child. Which I can't. But I'd like to skate around Denmark a la Hans Brinker one day. Wait. That was Holland. The Little Mermaid. That's Danish.)

Clearly, I'm part Scandinavian. You know, the part of me that's not 100% Irish or Scottish.

Until I had children, I was obsessively neat. Like OCD neat. My Grandma Moffitt, who had no room to talk, referred to me as "fastidious." When Tara and Erin would come to my apartment when I was in graduate school, they delighted in putting all sorts of things out of order just to mess with me. Pictures upside down, hiding things in the flour jar, moving things from their proper place to somewhere random (think books in the microwave and cereal boxes on the bathroom shelves).

It totally stressed me out.

I bet they never do that in Finland.

I may not have time to dust anymore, but my Swiffer is never far from my thoughts.

2 comments:

Marci said...

You know, I loved your apartment perfectly neat at Miami and I would NEVER mess it up! From one OCD person to another, I feel your pain!

Lauren said...

We just got home from vacation. Before we left we tidied up a little; put laundry away; cleared surfaces; swept and washed floors. Our housesitter did a good job--the house seems just as tidy as when we left. But while we were in Seattle, we stayed at a house owned by a friend (actually my ex-boyfriend and his wife; we dated for 6 years before I met Rob). They've moved to AZ and this house is sitting clean and furnished, and free of pets and children. For six days and nights we enjoyed clean floors and uncluttered surfaces; pristine carpets instead of gritty hardwood floors; no real toys; few books. We missed our stuff, of course, but when we got home, Norah and I both thought how dirty our life here seems!