Still Life, With Cats

The downside to being an adult is that sometimes you have to actual do adult things. Act responsible. Vacuum the house. Scrub the toilet. Figure out what the scary thing is lurking in the back of the top shelf in the fridge.

But sometimes you can still find ways to make it almost sort of vaguely kind of fun.

For example, let’s say that you have a toilet that needs cleaning, and you really don’t want to do it. Stand back, kids! This is where being an adult means you can do Science! For the heck of it! Just toss a couple tablespoons of baking soda into the bowl, dump in a few generous glugs of white vinegar, and give it a quick stir with the toilet brush. Voila! The water will begin to foam and bubble as if a certain green tentacled elder god is rising up from R’lyeh, directly into your toilet bowl, hellbent on scrubbing that weird stain off with his mighty claws! Another quick swipe of the toilet brush (to…uh…’vanquish’ said elder god), and the toilet is magically sparkling clean. Adulting for the win!

Or perhaps you are grumpily mopping the floors because living with six cats means there are always spots of mysterious origin lurking just around every corner, and it’s vitally important that the floors be occasionally degunkified (so that the cats have a nice, clean surface onto which to hork later, at their leisure). That’s okay. Suddenly recall that hey, you have a Steam account and Plague is now available on the PC. Reward the effort of getting those floors clean by spreading an evil bacteria that wipes out all of humanity in less than two years. Score another point for Adulting!

And also let’s not forget that as an adult, technically you are supposed to be eating nutritious meals and pretending that you do not occasionally just eat ice cream or frosted toaster pastries for dinner. In that case, toss some broccoli into the steamer (or if you’re my older sister, for whom broccoli is anathema, any other veggie will also do), and when it has reached the level of doneness you prefer, sprinkle it with a little bit of garlic salt, or Parmesan cheese, and pair it with a piece of tender, juicy Pecan Crusted Chicken, which you had previously assembled and put in the freezer the last time you were in full ‘responsible adult’ mode. Two more points for Adulting!

And if you happen to follow it up, later in the evening, with a handful of those chai tea caramels you found when you were cleaning out the fridge, well shhh, I’ll never tell.

The letter A is brought to you by the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.