Beer bongs and surprises............

OK, here goes, have calmed down enough know to not exactly laugh about things - but at least to put them into perspective. Step-son was charged with house-sitting whilst we were on holiday. Trust was given for him to look after the house, feed the birds, water the plants etc and in return he was left a fridge/freezer full of food, a crate of beer, comfort and access to equipment to work on his music production. What could be better - he gets a retreat away from his siblings, peace and quiet etc and we get peace of mind knowing that the house is safe!!!

Oh dear!!!!

Returned home a day earlier than expected due to mother-in-law being poorly. OMG! It wasn't so much the state of the house (4 black bin bags of rubbish in the kitchen, a floor that would rival super glue in its adhesiveness, 6 x 2 litre bottles of sherry - empty!) that aroused suspicion - what first drew our attention to the fact that all may not be well was a tube of superglue - obviously purchased in our absence. What had needed to be fixed I wondered? A casual request found that a cheap garden ornament had "got broken somehow".
"Anything else I should know about" I innocently asked. Noooo, only the clock. Apparently the pendulum and mechanism of my favourite antique clock had simply jumped off the wall - can't think how that may have happened. Began to get a bit upset at this point.
Over the next 24 hours a catalogue of "finds" began to give a clear picture of what may have gone on in our absence including:
- broken things (wine glass, lantern from our wedding)
- missing sheet found behind a chair in the living room - muddy
- girl's shoe found under my bed!
- later followed by girl's top, jogger bottoms and even bits of makeup
- footprint up the fireplace
(and too many more to mention!)
Lastly I found a Beer bong under the spare bed - I only know it was called that as it had a great bit label on it - I may not have lead a completely sheltered life - but I have never seen one of these. A big funnel with attached hose and a tap at the end of the hose. Use your imagination!
Careful questioning using all my skills of open ended questions and counselling techniques managed to winkle out that a party had occurred not 12 hours after we left!!
Now, I agree that in my youth I may have done similar things to my parents when they went away - but I don't remember such blatant disrespect of someone's home. (Oh yes - apart from that time the water came through the ceiling- a whole other story!).
Needless to say things are a bit strained at the moment .................