9. Going From House Party! To House Proud
Growing up, leaving the parental home and getting a place you can call your own can only mean one thing: it's time for a party! When the pubs and clubs have all shut for the night and everyone's still fired up for having a good time a house party can't be beaten - that is, until the aftermath arrives and the mess is assessed. Thirtysomethings might have tolerated (or ignored) such a mess when they were younger but opening up your home to a throng of drunkards is now pretty much out of the question. Things that didn't matter in the slightest before - a stain on the carpet here and there, fag ends in the pot plants and some very annoyed neighbours - now take on nightmarish proportions. From now on, house parties are replaced with dinner parties.