Bad days and good days

The unfortunate truth about living with anxiety and OCD is that you have bad days and good days. When I have stressful days at work it tends to make everything else flair up as well, including my compulsions. I have been doing soooo well, but my future in-laws came into town for the first time this weekend. They met my parents for the first time as well. I was very stressed about making sure that my house was clean enough (compulsion, compulsion, compulsion) and making sure that my house did not smell like dog (super paranoid about this--probably a compulsion). I cleaned for days, shampooed my carpeting, bathed my dogs, did every stitch of laundry, wiped everything down, etc. By the time they got here I was exhausted and completely stressed out. I could already feel my anxiety and tension skyrocketing which immediately brought about my feeling that there was something wrong with me. I kept feeling a stiff neck and arm pain/fatigue (probably from the cleaning--duh!) but I thought it was something more serious. But you know what?? I kicked my OCD monster where it counts and stood up to it. You are not going to ruin my progress or my weekend with my new family. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DO THIS TO ME. I AM STRONGER THAN YOU. I realized something big while in therapy. When I got a sense of why I had certain compulsions it gave me the strength to fight it. When you realize the root of all of your issues, you get a greater strength to fight it. I realized that my mom and dad were always really crazy about cleanliness. My mom will actually come over to my house and say, " Did you vaccuum lately?" "Why do you have dishes in your sink?" "When is the last time you swept your kitchen floor?" Obviously, if I have OCD you know my house is ridiculously clean, but some how when I hear my mom say these things it makes me feel like I am the size of a pea. It literally makes me feel like a dirty, disgusting human being. I get angry and frustrated and extremely stressed out and clean even better the next time I know she is coming.  Unfortunately, I need to realize that my mom is going to say these things regardless of how clean my home is. I need to stop taking things personally that other people say to me and be HAPPY with ME. If I feel like my home is clean then that should be good enough. She stressed me out the whole week before my future in-laws came to town telling me that house was dirty and they were going to think I was a slob. Of course, I let it get to me and broke down and let her help me. ( Because in my mind, I couldn't do it myself. ). BIG MISTAKE... I only gave it and her more power over me, making my OCD flair up. I am really happy that I recognized my mistake, but not happy that I fell into it again. I am making two steps forward and one step back, but any progress is some progress. Anyone else fall back?? What happened?