What I Learned...

Every week, I think to myself, 'I am going to take this weekend off.' I always plan to get all of my housework done by Friday so that I can relax and enjoy my family on Saturday and Sunday. Every week, without fail, my plan falls through. Usually, its because I haven't finished everything on my never ending list. This week, though, I did and it was looking to be a promising weekend. I could see the play time with the kiddos, the football time with the hubby, and maybe even a little reading....gasp!

After our Saturday morning soccer game, my husband informed me that we had to get our fall planting done in our garden this weekend. OK, that's still not 'house work' right? So, we tilled, and we rowed, and we planted, and we weeded. And, I decided that I STRONGLY dislike weeding. ( I would say hate, but I have outlawed that word in our house ) It took all of the day Saturday and most of Sunday, but it is done and there is a feeling of accomplishment. I will have to plant another row of spinach in 2 weeks and after we get the carrot seeds today, I will have to get those in the ground too. But, for now, we are done.

So, last night, after I finally had a chance to sit, I surveyed my house. Having not done laundry for the past 2 days had left me 3 loads - manageable. I could knock that out Monday morning, I thought. Plus, I might even be able to get some bedding washed. GREAT! There were dirty dishes in the sink. A load and a half through the dishwasher and that would be done! The house was in desperate need of sweeping, but that wouldn't take long. As I basked in my relaxed 'no housework' weekend, I was energized with the spirit of domestic goddessness. I made my list and figured I could even squeeze in mopping. Heck, I was on a roll, why not add dusting/Windex to the list. YAY Me!!! My thighs were burning from all that planting and my arms and lower back were sore from all that rowing, but I was on a mission. Invigorated, even.

Then, an impending sense of doom came upon me. I suddenly remembered ( at 10 pm ) that I had to take my mother in law to pay her bills in the morning. You see, my mother in law is nearly blind, due to diabetic retina detachment. Plus, she has never had her drivers' license or owned a car for that matter, so even if she could see, she couldn't drive herself. And, my mother in law doesn't trust banks ( so wise, given our current economic situation ) so she doesn't have a checking account that she can write checks on and mail in her bills. And, she doesn't really trust anyone, so she doesn't want us to write checks and mail them for her either. The result? Once a month, I have to take her to cash her check and then run her all over town to pay her utilities. The problem? There are a lot of people in our town that don't trust banks and the lines at the utility companies are seemingly never ending. The whole process takes about 2 hours and leaves me near exhaustion. So, you see, my beautiful list that I was so excited about and even color coded by what times I would get things done, was now impossible. I can MAYBE get 1/4 of it done, if I'm lucky.

What did I learn this weekend? There is never such a thing as a weekend off, because even when you plan for it, you end up realizing at 10 pm on Sunday night that your list for Monday will be impossible. So, then you end up, at 10 pm on Sunday, frantically trying to get things on your list accomplished and you don't end up in bed until sometime well past midnight with a lot left to do.

Also, I learned that I REALLY dislike weeding.