Things

I no longer have time to do, since getting Ashke:

- Read. I am an avid reader and at one point had a blog where I reviewed books I had read, but in the past six months I have struggled to make it through any books. Well, except the Laura Crum books, which I read 10 or 11 of, I think. It used to be I would average three or four books a week. Now, I am rereading Harry Potter because I know the story well enough it doesn't matter if I don't read it for a couple of days.

- Iron. This one is dead in the water. Thankfully, I can wear sweaters instead of pressed shirts to work most days and my pants are easy to maintain. This will have to change in the spring, but I'm thinking if I play my cards right I could buy enough hawaiian shirts that I would only have to iron every four weeks or so. Yes, nice Hawaiian shirts are my go to for work during the spring, summer and fall. Argyle sweaters are the winter equivalent of Hawaiian, for those of you who are keeping track. Thank God that J does the laundry, because really I think we would all be naked if I was responsible.

- Clean. Over rated at best and for crying out loud it is a never ending need. This is the real reason women used to stay home and take care of the house. Otherwise, the house is never really clean. My Poly Sci teacher told us in class about a hundred years ago, that house cleaning proves the atrophy of the universe philosophy, since we don't really clean, we just move things from the visible areas of our home to the basement, where it's not seen. Add three dogs, four cats, two bearded dragons and three people in our 1000 sq ft condo and you end up with hair, slobber and snot central. Good thing we are going to G'ma's for Christmas.

- Cook. We now rotate four meals: Manwiches, Spaghetti, Stew and Chicken and Rice. I manipulate J into going out the other three or we eat cereal. I am horrible. I used to plan and plot and try new recipes. Now, if it can't be done in about fifteen minutes, it's not going to happen. And, I used to be responsible for all the meals. Now, J and T are fending for themselves at least two nights a week. At least I try to make sure there are either leftovers in the fridge or pizza rolls in the freezer. I am a catch, let me tell you.

- Household Maintenance. Out the window. The projects that aren't finished are legion. I need, in no particular order, to do the following: Fix the drywall in the upstairs hall ceiling and on the landing leading to the dining room; pull up the carpet in the upstairs hall  and replace with the hardwood that is still in boxes in the hall; paint the upstairs hall and stairwell (which was started four years ago, discovered I hated the color about ten minutes into rolling and stopped. It's an acquired look.); replace the three stairs worth of carpet between the dining room and living room with hardwood; fix the drywall at the top of those three stairs where Skittle was sampling it; repaint the wall in the dining room; repaint the walk-out; take down the pool table, repaint the basement, install a small bar for drinks when playing pool; pull out the carpet, remove the flooring and replace, install radiant heat flooring, lay hardwood, find homes for the bookcases and dog kennel and bearded dragon viv, reinstall pool table; lay hardwood on the stairs leading to the main floor; replace all the windows; pull the bathtub out of T's bathroom, pull the vanity out of T's bathroom, replace toilet, replace floor, fix leak in pipe behind wall in T's bathroom, install new vanity, install new shower, install new toilet, paint, and replace mirror; Take out raised counter in kitchen to create bar seating, replace kitchen counters with granite, install recessed lighting in the dining room, and refinish the cabinets in the kitchen. I'm exhausted just thinking about all of that work. And not doing it makes the list even longer. Sigh.