My day off

One thing I tend to do is get caught up with the writing. I have been working on my two current books a whole lot every day and it's put a strain on how much housework I have been able to get done. When I really get deep into a book, it's either the housework that suffers or me eating and sleeping that suffers. I know that this is only temporary, that everything will be back to normal once I get these books sent off to the publisher. But I get grouchy if my house is too messy.

And with a husband who does not do that much around the house, it can get messy pretty easily! (I am not kidding. He leaves trash and clothes lying around, he leaves his cups of tea out all night and doesn't do much else). So, I made a promise to myself that, today, I will NOT work on the books.

Instead, I will clean. And clean. And clean. (When I become a famous author, remind me to hire a maid!) I don't mind cleaning, really. I DO mind hubby complaining that I don't do a good enough job at it, though. And I had to put up with his complaint today on that very subject.

One thing can be said about me: I can write pretty damn good, but, apparently, I can't clean worth crap!

Still, I soldiered on. I did the dishes, the dusting, the vacuuming, laundry, cleaned off the countertops and stove, swept and mopped the floors, cleaned up the bedroom and all that other fun stuff. All I can do is the best I can do!

I worked up a good sweat and thought I could just rinse off later in the shower before going to bed. But that didn't happen.

We have been having problems with our water heater. For the second time, my landlord came over to fix it. During the time he spent working on it, there ended up being a water mess on the kitchen floor. Ding! Ding! Ding! There's one of those facts of life, folks! You mop the floor and, on the same day, IT GETS DIRTY AGAIN!

He cleaned up the mess, though, which I was grateful for.

After he was done, at around 9:35 p.m., he said it would be a few hours before we had hot water again. So I was not able to give the children their baths before bedtime. Oh, well. I suppose it won't kill them to miss ONE night of a bath. (Actually, Jennifer was happy about that. She would LOVE to never have to take a bath again!) I am STILL trying to accept this, though. I have this rule that the children MUST have a bath or shower every day. EVERY! DAY! Husband does not agree with this, of course. He says it's fine if they have a bath every other day. I dunno, maybe it's because I grew up seeing neglected children who were so dirty and smelly that makes me want to make sure my children are bathed every day. I have seen other children who are taken out and about with dirt on them, messy hair and not a lot of clothes on them. Yuck! You won't see that with MY kids!

Anyway, I am trying to deal with this. My children did not get their baths tonight. EEK! And I couldn't rinse off in the shower to get this yucky sweat off of me. *dies a little inside* I'm going to be sweaty lying down on my clean sheets! GAH!

Jennifer and I had activities planned today but we were not able to get to them. I was just busy getting the house back in order. Still, we spent time together and did silly stuff together when possible. Sometimes, I'll act silly just for her benefit, and it warmed my heart to see her laugh and smile the way she did.

Well, today, Jennifer wanted me to wake her up this morning when I got up. Every other day, I do aerobics in the morning before hitting the shower. (I am starting to think I shower a lot. LOL) But this morning, I did my morning prayer. Then I got my coffee and I thought, Okay, I'll drink the coffee then get Jen up to exercise with me. But I started reading emails. And reading. And reading. I lost track of time and, before I knew it, it was too late to exercise. (I have over 1700 emails, people!) Jennifer was NOT happy. But I assured her we would go for a walk later. That did not happen, though, because of my cleaning spree.

Well, now that I am caught up on the housework, I have to STAY caught up. Just do the things I have to do every day so that it won't take me all day to clean and I'll have more time to spend with the children and do things with them. (This is part of why I wish I had a maid. I want to spend as much time with my children as possible, if not have more time to write! When I was working cleaning houses, I always missed the time to spend with Jennifer. I had to keep telling her I couldn't play with her because I had to clean.)

I wonder about Jennifer exercising with me, though. It's not like I run 10 miles or do 100 push-ups. But I still wonder if this is something she would be able to do without trouble or complaint.

We'll see!