Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts - Sep 19

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. This is a chance for book bloggers to dabble in areas besides books (but those are welcome too). Share your plans for the weekend, a rant on people not using their turn signals in parking lots, or your love of Sunday morning mimosas.

Do you have a least favorite chore? I was wondering, because I have two: laundry and vacuuming.

Hubby nicely bought me a robot vacuum for Christmas, but the dog is petrified of it. Every time I start the silly thing, he tries to bite it and barks like a madman, so it never gets used. The central vac is great, but it takes forever and it is so annoying pulling the hose out of one outlet and plugging it into the next one to keep going; especially when you have to move the couch first. Oh, wait, I don't have to do that anymore. The dog ate it, so I threw the couch away.

Laundry is just one of those things that is so never ending. First you have to sort it. Then you load it into the washer. Then you have to tug wet, heavy clothes into the dryer. Next you have to run to the dryer the minute it stops to fold the clean clothes or hang them so they don't wrinkle. And then you have to put them away. By the time you're done, there are dirty clothes in the laundry basket again. Why can't it be more like cooking/baking? Yeah, it takes a while, but you get a nice reward at the end.

I decided to do a few things for myself this week:

• Bring back to life Cheryl's Christian Book Connection
• Pay the in-laws' bills early so I can enjoy the rest of the month
• Skim some library books for research on my current writing project
• Spend time in the garden

What did you do for yourself this week? 

As A Busy Moms Thinks: Post-op

I am nearly four weeks post-op. The surgery went well and recovery hasn't been bad despite the horrible back spasms I ended up with as a result of lying on the table for too long. Physical therapy started last Friday, so that should help.

The one tricky thing that amazes me about my experience is that I never realized exactly how much I do around here that keeps the household running. Since I am still two weeks away from being fully functional, my filthy floors that I am not allowed to vacuum or wash are driving me insane.

No one around here wants to help. In all fairness, the hubby works twelve hours a day and certainly doesn't feel like doing much other than relaxing when he gets home. But what about those kids I have waited on hand and foot for more than a decade? Why is it so hard to get them to help out?

They have a chore list, but it turns into an argument when they won't honor their commitments. Granted, their main focus has to be school, but is it so hard to bring your laundry up to your room each day and put it away? Is it too much to ask that once a week they vacuum a couple of floors? And don't even get me started on the state of their rooms. You need a Hazmat suit just to enter the Lil' Diva's room.

I'm struggling not to overdo it, but I definitely don't want to pull something out of whack and end up back in the hospital. Say a prayer for me that I can get the kids to contribute a bit more.