Just Wondering...

AAARGH! I started to write and the stupid browser closed (AGAIN!) before I saved what I’d written! However, I remembered that my son told me to write and save my thoughts in Word (bleh!) then just cut and paste it into the blog. So that’s what I’m doing. Of course now it will be entirely different than what I’d originally written!

I was saying that I’m lazy when my husband is home. When he isn’t home, I’m able to flit about in my ADD-like way (as in the internet story about going downstairs for your glasses then finding something to do along the way, etc.). I accomplish a lot because I move from one thing to another and don’t ask myself questions. I just do. It’s said that “Action precedes Motivation” and I know it to be true. I have to literally tell myself, “Don’t be lazy!” I could very easily paint, knit, read, you-name-it and let the house to go hell. I’m a recovering “Messieholic” who keeps falling off the cleaning cart. I’ve dragged my husband into this rant because it’s inevitable he’ll call me to help him right when I’m in the middle of a good momentum. You see, once I do get into a cleaning mode I can go on for hours. Once that momentum is lost, it’s gone. It’s hard for me to re-activate to motivate. Unless you’re somewhat ADD like me, you won’t understand.

What I’m wondering about is what will happen when my husband retires. He’s pretty good as husbands go but he’s a noodge. He won’t notice all that I have done but will point out when there are balls of cat fur in the corners of the stairs (it’s summer, they’re shedding!) then continue to go about his business without considering a broom or even picking them up along the way to toss in a wastebasket! You see? He’s a passer-by. We have certain little cues which he, for the most part, ignores. If there are empty cups or glasses on the table by the stairs, it means they’re to go to the dishwasher. The table is right at the top of the stairs and can’t be missed. He walks right down the stairs. He’s in his own little (and I mean little) world. His favorite sentence is, “I am/was distracted.”

All this being said, the following Non Sequitur comic makes me laugh and wonder if there are other women out there who do really love their husbands but wish they were… what? Who can explain?

http://www.gocomics.com/feature_items/printable/433113?feature_id=112

Thoughts...

So this isn't really a rant; it's more like a musing. I don't "work outside the home," so to speak. I am a substitute school teacher to bring in the odd buck now and then but otherwise, I'm able to be in or outside my house doing pretty much anything I want. I know, I'M VERY LUCKY! What prompted this musing was trying to squeeze in some weedwhacking before the rain and thunderstorm came. I didn't succeed. I was only able to do one small square of bluestone before it literally starting raining (as opposed to drizzling) and thundering.
I put the whacker on the porch and came inside to "move on." You see, I'm not one to sit still for long. It made me think that people sometimes confuse being idle with relaxing. The two are mutually exclusive; one is not the other. I most certainly do know how to relax. Give me a good book and I can spend a day reading. But otherwise, I sort of work at home. I guess, if push came to shove, you could say I'm a "homemaker." I do the chores, etc. that most women have to squeeze in while watching TV or on the weekends. Notice I didn't mention men.
It's true that men think they're helping but 9 out of 10 women will tell you, "It just isn't true." Men have totally different perspectives about keeping a house. They will notice when a house is untidy and say, "We need to tidy up the place," before company comes. That tidying will most likely be the woman scurrying around scrubbing and polishing while the man spends 8 hours simply vacuuming. Nothing else. No wastepaper baskets being emptied, no dustmopping or furniture polishing or even dishwasher emptying/reloading.
(Oops! I think I've lost my original musing and have proceeded into ranting!)
My point is this, I'm almost always moving in some way or other. It may seem like I don't have anything to do, but I do! I'm lucky because my mind (such as it is) won't allow me to wallow in the "I'll just have to sit and wait for the rain to stop before I can do anything else" mode. I came in and went down to the basement to put in another load of wash. While I was doing that, this blog came to mind. I guess it is a sort of rant but then again, I want people to know that my painting and knitting and reading are done during some part of a day when I've also done weeding and weedwhacking and mowing or washing and ironing or bedmaking and wastepaper basket emptying and dishwashing in some form, etc., etc. I do work. It's just not as pleasant to say, "Guess what I did today!" and the answer would be any or all of the chores that are a necessary part of life.