Housework Blues

So John boy bought me what is arguably the worst gift ever... A sponge mop. Now before we send out the lynching crew, he was trying to make life easier for the both of us. We like many households share the chores. there are not many jobs in my house that fall only to one or the other... Except the garbage. John Boy does that because in between pick ups it is kept in the basement, and I don't do basements, ever.

 So back to my story. Most people who have floors that need to be cleaned belong to one of four camps or maybe a combo of one or two. 1) String mop
                                                     2) sponge mop
                                                     3) hand scrubbing
                                                     4) wash the floors?? I didn't know they were washable...

I am a string mop gal and when all else fails , hand scrub the crap out of it,  But the truth is I am bad at it. I am not a good sweeper and always seem to leave something behind, So I use the string mop , I like it because I can throw the head in the washer when I am done and its all clean again, John hates it, and he is a great floor washer, he never leaves anything behind.. So he brought this thing home very proud of himself, And this morning I decided to test it out...

Yeah stupid idea, it did clean the floors but I had to go over everything twice as much, going back to my string mop for sure.

So now that you have read the most boring post ever, about cleaning floors no less, I am done venting, and the truth is , John really was trying to be nice, he thought it would make life easier so rather that bitch at him and make him feel bad, I thought I would vent here.

The truth is life is pretty good if all I have to complain about is a sponge mop.

Attitude of Gratitude

Sometimes when things aren't going right it is easy to sink into a sea of "why me? " I admit I have been guilty of this many times. And then I read something online. I can't remember the exact wording, but it went something like, Happy people don't have the best of everything, but are thankful for what they do have. Its not exact wording but you get the point.

 It made me think, when was the last time I said thank you? I may have had some tough times , but I am very very blessed. I have wonderful children and a husband who adores me no matter what, I have amazing friends who brighten my day and always welcome me no matter what. I have a beautiful home which I love, in place that is like no where else on earth. Perhaps if I was grateful, the petty little things that bother me would not be so bothersome anymore.

So I began to make a list of all the things I was truly grateful for, I expected it to be pretty short, but it turns out I filled 3 pages single spaced. And I could have filled three more. Once I completed that little exercise, My whole attitude had changed. I felt wonderful. So I have begun to do this everyday and the change in my world has been amazing. The biggest change is I am finally relaxed, being grateful for EVERYTHING you have has that effect.  It is easy to be thankful for big things, but when was the last time you flicked a light switch and thought to yourself, I am so grateful that we have electricity, imagine life with out it.. Try it for a few days, Its an easy habit to get into. And it tends to rub off on your family members too. My husband has now started telling me what he is grateful for each day, and when he does he is always amazed at all the things he has to be thankful for.

When you are thankful for what you have, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, the things you don't have seem to either seem very trivial , or suddenly there they are just for you. More about that later..

Thank you for reading

Now what???

I am sorry I haven't  written for so long, August was a flurry of activity trying to get my son Brent all ready to go off to university. The month went so fast, that before I knew it it was over and my baby was all moved out.

Brent was accepted into the only school he wanted. Acadia University. It is not far away, only an hour and a half drive, so at first I wasn't worried about him being there and not here. Like most parents I spent his early years just enjoying his cuteness, and thinking that university was soooo far away, Once he reached teenager status there were many days university could not come soon enough. But as the days ticked down in August to the 31st, the day he would actually go, I found myself wishing I could slow things down.

So the day came, we started early and were there just after 10 am. He was whisked away to begin "get to know you" frosh stuff and we went on a tour of the campus, It is impressive, its like a little town all in its self. We got to watch his matriculation ceremony and then we were headed home. I did at least get to give him a hug and kiss before we left. He was so excited, and he was ready for us to leave.

Once we were home it was so strange to see his empty room, and the house is so quiet. For a few days it was almost nice to have it be so quiet. But as the days pass I am beginning to realize a few things,

The first is, we don't watch tv. That big expensive 46 inch plasma flat screen my husband had to have a few years ago has only been turned on once since Brent left. The second is I cannot cook for two people. I have thrown more food away since he left. I also did not realize how much stuff I bought at the grocery store mainly for my kid, like the giant jug of peanut butter that would only last a few days now sits a waste in my cupboard.

 I didn't even notice how much of my day was spent mothering until I had no one to mother. I miss him most in the evenings, A lot of my routine was based around him, making meals , just chatting with him, with out the activity of having him come home for the day and tell me all about his day and then go play his guitar , there is a large part of my day missing.

 Our contact is now relegated to text message and the occasional phone call. He is a busy boy with studies and his new found job. I am having trouble being busy enough. I was used to the routine with him, Now my routine is all messed up, Case in point, a few days ago, my husband arrived home from his job and was tired, as I had not started supper yet, he decided to have a nap, just a half an hour. I was a bit sleepy too and decided to join him. We both fell asleep and didn't wake up until 3:45 am. I cooked supper at 4 o'clock in the morning. Little things like that that never would have happened had Brent still been home.

No one is to blame, I just have to adjust to having lost the longest job I ever held, 19 years of being full time caretaker to my wonderful boy. I will learn to manage without him, probably just in time for him to come home in the summer.

I think the biggest thing is I miss him, more than I thought I would. But I am so pleased for him as well, He has his whole future ahead of him and if he does everything he needs to, no doors will be closed for him and that is a wonderful feeling, and well worth my being a little lost.