I just don’t seem to have the time to get everything done that I need to do outside of work. I don’t have time to relax on weeknights or weekends. I’m single and live alone, so everything from taking out the trash to cleaning the bathroom to fixing dinner has to be done by me.
During the week, I’m up at 6a to get ready for work and deal with BBD’s needs. I work 8-5 (9-6 on Mondays). I get home around 5:30, when I’ve got to deal with BBD’s needs, fix dinner, etc. finally settling in around 6:30/7.
Realistically, I’ve only got 3 hours between getting home and when I’m in hitting my bed to do whatever I need to do. Weeknights are usually spent playing with BBD for a bit, talking to my family, answering any personal emails or write on this blog, maybe a load of laundry or cleaning up some small thing, a quick trip to the store for something, and maintaining my mental health with knitting and/or reading — sometimes it’s more work. I do watch some tv — usually Lost on Wednesdays — but not as much as you might think.
No real time during the week to clean or do something substantial. Weekends should be plenty of time to do what I don’t do during the week, right? I mean, there’s 2 whole days!
Sure, whatever.
Here’s what I did last weekend, and seems to be a typical weekend for me.
Friday evening: got home from work around 5:30p, did 2 loads of laundry, finished library book and played with BBD. In bed at 10. Yeah, I lead the glamorous life, Dear Reader.
Saturday: Up at 7, left my place at 8:30a to run errands. Went to the vet (dog food); Walgreens (card); Trader Joe’s (orchid); Cosmetic Market (for mousse, which they didn’t have); public library (returning and picking up); Target (first time I’ve been this year, so a critical shopping trip for essentials); Jo-ann Fabrics (polyfil and cheap yarn for pet toys, my next project); lunch; Hillsboro Hardware (for drain stuff); Harris Teeter (milk and bread, not a full shopping trip).
Back home around 2:30. Put up everything from shopping. Spent some time playing inside — no dog park this weekend — with BBD since it was still raining, caught up on email and trying to find an online source for the mousse that no one in Nashville seems to carry. Thought about cleaning but accidentally fell asleep on the couch for about an hour after deciding to sit and relax for just a minute. Woke up around 5. Started to do work-related stuff for Monday, but realized I can’t really do it from home. Will end up going in earlier on Monday to get it done. In bed at 10.
Sunday: up at 7a. Quality time with BBD. Wrote a couple of blog posts, paid bills, tried to find a store online that had the mousse I can’t seem to find, ate breakfast, all while doing a few more loads of laundry. Fixed pasta salad to eat during the week. Cleaned the bathroom and floors. Didn’t organize. Met with knitting group 2-4, ran by grocery store to get stuff for shepherd’s pie. Fixed dinner and finally relaxed for a couple of hours — started reading one library book, but fell asleep on the couch again. In bed at 10.
Things I needed to do but didn’t: organize my clothes and clean my house in anticipation of my brother and girlfriend coming to visit this weekend to visit. Also didn’t get primer and paint for my bathroom, which I need to do some weekend. Didn’t plan out what I’m herbs and vegetables I’m going to plant this year. That probably won’t happen at all. I’m not including any other nitpicky things — for example, three months of magazines that I haven’t looked through yet — that haven’t been done. Also not including the occasional event, such as getting my hair cut or a social outing.
I don’t know how other people find time to do everything. Yeah, I could probably get rid of a few things, but really, I don’t have that much I could get rid of.
Give up blogging? What do you think I do while the laundry is running? I can’t run other water-related things in the house at the same time, and the cycle isn’t long enough to take BBD for a walk, so I catch up on paying bills and write a few blog posts.
Give up reading and/or knitting? Not if you want me to stay sane. Besides, I don’t spend as much time as you may think doing those activities. I spend about 30 minutes before bed reading, unless I’m really into a book, in which case I may spend most of an evening reading — usually with something else going on in the background, like laundry. Knitting is done while watching tv or a movie (usually coordinated with laundry), or on Sunday afternoons with my knitting group.
Is it me, or do I seem to do a lot of laundry? As for that, I use to do it all at one shot, everything for the week, but now that I have a washer and dryer right in the kitchen, I toss in loads at random times, so I do a load of something most every day. Takes about a hour to wash and dry one load.
I’ve also noticed I have to do more loads than before because my washer and dryer are smaller than what I used to have, so less fits in. I guess I could send it out, but why bother when I can do it here for relatively cheap?
More than anything, I need help doing some things I just can’t find time to do — that’s why I pay to have a lawn service. If I had to add mowing to my weekends, I’d go nuts. But I’m not made of money, so I have to be careful about paying for services — and figure out what services I can pay for without being ridiculous about it.
Or I need a husband who could do some of it, at no additional cost. I swear, there are some days I think, “maybe if I weren’t so picky someone else would be doing this chore for me right now.” 😉
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