Day 13 - Chores

I'm taking an online class to help me with my writing. Every morning I get an email prompt about the topic for the day and I write what I can/want, with the intent to go deeper than just the basics and to capture the details of my life. You can learn more about the class here: 31 Days For the fun of it, I'm posting on my blog what I wrote for the previous day's assignment.

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We're at Snowbird this week. It is a week of change. A change in routine. A change in scenery. A change in expectations. A change in the rhythm of life.

There are still chores that need to be done, but in all the years we've been coming to Snowbird I find that I never really mind doing the daily chores here.

And this is why: Life is much simpler for this week. There are no excess clothes to pick up-put away-decide to wear- wash. There are no excess dishes to deal with, we have 8 plates-bowls-saucers, so the dishes get easily washed out of necessity. The kitchen is small, it takes less than 10 minutes to clean it up after a meal. There is one bathroom to keep tidy. There is minimal furniture and space. It is so much simpler here.

It always makes me wonder why I have so much stuff in my everyday life? Do I need another thing to have to deal with? All those additional things add to the time it takes me to do my chores. Do I really like doing chores that much?

The reality is that I do have a house full of stuff and, right now, people. And everyone is busy with their responsibilities of life. And life is messy. And so...we have chores.

Here are some thoughts about my chores:

*I love to vacuum. I love clean floors.

* Getting our HE washer and dryer years ago changed my life. Every young couple with small children needs to have an HE washer and dryer. Except they are expensive and probably can't afford them.

*I love to iron. But not necessarily pants.

*I don't love to make my bed, but I love to climb into a made bed at night. I tell Abbie that "making my bed is a gift I give to myself." It doesn't seem to matter to Doug whether the bed gets made or not.

*I love line-dried white cotton sheets.

*I love coming downstairs in the morning to a clean kitchen.

*I've tried to have different cleaning schedules through the years but haven't really stuck to any of them.

*We live in a windy place and so my house is always dusty and it drives me nuts. I don't really like to dust.

*Just thinking about all this stuff has made me feel weary. I'm on vacation and don't want to feel weary.

*I need to get rid of more stuff so that I can spend more time doing things other than chores.