September already

My how time flies. The mornings are cool and crisp and I must say I enjoy this time of year more than any other. It's the time of year we would normally prepare for winter. Some years the prep work was left too late and snow came. We learned our lesson Do it early and take our time.

So now how do I do this? Lee and I had the habit of staying home every long weekend and sharing work. This gave staff well deserved time off.I can manage to do a certain amount of chores and clean up while I look after seniors but I feel split if you know what I mean. I like to not rush. I like to be organised and finish jobs. When I look after seniors and do some of the chores I rarely feel like I can say "Well that's done". Lee would come home on Friday with any city stuff like food, printer ink and paper for the photo copier (like I need right now)

The answer? I will be taking off a day mid week on a regular yet flexible basis. This way I can do some personal things, doctor appointments(I need prescriptions renewed) , get my eyes tested (I need to do this), and pick up new bath mats and what not. When I get home from the city I can spend the rest of the day puttering on outside chores. I'll do that for a bit and see if that works out. I may start talking our loud to myself if I am stuck on a problem. We used to keep each on track. Often times we would clarify in the morning what the plan was for the day I learned to keep the list short like 3 items. When those were done we would re convene and make another list. It worked well.... until Lee would say "How about we do this?.... and add another item to the list That drove me nuts. I would remind her about our agreement.Let's keep it simple. Lee would remind me what I was doing after being distracted by whatever (usually then  I said What f was I doing?)  I would keep her from going to wild blue yonder. She loved to change things just for the simple reason its time for a change in her mind. I would want to leave things well enough alone. I would always ask whats wrong with leaving this the way it is? (I would be thinking Why the f do you want to do that?) Often times she could not give me an answer so that fence for instance stayed put. If it works leave it alone dammit. Do we NEED to make this change NOW or can it go on the 2013 list?

You see the royal WE word was thrown around a lot and WE really meant ME in a lot of cases. I was the one who had specific desired skills and energy. Anytime I heard the words WE SHOULD........ and it involved WORK it really meant more for me. Let me tell you I really objected to that in a nice way.

I do not want to do yard and chore work on my allotted days off. I am selfish and protective of that personal time. I am carving out a new normal.

I will likely not go riding until September 23 when we have the tribute ride for Lee. It will be held at the Big Valley Acres and the start point will be Margaret and Nelson's yard. People will bring their own lunch and perhaps we will have a wiener roast at the end of the ride and story telling time. Non riders certainly can join us for that. More detail later.