GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us! We kindly ask that politics be left out.
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Ok I'm sitting here this morning not smoking (again) but now all of a sudden having to wonder; where did summer go?
Which of course isn't reality because summer is still here with the heat and everything else but on the other hand its the first day of school out where we live and to me that has always been the official end of summer ever since I was a kid. Except actually when I was a kid I considered it more like the end of the world.
And while its not quite that dramatic now it still has that sort of feel to it because my wife has worked at the school as a para-educator for more than 25 years and so I'm back to being alone all day with a few more chores to do. And some how that always sets up some minor inner conflicts for me.
Which is rather strange. On the one hand I love my wife and the companionship we have in the summer which we try to leave open and spontaneous so we can generally do what we want to do at the spur of the moment. On the other hand though I also have to admit part of me likes having the house to myself where I can do just about everything I feel like without considering anyone else. There is just a minor level of freedom for me in that.
Of course the other side of the coin is I do have a few more household chores to do on a daily basis because we more or less divide them when we are both home during the summer. But since I'm retired and home all day during the school year it only seems fair that I do more work at home since my wife is at work all day.
And I assure you (or probably more accurately many of you would assure me) it is nothing major. Just wash and put away what few dishes we have, vacuum and dust, mop the floors and clean the bathrooms, perhaps wash and dry a few selected loads of clothes (very selected because my wife doesn't trust me with much more than towels, blue jeans, and MY underwear) and do the watering in the yard, which actually seems hardest to me.
Its the watering that not only seems hardest but also most daunting. Hardest because for my wife at least the water must be set just right hitting every square inch of the lawn, the flower beds, and the garden while at the same time not watering anything else outside the yard. And daunting because it also must be watered evenly which means I have to remember I'm watering and change the water about every half hour. All that seems effortless for my wife but I swear sometimes it takes me half an hour to get the water set just right and then its time to move it again and some parts aren't watered evenly (especially if I happen to forget it, which happens sometimes). And even though my wife never says anything I believe when she gets home she can take one look and she can tell if everything has been watered just right.
All this is very trivial I know but that seems to be most all my life these days. Just a series of mostly enjoyable trivialities which certainly makes me question why I even agreed to write diaries for GUS when in my reality I don't really have much to say and am more or less just watching to river flow to paraphrase Bob Dylan.
But be that as it may I better get this one posted, and get the GUS thread open, and of course get the water started because as much as I hoped for rain it does no look like its going to save me.
And the latest updated Buddy List by (the truly amazing) Mr. Amazing, anodnhajo!!!!
1BQ, 2thanks, 3rdGenFeminist, 417els, A Man Called Gloom, Abra Crabcakeya, Actbriniel, addisnana, AfroPonix, aishmael, Alise, Alpha99, also mom of 5, ambeeeant, American in Kathmandu, amk for obama, andsarahtoo, angry marmot, Anne933, anodnhajo, aoeu, AoT, aquarius2001, arcadesproject, Archie2227, arodb, Arthur Wolf (in memoriam), assyrian64, Aunt Acid, awkawk, b4uknowit, BadKitties, bamablue, BARAKABETH, barnowl, b barrie, bdizz, beatpanda, beefydaddy18, betterdemsonly, BFSkinner, bgblcklab1, BigAlinWashSt, Bike Crash, BirderWitch, BJKay, bleeding heart, blingbling65, blue husky, Blue Intrigue, bluedust, BluejayRN, BlueJessamine, BlueMississippi, Bluerall, bluestatedem84, BoiseBlue, boudi08, Brahman Colorado, breedlovinit, BrenP, BrianParker14, Bronxist, broths, BrowniesAreGood, bsmechanic, Buckeye Nut Schell, buddabelly, Bugsydarlin, bumbi, BusyinCA, cactusgal, cagernant, Carol in San Antonio, CathiefromCanada, CathodeRay, CDH in Brooklyn, Cedwyn, cee4, Cen Den, ChocolateChris, 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