Being Useful

I have to admit, I haven't made myself particularly useful around the house over the past year.

Sure, I take care of the garbage through the week. I make sure the cats' litter boxes are kept clean. When the snow falls, I ensure the driveway and walkway are clear. In the summer, I mow the lawn. I help tidy the house. At least once a week, I prepare dinner; the other times, I clean up afterwards.

But these are maintenance chores. They aren't activities that move the house forward, that enhance the house or our lives.

Being unemployed, you'd think I could make myself useful in that regard.

Sure, I've spent a lot of time working on Dark Water and other personal projects. But DW would like to see me doing more. "Would it kill you to take an hour out of your day to do something productive around the house?

Last November, I started work on tearing up the carpet on our stairs. It's the only place left in our house that has the original carpeting—or any carpeting, for that matter, other that a few area rugs.

But work stalled on that project after I pulled a muscle whilst ripping up a stubborn part of that carpet, and we had friends from out of town visiting for a week. And then there was Christmas... and then Costa Rica... .

Now that Dark Water is out the door, I have that hour each day to devote to the house. I have all the time in the world.

Whoever laid the carpet on the stairs must have thought they wanted it to last forever. so many staples where nailed into the wood that some corners were nearly impossible, especially when I had to lean over the railing to reach it. On the day that I started work on this project, I had only removed the carpet from three steps before I twisted my back and pulled that muscle.

Those three steps took about half the day.

On my first day back at the project, I removed the carpet from two more steps and the landing. It took almost two hours to do this (you can tell I'm not a professional). I had to start wearing a mask because there was so much fine dirt underneath—it looked like sand.

Even with the mask, my crappy lungs had a tough time. I feel that a couple of hours each day is enough without running the risk of hurting myself again.

Most importantly, DW feels that I'm being useful. Happy wife, happy life, right?

Happy Tuesday!