We Got in a Fight Last Night.

Good Morning Internet. Got in a bad fight with my wife yesterday. she took apart my computer and told me to move out. It was really scary. I was worried. I think this stuff sometimes happens when there's big change in your life, but I feel as though it was mostly my fault.



Allow me to explain. I'm lazy. I don't particularly like cleaning the house. I do particularly like doing all other domestic duties, cleaning the kitchen, cooking, maintaining the house, doing yard work, shoveling, and the like I all quite like. But lord please don't make me pick up my wife and child's mess (k mine too) Its not on my top ten list of shit to do every day.



However, I'm the guy at home right now, I'm the stay at home dad, and that's my duty. However yesterday I spent my time doing a lot of shit that didn't get a whole lot of results. I worked on this blog, I made myself some new casts with Chris, and I hemmed and hawed about how exactly to start cleaning. I thought about it, I really did, and I thought that I would get started on it at any moment. but then Matt stopped by and needed some advice, so I spent most of the afternoon coaching him through a few job offers he had received instead of cleaning.



So I did the dishes and cooked dinner.



That was not enough and I know it wasn't that was a dickhead move of me, and I'm sorry. Doesn't much matter now as the only thing that can fix it is action. I had to put my computer back together and reset all of my drivers (too many USB peripherals, I run a 12 port hub ) and now I need to clean this house.



The sad thing is that I KNOW it wont take me for than an hour or so, and the house will be spotless. I know it won't take me more than a few minutes to clean each room. I'm exceptionally efficient with cleaning you see. I run around with a trash bag first, and get all trash out of the house. then I organize a single room, working my way from the front of the house to the back. If an item doesn't belong in one room, it simply gets put in the next room so I'm not distracted from the room in question. Then, once that room has all of its shit in the right place, I'll move onto the next room and repeat until we have a small pile of shit that needs to be a) thrown away or b) put in the attic. it works like magic.



The next step is of course the actual cleaning. for this I use wal mart brand Windex with a few cupfuls of pure ammonia added. Ammonia kills all odors, and cuts through stains like nobody's business. Its the best. why anyone uses anything else (besides he crippling smell and the extreme skin damage) is beyond me. I keep a rag in one hand and a spray bottle in the other, and I work the entire room, once again from front to back. repeat for whole house.



After this, its time to sweep and mop. usually at this point I've kicked on the Roomba (usually right after the organization phase) and now I'm ready to start mopping the floors. My personal favorite for this is a Mr clean spray mop because you don't need to spend a small fortune on proprietary cloths for the bottom: it comes with a nice big cotton cloth that fits the bottom nicely, and is machine washable. it is perfection among mops. However in my zeal from cleaning the house last week this mop is out of commission( I swore that spot on the floor would scrub right off!) and now I'll need to go with the more primitive means of...oh wait I can go grab my other robotic MOP and charge that.



Boy, what a wuss I am. I can almost see the part of me inside my head, rolling around throwing a fit like a 6 year old boy going "I don't wanna!" and then rapidly hiding in a dark corner after in a silly prepubescent rage.  How silly of me.



So why didn't I clean? In honesty I feel like the day just got away from me. I worked on the blog, I worked on the you tube page, I applied for some jobs, and I helped Matt traverse the perils of horrible job offers. each of these to me held far more importance than a perfectly clean house. Its not like the house was unlivable. I had cleaned her top to bottom only a few days before. but on the other hand, in remembrance of my health post just a few days ago, I had already stated that family health is a big part of personal health, and my wife needed that house clean because she's been stressed, and that's what she wanted.



So I think that in reality I was just being lazy, and that ain't right. You can't be lazy as an adult. at least not like that. Your laziness needs to be pointed and effective. Therefore I'm starting a new goal today: all tasks complete before laziness is allowed. every day. So I've already (through the powers of this blogs) spelt out EXACTLY how to clean my house. I know exactly what to do and I'll do it. after that, I'm cooking a big turkey dinner with Sophia (she loves to cook with me) and we'll then move onto nap time (no whammies) and I'll get the work on the you tube channel out of the way for the day. That has to be the plan.



I know that reading my to do list probably isn't the most interesting reading, but its important to me. It's important that I spell things out in black and white because otherwise how can I be accountable. I say a million things to myself in my head every day "I'm totally going to write an extra blog post or two today, just to get a few in the tank" or "I'll totally clean up the Porsche to I can move onto the next stage in restoration" yeah, that shit never happens. I need to write it down. You need to make yourself accountable. and crossing shit off that list you make. oh man, its like crack. nothing feels better than completing something, at least to me. I think that's why this is one of my favorite ways to start my day now. No matter what else happens in this day, I'll be able to say to myself that I did this. I didn't break the chain. and that's huge. I'm still here writing and that's what I promised myself, the writing here, and your reading it proves it to me.



So did my wife and I break up forever and blow our house up in a fiery rage? nah. I told her what happened that day, she told me I'm a lazy bum, and I agreed. She rationalized that she, too, is lazy and hates to clean the house, but since I'm stay at home dad I need to. she's right. and awesome. and sexy. Oh well, one Stef zero charlie. I don't think I'll ever catch up on that score.



So I'll clean the house today. I made myself a list and a plan, I know exactly how to do it, and the house will be spotless, and dinner will be cooked, and my wife will be happy. total time investment: I mean, maybe 4 hours? a half day's work? and that'll make Stef happier than she's been in a while. I think that's the most important time investment I can make. I'm kind of upset at this point I still have another few minutes of writing left because I want to get started.  I know that I fucked up yesterday, and I know what my days need to look like, at least for the time begins, now.  So I'll let Sophia play by herself (something only children excel at) and I'll go make this house the way Stef wants, and make a happy wife and child, then I'll enjoy my beautiful family and we'll all ride off into the sunset. until she pulls my computer apart again.