While chatting with a friend on messenger the other day, I realized that all we talked about was what we were going to do today and so on.  We joked about how exciting my life was.  Clean, cook, clean some more and do dishes.  Oh yeah, and laundry.  So yesterday I hired a house cleaning lady.  Young gal actually.  She has been here before and we loved her.  She is working now as a CNA but said she had time to come and help us.  So I am going to have her come in once a month and clean.  I can keep up in-between her visits.  But here is a life lesson.  I have been cleaning house since I was a little girl.  We kids had to help mom with the cleaning and when we got to be teenagers we had to do it all.  Mom was working at the store (we owned a grocery store).  We had to switch off the upstairs and down stairs.  One week up and one week down.  And since I have been married 52 years (53 this year) I have been cleaning house!  You do get burned out.  Husband retires. He has worked 35 - 40 years and deserves to retire but what about you?  Does he vacuum and dust?  How about the dishes?  Cook at all?  Mine does none of these things...might cook now and then...so it is all me.  I was beginning to resent it.  Might say I was having a pity party and then it dawned on me.  No.  Not pity.  Reality.  While he takes care of the outside for the most part, cutting grass and leaves mostly in the summer months, the inside is always mine. And unlike cutting grass once a week, the inside is daily.  There is never a day when you can just say it is all done.  There is nothing to do.  Never!  Its just gotten to be too much.  And my mental health is worth more than whatever it is I have to pay her.  So I can relax this weekend knowing the house is clean and I wont have to dread getting up in the morning with all this work hanging over my head.  If the house is straightened at night I should be able to get up and exercise and not feel guilty that I should be doing something else like cleaning the house.  I have set myself a goal of eating better and less, exercising more, and being able to walk around the park this fall when the weather turns cooler.  I might still need a walker but it will be ok.  Walk a bit, sit a bit, and so on.  But I cant do that now so by fall.  But I cant even work to that end if I am depressed and feeling sorry for myself.  So a new day!  

And one more thing while I am handing out life lessons.  Its good for my mind to be creative.  So now i have time to be creative. To keep making things.  

Ok, two things.  And now I have time to clean my own car, a savings of 30 a month.  The exercise will be good for me too!  

So now I can say Been there.  Done that.  Life lessoned learned.  That is all.