Dogmom's Profile

I hate unloading the dishwasher, grocery shopping (mainly because of all the people & their grocery carts are ALWAYS in my way) and walking the dogs. I love my dogs but we have 5 dogs with 5 different personalities on the walk so I have to walk them in 2 separate groups. It takes up to an hour a day but it does make them happy. I also dislike doing laundry because our machines are 2 flights down in the basement.

Most of the rest of the chores I don't mind at all. I like having a tidy house so the end results are always worth the work. My husband does far less chores than me because he is at work more than I am. But the few chores he does do help me out a lot - waking up early to let out the dogs and feed them, taking out the trash/recycling. He doesn't seem to mind doing them so it works!

I think trying to keep a set sleep schedule helps. I usually head to bed at least an hour before I actually plan to turn out the lights. I get settled in and read or play solitaire on my iPad until I can barely keep my eyes open & then reach over to turn out the light. I also enjoy a glass or two of red wine in the evening as well.

I have all my bills set up for "paperless" and use my iPad to keep track of what is due & when. I pay bills every Friday or payday online so I don't have all this paper clutter or statements to save. This helps a lot with sticking to a budget too because I have all my bills on one page for the month. I pay what needs to be paid each Friday & whatever is leftover we can use for groceries, entertainment, etc.... i have my savings deposit automatically taken out of my check each week so i dont have to be so disciplined with that. I do file away our tax returns as well as any manuals & booklets on any appliances or equipment we have & other important documents, etc.... I also keep a folder in my office desk drawer to collect any tax info/statments/deductions throughout the year so it is all ready to go at tax time. My desk could use a old cleaning out though.

We have a room just as an office that I work from most of the time. The room is upstairs so it keeps me up & down the stairs several times a day for beverages & food. This way I get a little exercise during the day instead of sitting for hours. In the winter when it is cold I usually work in bed with a laptop tray. On those days I generally feel guilty for being in bed all day but it is much warmer in bed.

My biggest problem is I find myself not changing out of my pj's until the afternoon sometimes. I cant seem to find a trick to break this habit. Does anyone else find it difficult getting dressed when you work from home?

We already had an IKEA kitchen when we bought our house but we wanted to upgrade the laminate counter tops & vinyl floor. I have always loved the classic Carrara marble but my husband did warn me it would stain and I do like my red wine. So we we went with a dark marble on the main counter tops & Carrara marble on the island. I like the contrast a lot but the etching drives me crazy! I have yet to stain the marble but as another person posted, the etching happens even from a few seconds on the surfaces. Even water seems to cause it. So my advice would be if you have a sunny kitchen don't go with marble. Every time the sun hits the surfaces you see all the imperfections glaring at you. I wish I had been more informed as well. At least we got the counter tops at wholesale prices.