I hate doing dishes, taking out the trash and washing dogs...

I mean it, I loathe washing dishes...I would rather be non-PC and use plastic and paper for everything or better yet, eat out every meal in order to avoid washing a dish. The other thing I hate is washing the dog and he doesn't like it too much either, probably because when the kids have done it they end up chasing him all over the bathroom and just terrorize him trying to get him back in the tub...not a pleasant experience for any of us. Then there is the trash issue, since we are in a more rural setting we decided to save some money and start taking our trash to the local dump ourselves instead of paying for someone to come pick it up. Well that was fine and dandy when it was not going in my car and I was not the one having to do.

I say all this because I am now having to do all of the above because I am 2 mths into an undetermined stint as a single parent. Chris started his new job in Atlanta a little over 2 mths ago so I am having to adapt to my "new" jobs that Chris normally did as well as do the stuff I always did, laundry and cooking, etc...

I will confess the first week was not too bad, I actually got some sleep because Chris was not there snoring in my ear every night and the kids were on their best behavior ever because not having dad around 24/7 like he had been for 9+ mths due to his layoff was a new experience for them. But after that first week the winds of change began to blow through our house...the DIVA was waking up everynight when I went to bed wanting to sleep with me...a wiggly 7 yr old is not condusive to a good nights sleep, Camden started bringing home C's on some of his schoolwork which is unheard of for him, the kids were arguing more and more, dishes were piling up b/c not only do I hate washing them I hate having to load and unload a dishwasher too...I cooked so someone else needs to clean only there was no one else to clean, around this time I noticed the dog, Tebow, acting funny...I think he is depressed that Chris is not around and feel he needs some doggie Prozac...he lays around a lot more than usual and will only play for a minute before he collapses to floor with a big "SIGH" and he is not trying to sleep on my bed at night either, ever since Chris left Tebow has slept in the DIVA's room or he has stayed in his bed all night...literally unheard of when Chris is home. The kids also started getting their fair share of the illnesses floating around school and then they so kindly shared them with me and that has been a vicious, unending circle and just when I thought the circle had been broken who gets ill, THE DOG!!!! Add in there that I am also dealing with a house that is for sale that is not selling and that is adding even more stress to my life.

I know many single parents and I have always admired them and all that they do and wondered to myself "How do they get it all done?" especially one friend of mine who is a single parent of 3, works full time and volunteers for just about everything, has a side business and helps her mom with her business ventures, and now that I am getting a small taste of the single parent life I have decided that it is definately not for someone like me who was already stressed because once the stress gets to be too much I become apathetic. That in turn causes the dishes and unfolded laundry to pile up, the dog to start looking like an Ewok and smelling like a bag of Doritos (I swear, he gets a Eau de Dorito smell after he has gone 2wks w/o a bath) and the trash...well, I can't let the trash sit around because it will stink.

Will be happy when we are all together again and I have my dishwasher and dogwasher back!!