I haven't been very patient, I'm afraid.

We have agreed that the vacuuming, which I cannot do all by myself, should be done every Saturday. That was yesterday, and hubby spent a good chunk of the day napping on the couch. In his way of thinking, 11:30 PM still qualifies as "Saturday," so what's the problem? I, on the other hand, want to see it done ASAP because I don't like looking at dirty carpets. I'm for doing it first thing. Get it out of the way and spend the rest of the day stress-free, with the job behind you. Organization expert Sandra Felton calls this "goal-orientation" versus "task-orientation." I have a goal in mind, specifically a clean carpet, and I want it met. My husband is only thinking of the task, and the only reason to do it is to scratch it off the list.

I yelled at him. Bad form on me.

But I stopped. When it turned out that the beater brush needed cleaning immediately, we both sat down side by side and did it. The spirit of cooperation did a lot to diffuse hostilities. We finished both that and the laundry, which is also scheduled for Saturday. Here's hoping next week goes a little more smoothly.

We cannot at this time afford to hire help. But one idea we have come up with is to get a manual carpet sweeper that I can manage to use in the meantime, so that by the time Saturday comes around, the carpet won't be SO dirty it's going to drive me nuts. This one only costs about thirty bucks, and it's high-end.