The 'Honey-Do' List

Why does it always seem that in the Spring, when we look back at all those things we did over the Winter, it appears that we just loafed around and did nothing but hibernate? Yet, while living day-to-day during these months, I can’t seem to find any free time to even stare endlessly at the television or watch snow fall.

Maybe this Winter we’ve been busier than ever, but I really doubt it. This past weekend as an example, we worked tirelessly at the revolving list of projects around the house (hung shelves, pictures, sent birthday invitations, cleaned the playroom, did laundry), while also shuttling the kids to dance class and birthday parties.

I proclaimed Sunday my official ‘pajama’ day where, even though I took a shower (I have to… everyday… it’s just a personal thing), I wore pajamas all day in an attempt to remind myself that I need to relax more. Yet, this didn’t deter me from project execution and working a twelve hour shift on the home front.

This, in the Pike household, is the time of year where we focus on getting things done on the inside of the house that we wouldn’t normally have the time for during the “outdoor tempting” months. Although I hate this time as I view the inside of the house as more of my wife’s domain of control than mine, we do seem to make things look a little nicer and improve the things that we see on a daily basis.

For instance, this past weekend we’ve embarked on a rather massive endeavor of replacing the furniture in our bedroom with something that matches and fits our current needs. The set that we’ve built over the past seven years that now resides in our bedroom is a mish-mash of non-matching items: a tv and stand from pre-Jenny-n-Jay-days, a queen size bed that was a housewarming gift from my father, a dresser that was taken from my parents house when they migrated North, and two night side stands that were my older step-brothers from the 80’s and are specked with hundreds of ‘bb’ gun holes from some non-parental-approved indoor target practice.

It is past time to put some thought and effort into this long neglected room, that much is for sure. My wife has even gotten me to begrudgingly agree to a repaint of our room as well as the playroom, and, if she keeps pushing me, maybe the living room and dining room as well. I’m not sure why she is so admit about this change of wall coloring since my personal tastes seem to never wander farther than flat-white wall paint. Oh well, she seems to think this is a needed change, and, as I’m sure I’ll like it in the end, I’ll only complain about it and the work required for it for the next 10 months.

It sometimes feels like I am more of an interior decorator’s assistant who also doubles as a furniture mover than an active design participant in my own home. The change is good, but in my mind, if I had my way, all items would be static to match the picture I have in my mind of the pristine home we walked into the first day. My grasp of the visual reality of an aging and well used home is greatly tarnished by my blindness of the facts and and I am overpowered by this imaginative picture.

And so I wander listlessly through these modifications with half-hearted conviction and an almost perceptible disdain towards the situational protagonist: the wife.

Although appreciative and even jealous of the wonderfully simple and elegant enhancements that our surrounding neighbors have, I seem remiss towards the efforts required toward similar updates in our home. Yes, I do love and wish I could do those things, yet when it comes time to do it I seem to want a self-image of the couch dwelling husband enjoying extended and well-deserved relaxation time in front of the central entertainment device that corrupts the wifely desired productivity: the television.

I whine with attitude’s ten times worse than our children’s after long days of school, activities, sugar buzzes, and sleep deprivation. I drag nails worthy of Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Edward Scissorhands in the classic cult-drama from our youths.

Can I stop this inevitable change? Should I?

jp