Ian used to call me Sheldon, as in Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

In order to keep up with the housework and household management, I followed a routine through a website.  And it worked pretty well for me for years and years.  To the point I’d get antsy if it wasn’t followed.  Heck, I got antsy if he mopped the house from the back door to the front door.  That wasn’t the right way!!  It’s front to back!!

And Ian teased me about my ‘Sheldon-ness’ all the time.

But since he died, the old routine I just can’t do. It got me through his illness and the first couple of months of autopilot, but no further.

Some of the long standing practices have stuck, like doing a weekly budget and menu plan. Money is now tighter, and I have to watch it carefully, and these two practices help with that.

But the housework side of things… nope.  The routine is gone, and although the mess and dirt honestly drives me nuts, it’s not enough to get me off my butt regularly and actually do something about it.  It was easier in the early days when friends dropped by with limited notice – I’d need to do a spruce up.  Particularly since one friend actually verbalised his expectation that the floor be clean.

But their jobs change, the kid’s activity lists grow, they move, DIY tasks around their home need doing, their lives happen, so the visits drop off.

And so the housework drops off.  

I’ve tried a few times, but I just can’t get back into the old routine.   I think partially I just haven’t cared enough to be consistent and/or disciplined about it; partially because I didn’t want to be living here  (I wanted to move since before I even met Ian, and we had plans, but lately I’ve come to accept I’ll be here for a while longer). 

But mostly because that’s part of my before, a part that we shared good humour about.  

However since I’ve accepted that I’m staying put for a while, I need to do something before the place goes to rack and ruin.

A few weeks ago I came across a different routine to try.  And this last week I’ve started to use it.  Haphazardly, but I’m working on it.  I’m hoping that the simple fact it’s not what I used before will allow me to actually get a new routine embedded.  

Because I know, before or after, I’m better with routine.