The Importance of a Routine

My lightbulb is clicking to the "ON" position.  I am finally understanding the importance of having a routine.  I have sorely neglected my Daily To-Dos (and weekly and monthly...).  In fact, I have been only doing the bare minimum for the last month or more.  I cannot explain why I have let this happen when I was doing such a good job previously.  Maybe the novelty of "getting organized" wore off.

At any rate, here I am, stuck on bedrest.  Here's the backstory:

After school on Wednesday, I came home and started spreading some mulch in my front flower beds.  I stopped after about thirty minutes because the wind was blowing so badly that I couldn't keep my weed control tarp under control.  So, I came inside and took a shower.  My parents invited Frank and I over for supper and as I was sitting down in the chair...SNAP!  My back, for lack of a better word, snapped.  I had pretty intense pain for about thirty seconds and then it was just some dull, constant pressure in my lower back.  I ate supper and for a couple of hours, I was able to do normal things.  But, over time the pain kept getting worse.  I spent all day Thursday in the bed or in the recliner.  My back hurt whether I was sitting, reclining, or lying flat.  No anti-inflammatory medication helped.  Ben-Gay didn't help.  Heating pads and ice packs didn't help.  Nothing helped.  It hurt when I moved and it hurt when I was still.

So, this morning I wake up and can hardly move.  I knew that I had to go see the doctor.  I was diagnosed with a herniated disc.  My provider told me that it would take a week for my back to feel better and that in the meantime, I should be on bedrest.  I thought to myself, "A WEEK?!?  I can't spend a week on bedrest!  I have too much to do!"  I had already missed class today and now I have to call in sick to work all weekend?  Ugh.

So, what does this have to do with routine?  Well, I will tell ya.  I would be embarrassed if anyone saw the condition my house is in right now.  It is a wreck.  The dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes.  The laundry situation is getting perilous.  The litterbox is full.  I don't know when I last swept.  Or mopped.  Or vacuumed.  And I still haven't balanced the checkbook!  If I had been keeping up with my routines, my home wouldn't look quite so disasterous right now.  Sure, it might be a little messy, but nothing near the nuclear mess it is right now.

I have pledged myself this:  "I WILL get this house in order.  I WILL catch up everything that I am running behind on.  I WILL forgive myself for letting it get this out of hand.  And I WILL complete this by May 1."

Since I am on bedrest with nothing else better to do, I guess now is as good as a time as any to make a list of all the things that need to be done around this house.  I will keep you posted on how this goes.