Maggie Pill Mysteries

I can predict the future--but only when it involves my husband. Example #1: He asks, "Do you think we should buy a camper?" "No," I reply. "We've done that several times, and we always end up not using it much. It's so easy to drive anywhere we want to in a car and stay in a motel." At the same time, I begin watching second-hand stores for decent pots and such, because I know there will soon be a camper in my yard. The request for my opinion was academic; he'd already decided it was time to try the camping life again. To be honest, it doesn't make much difference to me, since he's willing to do all the work of setting up and taking down, but I knew from that initial question what my future held. Example #2: We're leaving on a camping trip. He says we should take off about noon, because most campgrounds have mid-afternoon check-in times. What I say out loud is "Okay," but what my spousal clairvoyance whispers is ...

For me, Monday is Chore Day. I have a list of things I do: laundry, cleaning, watering plants, etc.  My husband tends to do his chores as he notices them, and he's pretty good about noticing. I stick with Mondays because then I know things got done at least once a week. Otherwise, I'd just write books and forget housework. What I've noticed is that our chores have shifted in retirement. In years past, he did "outside stuff" and I did "inside stuff". Now vacuuming hurts my back, so he does that. We admitted to ourselves that he's the better cook (and the one who cares if we eat regularly), so he does that, too. Gradually he took over things like taking out the trash, shopping for groceries, and returning bottles for refund. If it sounds like I've become a slacker, that might be true. Still, I take responsibility for the house being clean and the bills being paid. I maintain our flowerbeds, though he's pretty much taken over the vegetable...