Chore Day

Friday is chore day around our RV. It took a long time to get some of our friends to understand that we have chores. Many thought we were just on vacation and, therefore, didn’t have dirty clothes and an empty pantry.

Anyway, Friday is chore day. There are two main things which must be done—grocery shopping and laundry. I also put ironing on the list, but somehow it never seems to get done on Friday. Generally, I try to avoid ironing, but inevitably a couple things sneak in. Some chores are only done once a month and I usually put them off until the last Friday. That was the case today.

I actually thought this day would be kind of easy. I guess I was dreaming. The biggest, baddest chore of all is defrosting the freezer. There are very few things I miss living the RV lifestyle. A frost-free freezer is on top of the list. I remember helping defrost the freezer when I was a child, but I don’t ever remember having to defrost thousands of metal slats on the inside of the refrigerator. Are those things only in RV refrigerators? And they are razor sharp. I can’t do this chore without cutting myself. Freezer defrosting has been a discussion on RV discussion boards and I read one time about how defrosting is easy. Just turn the refrigerator off and go to bed. The next morning you’re good to go. There is no way I could go to sleep knowing water was dripping in the refrigerator. Just think of all the disasters that could happen! So every minute I am there with a cloth to wipe up every drip.

Grocery shopping is always an adventure and takes up a good chunk of the day. I hardly ever shop in the same store more than a few times. Even if we are camped at the same place for an extended period of time, I like to try out the different grocers in town. I can easily walk a couple miles around in a circle trying to gather up the things I need.

One Friday as I was putting away the grub I had purchased, I took a few cokes out of the carton and placed them on the counter to go in the refrigerator. I got distracted with something else and in a couple minutes I heard a loud thump immediately followed by a spraying sound. As I turned around, I saw Peanut standing proudly on the counter admiring his work. For some reason this cat likes to help me keep the counter and tabletops free of clutter. The warm coke he had pushed off the counter had exploded like a grenade. Coke was everywhere and on everything as far away as the front door. The only thing that had saved most of the carpet was the numerous plastic groceries bags that I had not yet picked up.

Life is an adventure even if you don’t go out of the house.