Yeah, I do need a maid, but they would run screaming form this mess! So, I am de-cluttering a little bit at at time, hoping to get to a point where maybe I CAN bring in some help! I try to be proud of myself if I get a few books put up or 1 load of laundry done.

I'm pleased as punch to be able to put on my clothes, never mind wash them. It can wait. Life is short. Sleep. lol. If I had the money, I'd have a maid. Good for you that you can work. Don't cram to much into one day, you'll collapse! Eat chocolate, it soothes the soul, and I hear it chases away chores!

I wish I could hire a maid, a cook, a masseuse (spelling), an assistant, etc. I need it all. A maid is only one thing!! I need to hire a brain too!!

wow, that would be nice, yes a maid lol! no harm in dreaming!!

Oh yeah, I need a maid!!
And when I have the energy darn if I want to spend my time cleaning!! I am searching for one now as a matter of fact! Wasn't ever one much for cinderella chores even before CFS

LOL! What everybody else said...

Yes a maid would be nice!

Oh, yes, wouldn't that be wonderful if we could afford to hire a maid. We are ill, can't work at our previous higher paying job. I feel extremely lucky to have a husband who loves to cook and is willing to do the laundry, vacuum, and do the grocery shopping. I don't know how I would survice without him.

I am so glad i am not alone and i know what you mean by the getting a little energy and not wanting to waste it on cleaning. unfortanley, my family just aint up for cleaning everyday like they used to be. they are tierd of me being tierd and I am lucky to be even back to work after a 6 month bed fast. Just dont have it in me to do anything NOTHING else before or after. My leggs and feet are killing me. I work as a cahier no breaks allowed. Osha even agrees that we dont get breaks cause we are convience so 8 straight hours of non stop standing on concrete!!! We eat as we go. I love my job I hate my feet.

HUH??? Clean house? I can keep it picked up but clean? NO way. If I could afford it I'd have a cleaning person come in every other week and do the floors. With hardwood floors and two animals it is, to say the least, pretty incredible. Tumbleweeds. Animal fur tumbleweeds.

I used to love to clean the house. Move the furniture away from the walls, dust and vacuum. I never liked using a mop on the kitchen floor, I preferred washing the floor by hand. You would NEVER know it now. I miss cleaning the house, but since HAVING energy is a sacred thing, when you have it you use it sparingly and priority wise, type of thing, so.....I try to be as neat as simply as I can (yeah right). I use paper plates, plastic utencils, and paper cups or drink stuff from the one serving bottles. When I work on floral designs I sit on my garden buggy or chair as often as I possibly can to conserve energy. I need a maid, yeah.

Good post. Hugs Ellen

Have you ever thought of checking with your friends. I was talking to a friend of mine about this same situation. She new someone who was desperate to make a little money. Her husband worked but if they paid all the bills quiet often there wasn't enough left for groceries. I talked to her and she came once a week, for 4 hours. She washed my floors, ran the vaccum, scrubbed my bathrooms and dusted my furniture. All for $20.00. It was money for milk, bread, and a little more. I told her about a single friend of mine and she picked up a couple additional hours a week. She was helped and so were we!!

I discovered during my last pregnancy (I was on bed rest due to placenta previa) that my husband could take our laundry to a laundry mat that offered bundle service was a life saver. They charge by the pound. If you factor in what you spend on water,elecricity, and detergent, the additional cost of having someone else for me was only $5-$10 a week. And we have lots of laundry. That's one drink at starbucks! For me it is worth it to me- such a load (no pun intended) off my shoulders. I also had a college student come once a week to help do some cleaning- while not quite as thorough a job as a professional it was MUCH cheaper. Just having someone come in a few hours a week that had energy made a huge difference. I wasn't looking for perfection just improvement. This cost me about $40-60 a week.
Over all it cost us about $300 a month to have our laundy and house taken care of by someone else. I know alot of us are on very tight budgets. For me it was definately worth giving up other things- like eating out, movies, I even took our cable down to the most basic package, I lay in bed clipping coupons, basically be as much of a cheap-skate as I can to make room in our budget. I don't miss the things either, I never had the energy to enjoy them anyways. Being in a (relatively)clean house takes so much stress away. You can alter this too- just have someone come during those periods when you absolutely can't keep up to keep things from piling up- or only have someone else do your laundry when you can't.
I get to feeling overwhelmed when it stacks up adding to my stress- making me more tired. Also you don't get that feeling of guilt you do when asking a loved one to help with the chores- when you pay someone you don't feel you owe anyone anything.
Hope this helps.

I know the feeling! Just pace yourself and do what you can hun. Break it down into little bits and then rest.

That makes me think of something my son once said. I used to tell him...come on over here and pick up your mess...the maid isn't coming today. Finally one day he asked me, "when is that maid coming anyway"?