Things not to do ...

... when you've been away for the weekend and have laundry, chores and errands to catch up on:

~ Blog surf. Spend too much time listening to Van Morrison.

~ Look around your living room and despair. When will you get a chance to paint it? (If you lived Life According to Jennifer, you should just dive in and do it this very minute.) Don't look at your bedroom, the kitchen, or the laundry room either. Redecorating projects haunt you from every corner, so do try to avoid them.

~ Weigh yourself.

~ Knit those socks for Atticus that you've been working on. Mistakes can happen when you're tired, you know.

~ Listen to "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" because, after all, you finally got it out of your head, and wasn't that a shame? Better start over.

~ Take the older kids to see the new Harry Potter movie (quick review coming soon) and let them eat so much popcorn and drink so much soda that one of them gets you up at 4 a.m. complaining of a stomachache.

~ Head out at 8 p.m. to do the errands that you should have done sooner, and take two children with you, and still expect it to be "a quick trip."

Things to do when you've been away for the weekend and have laundry, chores and errands to catch up on:

~ Laundry

~ Chores

~ Errands