There is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand doing. It’s nothing big, in fact, I don’t even know why I hate doing it so much. This horror that I speak of is Taking Out The Trash! I have taken out the trash once a week for the last decade or more of my life. Every week it’s the same old routine. I am sitting comfortably in my house, warm and cozy, then all of a sudden someone comes barging into the room asking if I was going to take the trash out. Of course, I always yell back. It’s not like anyone else will got off their lazy butts and do it.

Anyway, this particular job is very unpleasant. I mean, I have to roll these large cans all the way to the top of my driveway, which is more than 2 whole car lengths! I even had to do it in the snow! Sometimes, especially in the Spring, the yard waste can is extremely heavy. I’m talking like 25lbs here! Or after Christmas, the cans are weighted down with all that outrageously heavy wrapping paper!

There aren’t too many things that you can do to help with this job. What can you do to make the worst 3 minutes of your life slightly more enjoyable? Here are some things that I have done, and all seem to help:

* Create a Hopscotch course on your driveway. This helps turn your task into more of a game, and best of all, it’s fun!
* Time yourself. Keep track of your times and see if you can beat last week’s time!
* Listen to music. I often listen to my Ipod while doing this chore.
* Practice your dancing lessons. That’s right, you can use the cans as your partner, to help insure that you still got the moves! This one is best to do after dark, to keep nosy neighbors from stealing your moves.

Some steps that you can take to help you with this task, besides the ideas that I listed above, are:

1. Use a brightly colored pen to mark on your calendar which days you need to take the garbage cans out. This way, you’ll be attracted to the bright colors and won’t forget. The bright colors will make the task seem slightly more fun!
2. Remember to dump all the garbage cans inside your house before you take the cans out, thus eliminating those annoying second trips outside.
3. Create a spinner to see which can you get the extreme pleasure of taking out first. Sometimes it can be a hard decision, between the heavy weight of some cans, and the enjoyable color of another.
4. Wear a jacket or coat, as often times it will be cold.
5. Take only one can at a time. It may take longer, but if you take multiple cans, the chance of one tipping over greatly increases. Its no fun cleaning up garbage on the ground, especially outside in the cold.
6. If you see a neighbor outside, never, under any circumstance should you make conversation with them. Chances are they are doing the same task you are. Remember, your goal is to go back into your house as soon as possible.
7. After you have accomplished your mission, close your garage door if you keep your cans inside the garage. I like to keep juice boxes next to the cans, so I can reward myself after taking them out.