Housework is so boring. I want a clean house, of course, I just don’t want to be the one to clean it. As I haven’t been able to get the dogs to sweep or vacuum, it’s still up to me, so I look for ways to lessen the drudgery — like the TV.

My cleaning time tends to be early morning on the weekends. And by early morning, I mean around 6:00 a.m. It’s normal for me to be up and about at that hour, but that early on the weekends I’m not inclined to do anything that needs real attention, like cutting fabric or painting a watercolor. I figure I can clean a little bit and have the rest of the day to take care of other things.

The TV shows that are on at 6:00 a.m. are not necessarily the heavy-hitters, audience-wise. Even some of the movie channels have shows that seem to be just filling a time slot until more people wake up. One of the gems I discovered is The Tim McCarver Show. It’s on Sunday mornings at 6:30 a.m. I like professional sports, so that show is a keeper; I’m always sorry whenever I miss it.

(It’s rumored that Tim and I are related. My great-aunt told me that my great-great-grandmother and Tim’s great-grandfather were siblings. I’m sure he’d be thrilled to find that out.)

After Tim’s show, I discovered a slew of TV exercise shows, the paid-for 30-minute advertisements. Those are fun to have on in the background while I’m sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, doing laundry, going through the junk mail from the week and picking up the dog toys.

I’ve learned all about Insanity training, Brazilian Butt Lift Workout (and you don’t even need to leave your living room), KettleWorx, and Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. These are just some of the shows I’ve seen lately.

Those people really work hard! They sweat all over themselves and the floor. They lose weight and inches in no time at all (varying from the first week to 30, 60 or 90 days). It’s all I can do to keep that broom in my hand to prevent me from calling in and ordering each and every one of these programs. Some days I can hardly get any cleaning done because I am so mesmerized that I sit down to watch.

Oh, the irony of it all.