Translating a simple paragraph (Exercise 1-18)

[laepelba]

I have been working through a book of basic Spanish grammar exercises, in an attempt to fill in some of the "holes" in the learning that I've done so far. It has been (I believe) very fruitful so far.

One of the exercises in the section on "present tense verbs" asks me to translate a simple paragraph from English to Spanish. I did okay for the most part - only needed to look up a small handful of words, and the majority of the errors I made (according to their "answer" in the back of the book) were prepositions, etc.

I want to ask some questions, though. So I'm going to include here (1) the original English paragraph, (2) my original translation, and (3) the "corrected" translation. I will indicate my questions at the bottom of this post.

Original English paragraph	My first attempt at translation	The "corrected" translation
Every day I leave my house at seven. I drive my car to the office, and there I work hard. When I come home, I do the household chores. Thank heavens for electrical appliances! I convince my children and my husband to help, and we all share the work. My husband vacuums the floor. I put the clothes in the washing machine and later my daughter Mati dries them in the dryer and puts the clothes in the closets. I assign the household chores. Then I propose a plan for dinner. My son Rob comes into the kitchen and listens to my instructions. The microwave oven is Rob's favorite appliance and he prepares quick meals. After dinner, Rob and Mati load the dishwasher. Now I deserve a break, and I watch my favorite TV programs!	Todos los días, salgo la casa a las siete. Conduzco la coche a la oficina, y allí trabajo duro. Cuando vuelvo a casa, hago los quehaceres de la casa. ¡Gracias a Dios por los aparatos electrodomésticos! Convenzo a mis hijos y mi esposo a ayudarme, y todos compartimos el trabajo. Mi esposo pasa la aspiradora el suelo. Pongo la ropa en la lavadora y después mi hija Mati la seca en la secadora y la pone en los armarios. Asigno los quehaceres de la casa. Entonces, propongo un plan para cena. Mi himo Rob entra en la cocina y escucha mis instrucciones. El horno de microondoas es el aparato favorito de Rob y prepara comidas rápidas. Después de la cena, Rob y Mati cargan la lavavajillas. ¡Ahora, merezco un descanso, y miro mis programas favoritos en el televisor!	Todos los días, salgo (1) de casa a las siete. Conduzco (2) mi coche (3) hasta la oficina, y allí trabajo duro. Cuando vuelvo a casa, hago los quehaceres domésticos. ¡Gracias a dios por los aparatos electrodomésticos! Convenzo a mis hijos y mi esposo (4) a ayudarme, y todos compartimos el trabajo. Mi esposo pasa la aspiradora (5) el suelo. Pongo la ropa en la lavadora y (6) después mi hija Mati la seca en la secadora y (7) la pone la ropa en los armarios. Asigno los quehaceres domésticos. Entonces, propongo un plan para la cena. Mi hijo Rob (8) viene en la cocina y escucha mis instrucciones. El horno de microondas es el aparato (9) preferido de Rob y prepara comidas rápidas. Después de la cena, Rob y Mati (10) ponen los platos en la fregadora de platos. ¡Ahora, merezco un descanso, y (11) veo mis programas (12) favoritos en el televisor!

My questions are as follows:
(1) Does "salir" always have to be followed by "de" or "a" (leaving "from" or "to" somewhere)?
(2) In English I would say "my car", but I thought in Spanish that if it's obvious whose car I'd be driving, you use the definite article instead of the possessive. ??
(3) Hasta? Really?
(4) I'm not sure why they dropped this phrase. Is it okay to be there?
(5) Ditto question #4 - why did they not use "el suelo"? There are lots of things in a house that one can vacuum... Is it okay to be there?
(6) Luego o después ... does it matter which?
(7) "la pone en ..." or "pone la rope en..." Are they also the same? Does it matter?
(8) Someone once told me that you "entrar" a room, but they use "venir". Is there a difference?
(9) Favorito o preferido? The same in this context?
(10) I had to look up the word for dishwasher. The original English made it sound like "cargar" was an appropriate word. But their translation is quite different. Are both okay?
(11) Ver el televisor or mirar el televisor? Does it matter?
(12) Again, I'm not sure why they left out this entire phrase. Is what I wrote okay? Does it work?

Answers to these questions and all other thoughts/comments are most welcome!

As always, thank you immensely!!