Morning pages
It's hard to find time to blog when I'm so behind on all things everywhere. I feel like I careen from one "to do list" item to the next without every actually achieving anything, it just piles on. I got the back steps painted, now the front steps (which are much bigger) need painting, too. And the railing needs painting. And the hedges need trimming. And the pickup truck we use to get the hedge trimmings to the dump needs to be inspected. And it needs new bumpers to pass inspection and I don't have a mechanic so I need to find a mechanic. And so on.
I haven't had breakfast yet and I can only sit and write this because it rained last night and that relieved me of half an hour of walking around my yard watering everything.
The party is coming up on Sunday and that's been a focus of a lot of my efforts. Getting things set right that I want set right anyway, but now with a deadline. Mulch the trees. Plant the flowers. Clean the porch. Nothing I'm doing is purely for the party, but the party gives me impetus to apply myself, a focus for my labor.
I have a bunch of irons at the fire at work and there's no focus there, which irks me. A client from hell that needs days of work and I can't schedule him. A hundred and thirty clients on extension, which is fine and not a problem to do over five months, but thirty of them want their returns right now and another thirty want them by June 15th. I careen from "high priorty" to "emergency priority" and never leave the office before 6 pm, and rarely before 7 pm, but at least I don't have to eat dinner there anymore. And some of the projects, like the website repair and some continuing ed, I can do outside the office.
Apparently I need to read "Marley and Me", a book about a bad dog. People tell me that River reminds them of Marley. Uggh. I'm back to doing those two mile walks every morning and River and I are trying to come to terms with each other. I may need to count some blessings with her, too. In another post.
Okay, here's an exercise: what *have* I done? What's off my "to do" list? Because right now I'm so focused on what IS left to do. Can I see anything to pat myself on the back over?
1.) I painted the back porch steps, and B. painted the railing.
2.) I bought paint for the back door and B. painted the back door and replaced the door handle that needed replacing. I know it sounds like he did some of these things, but I was the planner/supervisor/cajoler and it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done that.
3.) I put in all of the west gardens except for the one that will be bean poles. (I need two more tomatoes, and there's room to plant a late planting of peas still.)
4.) I put in all of the sheltered garden except for what will be lettuce seed (it's ready to put in now.)
5.) I weeded out the perennial cutting garden, which appears to be entirely goldenrod, but whatever.
6.) Small Boy and I weeded out all the maple saplings that appear everywhere, and I probably did enough with the raspberry patch to call it done.
7.) B. got the priority parts of the hedges trimmed.
8.) I got a propane tank filled for the party. Because I know that having a pile of empty propane tanks during a cookout ends badly. I meant to fill all of them but only succeeded in getting one filled for stupid reasons, but one is enough at the moment.
9.) B. and Small Boy got the porch cleaned off when I was at work on Saturday.
10.) I got the planters on the deck - and nearly everywhere else - planted. I just have one left that will have scarlet runner beans. But eight planters are filled and placed, some with flowers, some with herbs, some with veggies on the deck.
11.) I got all the houseplants repotted. I also got everything watered with fertilizer, which I don't do very often but this counts as one.
12.) I took the dog to the vet.
13.) I got my colonoscopy scheduled and soon it will be over with. I hate this idea deeply, but I'm making myself do it and I need props for that.
Still on my "to do" list, that may or may not need to be priority:
1.) Linseed oil on the wood play structure, wooden porch rocker and hot tub
2.) Clearing out the honeysuckle in the west garden and planting the paste tomatoes
3.) Putting away books
4.) Cleaning and oiling counters
5.) Invitations! My email refuses to let me send out a mass email for some reason, so I've not been able to send out my invitations! (I put it on Facebook, and both Small Boy, Eldest Daughter and B. have sent out invitations, just I haven't.)
6.) Catching up on accounting for both me and my business
7.) Doing our tax returns. We have some major tax credits this year and I think we're in line for a big refund, I just need to finish it.
8.) Deep cleaning projects: The deck. The upstairs bathroom. The downstairs refrigerator.
9.) Cleaning and refilling the hot tub.
10.) Putting away the clutter that lives on the sideboard in the diningroom. That has no place to put it. That defies me like honeysuckle in the garden.
I throw up my hands and walk away, abandinging my half-done to do list. I see some priorities in there. I have to stop blogging now and maybe eat my breakfast first. I have to be at work in a little over an hour.
I haven't had breakfast yet and I can only sit and write this because it rained last night and that relieved me of half an hour of walking around my yard watering everything.
The party is coming up on Sunday and that's been a focus of a lot of my efforts. Getting things set right that I want set right anyway, but now with a deadline. Mulch the trees. Plant the flowers. Clean the porch. Nothing I'm doing is purely for the party, but the party gives me impetus to apply myself, a focus for my labor.
I have a bunch of irons at the fire at work and there's no focus there, which irks me. A client from hell that needs days of work and I can't schedule him. A hundred and thirty clients on extension, which is fine and not a problem to do over five months, but thirty of them want their returns right now and another thirty want them by June 15th. I careen from "high priorty" to "emergency priority" and never leave the office before 6 pm, and rarely before 7 pm, but at least I don't have to eat dinner there anymore. And some of the projects, like the website repair and some continuing ed, I can do outside the office.
Apparently I need to read "Marley and Me", a book about a bad dog. People tell me that River reminds them of Marley. Uggh. I'm back to doing those two mile walks every morning and River and I are trying to come to terms with each other. I may need to count some blessings with her, too. In another post.
Okay, here's an exercise: what *have* I done? What's off my "to do" list? Because right now I'm so focused on what IS left to do. Can I see anything to pat myself on the back over?
1.) I painted the back porch steps, and B. painted the railing.
2.) I bought paint for the back door and B. painted the back door and replaced the door handle that needed replacing. I know it sounds like he did some of these things, but I was the planner/supervisor/cajoler and it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done that.
3.) I put in all of the west gardens except for the one that will be bean poles. (I need two more tomatoes, and there's room to plant a late planting of peas still.)
4.) I put in all of the sheltered garden except for what will be lettuce seed (it's ready to put in now.)
5.) I weeded out the perennial cutting garden, which appears to be entirely goldenrod, but whatever.
6.) Small Boy and I weeded out all the maple saplings that appear everywhere, and I probably did enough with the raspberry patch to call it done.
7.) B. got the priority parts of the hedges trimmed.
8.) I got a propane tank filled for the party. Because I know that having a pile of empty propane tanks during a cookout ends badly. I meant to fill all of them but only succeeded in getting one filled for stupid reasons, but one is enough at the moment.
9.) B. and Small Boy got the porch cleaned off when I was at work on Saturday.
10.) I got the planters on the deck - and nearly everywhere else - planted. I just have one left that will have scarlet runner beans. But eight planters are filled and placed, some with flowers, some with herbs, some with veggies on the deck.
11.) I got all the houseplants repotted. I also got everything watered with fertilizer, which I don't do very often but this counts as one.
12.) I took the dog to the vet.
13.) I got my colonoscopy scheduled and soon it will be over with. I hate this idea deeply, but I'm making myself do it and I need props for that.
Still on my "to do" list, that may or may not need to be priority:
1.) Linseed oil on the wood play structure, wooden porch rocker and hot tub
2.) Clearing out the honeysuckle in the west garden and planting the paste tomatoes
3.) Putting away books
4.) Cleaning and oiling counters
5.) Invitations! My email refuses to let me send out a mass email for some reason, so I've not been able to send out my invitations! (I put it on Facebook, and both Small Boy, Eldest Daughter and B. have sent out invitations, just I haven't.)
6.) Catching up on accounting for both me and my business
7.) Doing our tax returns. We have some major tax credits this year and I think we're in line for a big refund, I just need to finish it.
8.) Deep cleaning projects: The deck. The upstairs bathroom. The downstairs refrigerator.
9.) Cleaning and refilling the hot tub.
10.) Putting away the clutter that lives on the sideboard in the diningroom. That has no place to put it. That defies me like honeysuckle in the garden.
I throw up my hands and walk away, abandinging my half-done to do list. I see some priorities in there. I have to stop blogging now and maybe eat my breakfast first. I have to be at work in a little over an hour.