After recently proclaiming that fall weather energizes me, today I was hit smack in the noggin with all that needs to be done around ye ol' homestead, both inside and out, before fall is plumb gone and Old Man Winter comes roaring onto the scene.
This has led to the disappearance of even a smidgeon of energy in my entire body and the appearance of something close to paralysis in the ability to do anything.
So what's the real problem here?
Seem to be in the summer, I'm perpetually trying to finish up chores I should have accomplished in spring.
Fall finds me scrambling to tie together a boatload of tasks I was sure I would get done in the summer.
Then winter . . .
Well, you see the pattern here.
Not intentionally meaning to sound ouchy and grouchy, just thinking out loud of changes I'd like to (need to) make because when I'm feeling that the hurrier I go, the behinder I get it doesn't leave much time for enjoying the here and now. (Wow, so insightful, Mama Pea, she says with eye roll.)
Well, there is no one who can make the changes but me. So I'm off to get ready for bed early, sit down with a glass of wine, paper and pencil and see if I can rearrange my less than satisfying modus operandi in order to regain some of that crisp, autumnal energy.
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31 comments:
Time and a to do list are similar in too much month at the end of the money. LOL. Pick your battles and good luck.
BTW .... 103 here today, supposed to be the end of our heat wave, here come the 90's.
Yep, life is triage! Argh!-"M"
Nothing like a good list - but ours is too long. Guess we should drink wine next time we make a to do list - it will probably be much shorter!!
You can do it Mama Pea. It's almost Fall the most glorious season of all!!
I've slowed down in the garden but instead of picking up extra time, I've started on the fall clean-up of the house and prepping to leave in 3 weeks. I will be SO GLAD when this year is over. I never want to leave home again.
A list is a great start. Not so sure about the wine-LOL! Though of course, enough of that and WHO CARES about the list--LOL!
Ah, dear Mama Pea - it's the old adage, the faster I go, the behinder I get. If you find a way to change your MO (and mine, by the way) please let me know. I've already started on my fall list because I completely gave up on my summer list.
I know how you feel. The thing about a to-do list is that there will always be something to add to it. I just try to do the things that are time sensitive first like seasonal outside stuff - even if I'd rather paint the walls now!
My theory is that it has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the fact that someone sped up the clocks. :)
I wish all it took was a peace of paper and a pen around here .I even bought a new white board,been sitting against the wall since I bought it(hint hint Dan),I should have bought the one with 3m stickers but recently had a accident with a favorite fake looking outdoor light post( part of my dining room decor (ou do pariue) so-I didn't say I spoke french.now where was I......
Wine. So THAT's what's messing up my lists. I DIDN'T take into account a glass of wine whilst making my to do lists!!!
Hope you get it all in order. But if you don't, we'll still be here to make fun of you about it :)
Keep us updated on your progress :)
Gosh, MP, I am having that same paralysis. We are looking for a new location to live and recently found a house we think would work. However, I have so much to do at my current place (painting and cleaning to mention just two) that I don't know how we could possibly move .... including all the stuff we would have to go through and keep, sell, give away, or chuck. I am overcome!!! Paralyzed for sure. So, I have decided to try to take one day at a time and do something(s) constructive each day and try not to worry about the rest. Still, at 2:00 AM it is hard not to have a rotating list going through my mind. (And wow, you used the words "modus operandi" in a sentence. I've never had the opportunity to do that! Well, until just now. Thanks!)
Tombstone Livestock - If you're looking forward to and think temperatures in the 90s signify the end of your heat wave, methinks your widdle bwain cells have been cooked! ;o}
"M" - Ha! That's one way to look at it!
2 Tramps - That's just it . . . making the lists of things to do doesn't seem to be cutting it for me. I've given it a good try now for umpteen years and the light is slowly dawning that no matter how hard I work, I'll never get it done. So I need to change the way I'm looking, acting and reacting to it all. (This may hurt my brain before I'm done rearranging my thought process!)
Sparkless - Fall IS the most glorious season of all. And dadgummit, I'm gonna ENJOY it this year!
Sue - I didn't explain myself very well. The paper and pencil are for NOT making lists for once but to learn (hopefully by setting down thoughts and feelings in black and white) how to come to a new way of operating . . . withOUT guilt. It's that damn work ethic I've had drummed into me that hasn't in the past allowed me to do things REGULARLY (each day) that bring me joy and feed my soul. (My, my, aren't I getting carried away!)
Susan - Well, I think that's what you HAVE to do . . . give up on your summer list and dive into fall. I'm not that smart and keep pushing myself to try to catch up which leaves me ALWAYS behind and trying to catch up. I think I'm to the point where I really have to change my personal expectations of myself and take time to smell the roses; i.e., sit in the recliner and knit!
Jen - BUT, m'dear, you are in an unusual situation (just having bought your own home and property for the first time in . . . how long?) and it's understandable why you want to do everything at once!
Lisa - I completely agree with your theory which is all the more reason for not thinking we can get so much of the must/should/haveta do things done!! But we just can't look at that as a reality as long as we think WE CAN DO IT ALL!
judy - You do get off on the most interesting tangents, Girl!
Carolyn Renee - You don't know how much I rely on you to make fun of me. I was brought up to be VERY serious, guilt-ridden and thinking I needed to work harder to make everything all right. (Wanna take up a collection to send me to therapy?) That's my big hump to get over. Stop making the lists with only work, work, work on them and let myself spend some time on things that feed my soul. (There's that phrase again. I obviously have a hungry soul.)
Stephanie - You'll be able to hear the very loud crash every time I fall off the wagon!
Karen L. - You, too, are in an unusual situation that shouldn't last for ever. (Or at least forever as my inability to change myself seems to be doing.) No matter how you look at it, moving is a BIG undertaking. Heck, it's right up there near the top of the stress scale.
Modus operandi? Ha, my high school Latin finally pays off! No, we could either take Latin or German and being of sound German heritage I opted for that. Two years of it and believe it or not, 50 years later and I can still read a little bit of it. Much more interesting than Latin!
I will be very curious to see how you solve this problem since I know you have been having it for a while now. And if you do find a solution be sure to let us know since somehow I have lost quite a few weeks somewhere this year too.
I feel like this sometimes myself!
Ya' mean we can't do it all?! Seriously, it's so interesting to not only read your post, but also your reader's comments on this issue and it sounds like all us females struggle with the very same issue here. Kinda' makes me feel better... to know others suffer like me too. Oh dear, that didn't sound very nice, did it?!
Jane - Well, I do sincerely think it's all in the mind and how I act or react in each situation. I can stress myself out completely and be unhappy by all the should/must dos. Although list making keeps me organized and gives me a (false?) sense of control and need to go a step further than that and let myself relax more and take the time to do some of the stuff than energizes me (things I've labeled "selfish" but really aren't) so I can feel more contentment about the "work" (which I truly do love) I have to do each day. The list will never end (unless we move to that condo which ain't gonna happen) so I simply have to rearrange my head to handle it all in a different/better way. Easy, right?
The Weekend Homesteader - I know I'm not alone in this dilemma. I just want to learn how to handle it better for my own personal well-being. Let's work on it together?
Lisa - Haha! You know the old saying, "Misery loves company!" ;o} No, I'm not miserable. Just finding myself in a spot where I'm T-I-R-E-D of working on my list all day and never reaching the end of it. Obviously (well, duh!), I'm doing something wrong and making a change (or changes) is something I'm very desirous of doing.
I still haven't done last winter's chores LOL!
Erin - Don't give up . . . you're gonna get another chance at winter and winter's chores comin' up soon!
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