Done for the Week: Yanking My Own Chain

The hectic pace of recent political action in Wisconsin slowed for me this past week.

Unfortunately, all the other life stuff I have been neglecting came burbling forth.  The list of broken things in our house grows daily, and my abortive efforts to orchestrate their repair have not kept pace.  Ditto with ongoing work responsibilities, financial affairs, extended family relationships, household upkeep, nutrition, personal maintenance, etc.

The trick, I believe, is to manage my perception of the situation so that the expanded time available to begin to deal with the backlog doesn't lead to feeling like I've been flattened by an avalanche.

Here's the list of what I got done last week--a lot less rallies, a few more chores.

Done for the Week:  Mar. 14-Mar.20

1. Continued off-season race training, learning to live with state of political chaos in Wisconsin; biked once, ran twice
2. Finished Rewrites:  A Memoir, by Neil Simon
3. Gave significant volunteer support to transitioning nonprofit; major I.T. contribution 
4. Continued to work on facilitating interviews for organizer position
5. Worked my two part-time jobs
6. Published 5 blog posts
7. Meditated 7 times!  (the "carrots" worked!)
8. Got my husband to the gym with me once; my son once
9. Attended transitional jobs collaborative meeting
10. Watched Treme episode with my husband
11. Watched our 2 teams play 3 basketball games, with my son and my husband
12. Began working on recall petitions
13. Played a few games of chess with my son--lost all
14. Attended 2 yoga classes
15. Met with website client
16. Celebrated St. Patrick's Day, one day late and two days late
17. Took one daytime nap, and got to bed "early" twice 
18. Helped my son get his car battery replaced
19. Got bad news about new plumbing problem, post-battery-replacement electrical problem with son's car
20. Cleaned, straightened and rearranged living room
21. Took my blood pressure three times, after phobic avoidance since last summer
22. Saw my doctor 
23. Took Sunday off; made waffles for family, meditated, ran, watched The Odd Couple with one son, and read
24. Paid the bills
25. Caught up on some of the mountain of laundry in my basement

Last week's focus goal, for the third week running, was "to meditate daily, no matter what."  And the week's most important accomplishment, in red, is finally focusing on my focus goal--thus, the Christmas-y look of item #7 above.  Apparently, I can be made to comply with my own directives--for a price.  My doctor seems to have understood this about me, since she got me in for the dreaded blood pressure recheck by withholding my refill scrip.

So how should I use this power over myself to best advantage?  What new manipulation can I come up with?  

For this week, I am going to focus on making sure that I complete the required three training sessions for Week 5 of the Couch Potato to 5K program that I am following, once again.  I have a "race" scheduled for May 1, which will give me a week pre-race to "taper."  I will reward myself with a Mexican Spice latte from my local coffee shop for each training session, and will allow no additional fancy tea or coffee drinks to touch my lips.  

My new sign:  "Will Run for Lattes"