Done for the Week: First Things Last?

I'm continuing to fight the good fight--with myself.  And I'm continuing to lose.  I just can't get it all done.  I can't even remember what it all is. 

Despite having read about a zillion books and articles on slowing down, and simplifying, and living at the speed of life, I find myself busier and busier.  New assignments creep in under the door while I'm not looking.  New wrinkles, in time, on my face, and in the form of complications present themselves at every turn.

Things continue to get done, somehow.  Not necessarily the most important things, but . . .


Done for the Week:  Mar. 19-24, 2012

1. Biked twice
2. Worked with physical therapist once to restore injured foot
3. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
4. Read A Mind to Murder, by P.D. James
5. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
7. Published 3 Put it to Bed blog posts
8. Attended an Altitude Design Summit web class
9. Continued work on current clients' projects
10. Contracted with new client
11. Prepared bid for prospective client
12. Attended one yoga class
13. Did laundry
14. Continued college conversations with youngest son
15. Meditated 2 times
16. Met with Communications Team co-chair
17. Co-chaired Communications Team meeting 
18. Spent hours mocking up potential newsletter
19. Helped take my baby granddaughter swimming for the first time
20. Had lunch date with my husband
21. Took my dog to the dog park
22. Spent time digging out the kitchen
23. Made arrangements to convert stock to IRA
24. Made changes to the nonprofit website I volunteer manage
25. Attended church service on e. e. cummings

The most important thing I did last week was. . .   Actually, I have no idea what the most important thing on this long and somewhat exhausting list was. 


Sometimes, I can answer this self-imposed question rather easily.  Something jumps out.  Today, I'm too tired to judge.  And to busy to take the time.  Not good signs.

Last week, I continued to try to focus on meditating and writing daily--or at least regularly.  

But, to my chagrin, "it's still not working."   I'm beginning to think I don't know much about focusing.  Maybe I'm missing the gene for this important human capability. 

If I'm honest, I have to admit that I never really give up trying to do all the other things on my literal and mental lists, so focus goals don't enjoy real primacy. 

For next week, I'm going to experiment with not setting a focus goal.  I wonder if it will make any difference to how I allot my time and energy, and to the results.

Done for the Week: Up the River

Another crazy busy week.  And the coming one promises to be worse.  Lots of stuff seems to be getting done; not much of it particularly well planned.  Planning takes a bit more time and energy than seems to be available to me just now.

At any rate, here's the list.


Done for the Week:  Mar. 12-18, 2012

1. Swam once with my workout partner; canoed once
2. Worked with physical therapist twice to restore injured foot
3. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
4. Read The Black Cat, by Martha Grimes; Rise and Shine, by Anna Quindlen
5. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
7. Published 4 Put it to Bed blog posts
8. Continued to participate more in the BlogHer community
9. Continued work on current clients' projects
10. Resumed work on previous client's large project
11. Attended two yoga classes
12. Did laundry
13. Continued college conversations with youngest son
14. Meditated 2 times
15. Straightened my work room
16. Attended Board meeting
17. Attended Issues Night meeting; joined new voter id task force
18. Traveled to Minneapolis with my husband and one son, to visit with my stepdaughter and her family
19. Met my newest step-grandson
20. Experienced a "wild ride" adventurous late evening canoe trip down the St. Croix River
21. Celebrated St. Patrick's Day Eve Happy Hour with my husband
22. Spent extra time babysitting my sick grandson
23. Took my dog to the dog park

The most important thing I did last week was traveling with my husband and son to visit my stepdaughter and her family, including their new baby.  

I have often commented that my "blended" family is more like something out of a Cuisinart gone wrong.  At this late date in my second--and last--marriage, I wish to provide all of us with as many pleasant experiences as possible.  And although this one required sitting in a car for more than 16 hours, among other inconveniences, it was completely worth it.  Wedging a seven-mile canoe trip, between river banks dotted with snow, against the wind and the dwindling light, sandwiched into a 2-1/2 hours round trip by car from their house, was totally over the top--and again, well worth it.  A high point was rowing past an island whose trees were filled with blue heron nests, and watching the beautiful awkward birds take flight.

We also took the scenic route home from Minneapolis, driving along the banks of the Mississippi.  The riverfront vistas of  bluffs and locks and aspen filled our eyes and souls with unaccustomed wonder.

Back in the everyday world, last week's focus goal was "to continue the effort to meditate regularly and to write every day for the remainder of March."

As in previous weeks, I continue to have difficulty pulling this one off.  According to all the magazine articles I peruse while on a stationary bike or at my physical therapist's office, all the books I'm slogging through, and all the blogs I consult, it should be a simple matter to effect these habit changes.  All I have to do is implement the programs dictated by the "new science of the brain," and voila!  I should be meditating and writing up a storm, as desired.

But as with my governor's job creation approach, "it's not working."   However, I'm not being recalled--at least not yet--and so I have some time to get it right. 

Next week:  same focus goal, same resolve in the face of anticipated same uncooperative circumstances.  I plan to tweak, and tweak some more.

Done for the Week: Focus Pocus

If Samson's voluminous hair was the source of his fabled strength, my formerly reliable left foot may have been mine.  

 

It has been months now that I've been struggling with pain and diminished mobility at the aggravated site of a five-year-old injury.  For much of that time, I have been ordered by various health care professionals to "rest" the offending appendage.  While I can bike and swim, and most recently use the elliptical trainer, I am still enjoined from running.  Which makes this newbie triathlete more of a bi-and-a-half-lete.  And not a very happy one.

 

The enforced suspension has kind of muted my overall motivation to train, and dented the athletic identity that kept me moving.  I am getting lazier and lazier about working out.  And that laziness threatens to expand into a general miasma.

 

I did get some things done last week, but I had to lash myself from time to time to do so.

Done for the Week:  Mar. 5-11, 2012

1. Biked once; swam once with my workout partner
   
2. Worked with physical therapist twice to restore injured foot
3. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
4. Read Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult
5. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
7. Published 5 Put it to Bed blog posts
8. Continued to participate more in the BlogHer community
9. Continued work on current clients' projects
10. Resumed work on previous client's large project
11. Attended two yoga classes
12. Went out to dinner with my two sons
13. Did laundry 
14. Continued college conversations with youngest son
15. Signed youngest son up for ACT testing
16. Meditated 3 times
17. In addition, attended day long Buddhist meditation retreat, involving approximately 200 minutes of sitting and 60 minutes of walking meditation 
18. Straightened my work room 
19. Attended Social Justice committee meeting 
20. Met with Communications team
21. Attended church service
22. Signed up for Journey to Membership classes at new church
23. Watched an episode of Trigun with my son
24. Survived transition to Daylight Savings Time

Continuing physical therapy on my injured foot was the most important thing I did last week.  I am coming to understand the importance of working through this injury, and the drain it has placed on my energy and exertion in all areas of my life.  So keeping the therapy appointments, and doing my "homework" in between is crucial.  In addition, I will need to keep fighting the urge to sit down and stay seated.  And that will mean forcing myself to get to the gym more often.

Last week's focus goal was "to concentrate on writing and meditating, continuing the approaches that have been working recently."  I would say that I succeeded in holding the line--more or less, and by hook and by crook.  A very intense day-long meditation retreat stood in for some of the shorter daily sessions I didn't manage to squeeze in during the week.  And though I fell short of my goal to write something each day, I did publish five original blog posts, begin work on a new poem, and complete a journal entry that led to a blog post.

I have finally learned, it seems, that I need to stay with a focus goal for at least a month in order for it to "take."  So I have decided to continue the effort to meditate regularly and to write every day for the remainder of March.    


I guess it says something about me, and about my ongoing organizational challenges, that I would attempt to implement a "focus" approach that has more in common with a firefly than a laser beam. . .

Done for the Week: Leaps and Bounds, and a Bit of Limping

February was full of celebrations, this year even more than usual.  And as I am working with my physical therapist to repair my "gait mechanics," I am challenged as well to negotiate the choppy rhythms of my days with strength and grace.

March should present a more even surface.

In this last week of February, in between snowfalls and tantalizingly warm days, stress and happy moments, I managed to get the following done:

Done for the Week:  Feb. 27-Mar. 4, 2012

1. Biked once; used elliptical trainer once; swam once with my workout partner
   
2. Continued physical therapy for foot injury
3. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
4. Read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
5. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
7. Finished participating in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo for February
8. Published 5 Put it to Bed blog posts
9. Published 2 ReVersing Course posts
10. Invented NaJusWriMo, to keep myself motivated to write; and signed on for March
11. Began to participate more in the BlogHer community
12. Continued work on current clients' projects
13. Attended two yoga classes
14. Had dinner with friends; baked and brought a (not particularly sad) lemon cake
15. Did laundry 
16. Continued college conversations with youngest son
17. Meditated 6 times
18. Straightened my work room
19. Took my dog to the dog park
20. Made and communicated the decision to leave my current church, coincidentally on Leap Day
21. Celebrated our Leap Day anniversary with a small late-night Champagne party for two on the actual day
22. Made arrangements to explore joining new church
23. Attended new church with my husband and a friend
24. Saw Art Museum's Accidental Genius exhibit of self-taught artists with my husband
25. Celebrated our Leap Day anniversary two days late at the County Clare Inn
26. Watched an episode of Eureka with my son
27. Watched Devil in a Blue Dress with my husband

Successfully finishing the February challenge of BlogHer's NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), and establishing my own NaJusWriMo (National Just Write Month) in order to continue the writing momentum inspired by NaBloPoMo, constituted last week's most significant achievement.  I am looking forward to continuing to take my writing more seriously, and to making more regular time for it.  I am beginning to believe that writing constitutes, at this time in my life, the deep yes I wrote about searching for some weeks ago.

Last week's focus goal was "to strategize; to figure out how to apply what I know and am learning to the problem of wanting and needing to meditate, but not making time for it."   

For whatever reason, I ended up skipping past the strategy part, and going straight to the meditating.  However, some semi-conscious tactical work appears to have taken place.  The key elements of last week's almost daily meditating, after weeks of wishful thinking about meditating, appear to have been these:

1. I identified a time of day that had worked for me in the past, slotting in my practice as close as possible to that time.
2. I forced myself to meditate before lunch, which in turn preceded leaving for my afternoon job three days a week.  In this way, lunch served as a buffer that promoted the feeling of having enough time to meditate, and as a reward for having done so.
3. I lowered the bar in three ways, so that meditation didn't seem so daunting as it had become:  a.  I shortened the time from 20 minutes to 10;  b.  I relied on relaxation videos of nature scenes and sounds as a way of easing into a time of quiet; and c.  I skipped the cushion that had become a nemesis, and did my sitting on the couch in my workroom.  I view these measures as a form of training wheels to facilitate my return to this "bike" I had become so accustomed to before.  My intention is to continue using them until the habit is stronger, and then to remove them one at a time until I am once again sitting unsupported.

 I observe that I am feeling somewhat calmer--though perhaps only because I am not spending as much time flogging myself about not meditating? 

For the coming week, I am focusing on writing and meditating, continuing the approaches that have been working recently.   

What comes to mind is Michelangelo's purported description of how he created his sculpture of David:  "It's simple.  I begin with a piece of marble and remove everything that isn't David."  I feel like I am engaged in the attempt to unearth myself from all the busyness and clutter that keep me from being who I want to be.

Done for the Week: Still Climbing, Ala Winnie (Churchill, not Pooh)

The quote I put up for this week is from Winston Churchill, who said:

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

This, from a man who was famously hounded by "the black dog" of depression--which, in my book, lends some weight to this "sunny side" aphorism. 


Last week, as ever in the midst of my never-ending ascent, I was occupied with the following:

Done for the Week:  Feb. 20-Feb. 26, 2012

1. Biked once; swam once with my workout partner
   
2. Began physical therapy for foot injury
3. Got my husband to the gym with me
4. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
5. Read Willpower:  Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy Baumeister & John Tierney
6. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
7. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
8. Continued participating in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo
9. Published 7 blog posts
10. Continued work on current clients' projects
11. Met with communication team
12. Attended two yoga classes
13. Participated in phone call about my husband's retirement plans
14. Did laundry 
15. Babysat for my grandchildren, for their parents' first "night out" since new baby's arrival
16. Continued college conversations with youngest son
17. Meditated 2 times
18. Straightened my work room
19. Took my dog to the dog park
20. Gave my husband minor assistance with taxes
21. Scheduled my Leap Day anniversary celebration
22. Scheduled potluck with friends

Last week's most important accomplishment was successfully completing 26 days of BlogHer's February NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which required posting a blog entry each day.  I am still relearning how much joy I glean from maintaining my blog.  And how much time I can make for writing when I make up my mind to do it.  

The week ahead will bring the end of this NaBloPoMo challenge.  I see from the BlogHer community that a lot of bloggers "re-up" at the conclusion of a NaBloPoMo month.  I am trying to decide whether to take on another month, in order to "set" my new work energy and orientation, or to move to re-focusing these assets on other writing projects.   I'll keep you "posted." [I know.  Groan.]

My focus goal for last week was intended to play to one of my strengths--reading.  I planned to finish reading Willpower:  Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Baumeister & Tierney.  This goal represented a kind of backing up with respect to my recently failed attempts to meet a focus goal of meditating regularly.  The idea was to retreat to an achievable rung on this apparently too challenging ladder, to experience meeting the goal.  I was anticipating some take-away from the book that would make it easier to re-establish and keep up with a meditation practice.

The good news is, I did read the book.  Though I didn't find it as "sinfully delicious" as its hype portended, and some of what the authors unveiled I had seen before, I did learn a thing or two.  I am still digesting what I read, and culling through the findings and suggestions.  I know I will write about at least one of the book's lessons in the near future.

As to meditation?  My baby-step focus goal for this week is to strategize; to figure out how to apply what I know and am learning to the problem of wanting and needing to meditate, but not making time for it.

Done for the Week: The Frailty of My Powers

Twenty-one years ago, my middle child was born in the early hours of Valentine's Day.  And into a complicated family structure that has meant multiple celebrations.

Add to that our culture's Valentine's Day hype and promotion, which lays on a host of rituals and expectations, from personally addressed cards for the classmates of each of our children to blissful romantic rendezvous with our mates.  Stir in a little perfectionism, a pinch of über-mothering, a spouse's long-distance commute, and an abundance of sugar (what with all the cakes, and the chocolate), and . . . voila!  My February crazies.

Of course, now that he's 21, and his brother is not far behind, we are not preparing 20+ Valentines each, or sending birthday treats to school.  My son bought donuts himself for his new workmates.  But it was a special birthday, requiring a bit more than the usual fuss, and entailing a rite of passage or two that invited parental "guidance." 

In between icing cakes and hosting parties, I tried to get a few things done.  Here's the list:

Done for the Week:  Feb. 13-Feb. 19, 2012

1. Biked twice; swam once with my workout partner
   
2. Finally chased down diagnosis of foot injury (not wonderful, but not fatal)
3. Got my husband and one son to the gym with me
4. Watched two basketball games with various family members
5. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
6. Read Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James
7. Continued reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
8. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
9. Continued participating in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo
10. Published 7 blog posts
11. Continued work on current clients' projects
12. Met with my adbook successor
13. Met with new communication team's members
14. Attended one yoga class
15. Did laundry 
16. Celebrated son's twenty-first birthday, at 3 separate family gatherings/outings 
17. Continued college conversations with youngest son
18. Meditated 2 times
19. Straightened my work room
20. Attended board meeting
21. Took my dog to the dog park
22. Gave my husband minor assistance with taxes
23. Celebrated Valentine's Day with my husband, in the background of Valentine's Day birthday observance

As in the previous two weeks, my most important accomplishment last week was continuing to participate in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which required posting a blog entry each day.  In the relative ease with which I am managing to stay with this undertaking, I am rediscovering how much I love blogging, and how much time I can make for writing when I commit to it.  When I am truly into it, it is the kind of work that doesn't feel like work.  I am learning something here.

Last week's focus goal was to try to meditate most days first thing in the morning.  Number of mornings on which I meditated?  One.  And that's using the word "meditate" loosely, to include some nearly pre-conscious, and all too brief focus on breathing.  My grade in this area?  F-

I don't think it's that I don't want to meditate.  In fact, at times I long for it.  Just never when I could actually be doing it.  

I've decided to move the book Willpower, by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, to the top of my book pile, since 

1.  Daniel Gilbert--of Harvard, the PBS series This Emotional Life, and the book Stumbling on Happiness says it is

sinfully delicious . . . .[and a] fascinating account of the exciting new science of self-control, told by the scientist who made it happen and the journalist who made it news.

and

2.  Regular meditation is supposed to grow my willpower/self-control/discipline, and I can't make myself do this first thing.

Reading Willpower is my focus goal for this week.  Since reading is one of the things I do instead of meditating, this one should be a slam dunk.  And after weeks of dismal focus results, I am in desperate need of a win.

Done for the Week: "Not great, but not horrible."

Is it just me, or have we in the midwest experienced a couple of changes in season over the last week?

This has been such an odd winter that I've never really habituated to proper cold weather dress.  One day it's a jacket, no hat and no gloves.  The next, I'm digging in the closet for a warm scarf to wrap around my face, and clumping around in boots and mittens. 

Our recent snow fall, the day after a somewhat freakish warm spell, was welcome enough, especially to my four-year-old grandson and my lab/greyhound.  But the sub-zero windchill over the weekend, we could have done without.


Just when my personal foliage had started to bud, and my work to benefit from an infusion of life, it's back to the cave.  But we're holding our own in here, and getting stuff done anyway.

Done for the Week:  Feb. 6-Feb. 12, 2012

1. Biked twice
   
2. Played phone tag with orthopedist, unsuccessfully trying to obtain results from MRI of foot injury
3. Watched two basketball games with various family members
4. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Place of Hiding aloud with my husband
5. Read The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie; The Uncoupling, by Meg Wolitzer; A Pocket Full of Rye, by Agatha Christie
6. Began reading Proust's Remembrance of Things Past--my third attempt; made it to page 97, farthest yet
7. Continued to work my two part-time jobs, putting in extra hours
8. Continued participating in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo
9. Published 7 blog posts
10. Continued work on current clients' projects
11. Referred potential client to colleague 
12. Met with organization's fund-raising committee regarding ad book
13. Attended one yoga class
14. Did laundry 
15. Rescheduled college visit, previously cancelled by cold feet
16. Traveled to college visit with my son and husband
17. Went out to dinner with my husband 
18. Meditated 3 times
19. Cleaned wall-sized bathroom mirror
20. Straightened my work room
21. Spent 1/2 day with my grandson, shoveling snow, walking a dog, & playing trains
22. Planned birthday celebrationS for almost-twenty-one-year-old
23. Saw an old friend for coffee and catching up

My most important accomplishment last week was continuing to participate in BlogHer's NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which required posting a blog entry each day.  What I hope to gain from this project is two things:  1) a reinvigoration of this blog, which has been languishing a bit from lack of attention; and 2) reconditioning of my writing "muscles."  After twelve days, I am beginning to see results on both fronts.  


Despite a long string of career makeovers, all I've ever really wanted to "be" was a writer.  And since, as last week's quote from George Eliot reminds us "It is never too late to be what you might have been," a writer is what I'm determined to be.  I claim the label only when I'm writing, or have recently written.  Walter Mosley, creator of the Easy Rawlins mystery series and author of This Year You Write Your Novel, says “If you want to be a writer, you have to write every day... You don't go to a well once but daily. You don't skip a child's breakfast or forget to wake up in the morning...”



So I'm using the NaBloPoMo challenge to train myself to write daily.


And discipline is a muscle necessary to this practice. 

Last week, I planned to focus on figuring out some kind of workable meditation schedule, and on meditating as many days as I could manage.  Also requiring/developing discipline.  So how did it go with this focus goal?  As Becker's least-favorite patient Mr. Ehrlich whines in the "Lucky Day" episode, "Well, you know.  Not good, but not bad.  Not great, but not horrible."  (And yes, I watch too many Becker reruns.)

Some months ago, I was relying on a routine practice of meditating immediately after lunch.  Apparently, that midday time is compatible with my biorhythms, or whatever, because it did work for me more days than not.  Unfortunately, my work schedule changed so that my morning's writing time is abbreviated, and lunch is on the run.  I have not been able to establish a different regular time that I stick with.  This week, I'll focus on trying to meditate most days first thing in the morning.  On those days that I have to be out of the house early, I will shorten the sitting. 

Namaste.

Done for the Week: So Soon Again

Last night's post, which was supposed to be last Monday's, reported on the previous week's achievements.  It's a bit time-warpy, I'll admit, but getting back on track requires this close-upon-the-heels account of the week that ended last night. 

Here's what got done:  (I know, I know.  Passive tense a no-no.)

Done for the Week:  Jan. 9-15, 2012

1. Consulted physical therapist for injury evaluation
   
2. Watched two basketball games, and against my feminist principles part of one football game, with various family members
3. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Traitor to Memory aloud with my husband--nearing the end
4. Read "The Valley of Fear" from The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
5. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
6. Published 1 blog post
7. Continued work on current clients' projects
8. Spent 6 hours working on recall campaign
9. Helped with and attended recall celebration
10. Went out for a drink with recall friends
11. Attended board meeting
12. Attended annual prayer breakfast celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
13. Attended 2 yoga classes
14. Did laundry 
15. Called my mother
16. Continued to support my son in his search for an internship
17. Took my son out to dinner 
18. Had lunch and breakfast dates with my husband
19. Arranged dishwasher repair
20. Arranged final Christmas celebration, delayed by travel and new baby in the family
21. Meditated 3 times
22. Continued setting up new bedroom with my husband
23. Continued to help my son set up his new bedroom
24. Continued refurbishing upstairs bathroom, including major cleaning
25. Cleaned or reorganized upstairs linen closet
26. Continued major decluttering

The most important thing I accomplished last week was the completion of Phase 2 of a major household shift, involving exchanging bedrooms and bathrooms with my oldest son.   We are reaching the stage where the improvements are beginning to motivate continued progress.  Having the week off from the recently concluded recall process, before beginning to work on voter ID and registration, should free up some time for this ongoing project. 

My focus goal for last week was to make time to continue exercising regularly.  How did I do?  As my son would say, "Epic Fail!"  I did manage to get to yoga class twice, but otherwise succumbed to fatigue, busyness, and an increasingly bothersome foot injury.  The physical therapist I consulted about my foot ordered me to see an orthopedist, which I plan to do this week.  In the meantime, I intend to focus on walking, non-weight-bearing hip strengthening exercises, and swimming, and to make it to the gym three times this week.

And oh, yeah, concentrate on finding more time for Put it to Bed.

Done for the Week: In the Nick of Time

Clearly, today is not Monday.  Not by a long shot.  In fact, it's very nearly next Monday.  2012 is shaping up to be a very busy year.   

Put it to Bed is now in its official third year, and much work remains on my personal reorganization project.  I am in the process of reassessing the structure of this blog, given the numerous enterprises in which I am engaged.  In the meantime, I intend to continue posting two to three times weekly--generally beginning with Monday's "Done for the Week" accountability exercise.

For this (nearly gone) week, in case you've been waiting breathlessly to read this update, you can breathe again.  Here's the list!

Done for the Week:  Jan. 2-8, 2012

1. Biked once, ran once, walked twice
   
2. Watched three basketball games with various family members
3. Took my dog to the dog park with my husband, and on one long walk 
   
4. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Traitor to Memory aloud with my husband--only a few chapters left
5. Read "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of the Four" from The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
7. Published 1 blog post
8. Continued work on current clients' projects
9. Spent 6 hours working on recall campaign
10. Attended 2 yoga classes
11. Did laundry 
12. Meditated 5 times
13. Moved into new bedroom with my husband
14. Helped my son set up his new bedroom
15. Began refurbishing upstairs bathroom
16. Found new bed for son on Craigslist
17. Removed several large furniture pieces and one old carpet from house for disposal/donation 
18. Participated in annual Half Price Books shopping with my family, using our Christmas gift cards
19. Sold books to Half Price Books

The most important thing I accomplished last week was the completion of Phase 1 of a major household shift, involving exchanging bedrooms and bathrooms with my oldest son.   

A little background:  Back in late August of 2005, while my husband was in Greenville, Mississippi picking up my Katrina-refugee parents, I was busy turning the main floor of our house into what would have to pass for an assisted living facility for the duration of their unspecified-length stay with us.  Among other things, this involved opening up our basement door and shoving the contents of our bedroom down the stairs.  

Mom and Dad and their elderly Bichon were with us for three months.  Long enough for my husband and I to settle in in our new location.  And ensuing calamities over the next several years were distracting enough to keep us there.  Until now.

One of the good things about deciding to switch rooms with our son is the opportunity for all of us to reorganize our belongings, and get a fresh start on domestic order.  One of the bad things, for us, is the downsizing necessitated by moving into much smaller quarters.  We are still throwing things out, discarding furniture and hundreds of books and no-longer-loved clothing. 

I am alternately loving and hating this process.  I am putting in a lot of hours at it.

My focus goal for the period in question was to make time to exercise at least three times, and to meditate daily.  I had intended one session each, running (sort of), biking and swimming. I did fairly well, though swimming once became walking twice.  I have a hard time facing the prospect of getting wet in January.  I did succeed in meditating most days, partly by lowering my standards, allowing myself to count fifteen minutes of YouTube-assisted "meditation" as one session.

For the week that is now almost over I planned to focus on continuing to exercise regularly.  Preview of tomorrow's post:  I will meet that goal if I stay up the rest of the night, swimming (in my bathtub?), biking (on my trainer) and running (on a potentially broken foot). . . .

Done for the Week: Groping My Way Through the Dark

Last week flew by, as weeks are wont to do, winding down the year.  It is dark by 4:30 now, and I start longing for bed at about 7:30.  My body and mind are suckers for the hibernation signals.  Alas, no cave, and no accommodation of this ancient impulse in our frenzied year-end rituals.

Here's what I managed to drag myself through last week, but not without a lot of yawning.  And yes, the occasional curse.

Done for the Week:  Dec. 12-Dec. 18, 2011

1. Took my dog to the dog park with my son
2. Read Now is the Time to Open Your Heart, by Alice Walker
3. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
4. Published 2 blog posts
5. Continued work on current clients' projects
6. Spent 14+ hours working on recall campaign
7. Played my now-tolerable piano almost every day
8. Attended 1 yoga class
9. Continued to support my daughter's growing family
10. Attended Issues Night meeting and holiday potluck
11. Attended Board meeting
12. Meditated 3 times
13. Watched one episode of Eureka with my son
14. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Traitor to Memory aloud with my husband--just past the middle of this 700+ pages tome
15. Went to dinner with my husband
16. Did laundry 
17. Arranged vet appointment for immunization updates
18. Continued Christmas shopping
19. Took my sister to lunch for her birthday
20. Completed my sister's birthday jewelry gift
21. Took friend out for pre-holiday lunch
22. Attended Sunday church service
23. Tracked over three times as many blog visits in the first half of this month as in all of December 2010
24. Paid our monthly bills

For the second week in a row, the most important thing I did last week was to spend parts of four days working on the campaign to recall the governor of my state.  This included participating in the press conference to announce the collection of over half a million signatures in 30 days, just shy of the number needed to trigger the recall.  Our goal is to get 720,000 signatures on the recall petitions in the time remaining--until January 17th--to establish a secure margin against expected challenges.  

Once again, some of my volunteer time was spent standing out in the cold with a clipboard, collecting signatures, a few insulting words and gestures, some honest but civil disagreement, words and gestures of support, and hot chocolate, coffee and a cookie purchased for me by three separate grateful individuals who warmed my body and my heart.

Last week's focus goal was to continue the fledgling (one week old) momentum  on my novel, and specifically to produce one more chapter.  The bad news is that I failed to make/find the necessary time in a very busy week to sit down and collect my thoughts and turn them into pages.  The good news is that. . . well, there isn't really any on this front.  Unless I count the guilt and disappointment that remind me of my goal.


Realistically, I am unlikely to get much writing done this week.  My household is relocating to New Orleans midweek, to spend Christmas with my mother.  Somehow the prospect of taking our not-so-organized show on the road is more than a bit daunting, adding to the normal stress of this time of year.  There's the dog to stash--requiring shots, licensing and a permit for the dog park frequented by our dog sitter, not to mention the guilt we are all negotiating for abandoning this most loving and nervous of family members.  Then there's packing and the joy of air travel, with at least one flight phobic in our merry band.  And papers and mail to stop.  And shopping to finish.  And property taxes to pay, a tree to finish decorating so we can leave it behind, a partridge or two hanging about. . .   


So later for the novel.


My focus goal for this week is to make time to exercise at least three times (Note the complete absence of exercise from this week's list of accomplishments.), and to meditate daily.  If this seems like a pretty tall meditating order, it should be just enough zen to counter the effects of our dislocation and the reconfiguration of family demands to which I am likely to be overly responsive.

Done for the Week: Not So Pretty, But Progress Nonetheless

Another week.  Another dollar sum insufficient to meet all obligations.

A recent Census Bureau report alerted us to our teetering state on the brink of middle class removal, despite our several full- and part-time jobs.  On its heels came the $15,000+ bills which have begun to roll in for my son's not-quite-24-hour hospital stay ten days ago.  Luckily, we are long past any enchantment with a materialist middle class lifestyle.  But it would be nice to be able to pay our bills.

In between bouts of worrying about money, and worrying about my mom and my children and my end-of-the-semester-overwhelmed spouse, I managed to get these things done:

Done for the Week:  Dec. 5-Dec. 11, 2011

1. Biked twice--still healing before resuming running
2. Read House Rules, by Jodi Picoult
3. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
4. Published 3 blog posts
5. Continued work on current clients' projects
6. Spent 14+ hours working on recall campaign
7. Arranged, endured and paid for two sessions of piano repair and tuning
8. Played my now-tolerable piano every day
9. Attended 1 yoga class
10. Continued to support my daughter's growing family
11. Participated in church service organized by my social justice committee
12. Went to my tap class
13. Watched one episode of Eureka with my son
14. Watched one episode of Boss with my husband
15. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Traitor to Memory aloud with my husband--we're midway now in this 700+ pages tome
16. Made Sunday soup
17. Went to dinner with my husband
18. Did laundry 
19. Finished draft of novel chapter
20. Arranged dog care for Christmas trip
21. Began Christmas shopping
22. Arranged birthday lunch with my sister
23. Began my sister's birthday jewelry gift
24. Bought 2012 planning and purse calendars

The most important thing I did last week was to spend parts of four days working on the campaign to recall the governor of my state.  In terms of potential impact, this project is clearly the biggest thing I am currently engaged in.  And doing my small part helps me to keep at bay the shredded-social-fabric blues.  Five more weeks to go in this phase of the operation.  The numbers are looking good, but it's way too early to relax.  So this undertaking will continue to claim whatever chunks of my time I can spare--and some I probably can't--into mid-January.

Last week's focus goal--back for the second week by "popular" demand--was "to resume work on my novel."  More specifically, and accountably, I  vowed (yeeks!) "to make better use of what calm spaces there are, to more proactively protect my time, and to complete at least a chapter of my novel."  So how did I do?

First of all, what "calm spaces?"  Secondly, with the recall campaign hungry for any semi-competent and reliable bodies they can conscript, and a four-year-old grandson who can now call me on the phone to wheedle time with Nana, I have to confess I pretty much flunked "proactively protect[ing] my time."  Oh well.

But the good news is that I did manage to crank out a new chapter of my novel.  Okay, truth be told, I did so by forcing myself out to sit at Starbuck's last night just so I wouldn't have to admit defeat in this week's accounting.  But that in itself was an accomplishment, on a cold and dark December evening.  And after a somewhat scrappy week of flaring tempers, I am grateful to my husband for accompanying me and keeping me honest.

For the coming week, I will focus only on continuing this fledgling momentum.  One more chapter.  Forget calm spaces.  Forget "proactivity" of any sort.