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: Inching Forward

Eek!  Look over there, to the right.  See what it says?  No, not all that subscribe, search, quote, About Me blah blah.  Just under all that.  Yeah, that's it.  "2011 is 52% complete!"  Which means . . . . Well, we all know what it means.  

 

We're into the second half of this year.  Are we any closer to where we're going--besides the eventual "unto dust" return?

 

I don't know about you, but here's what I got done last week.  In the Grand Scheme of things, which I try to avoid thinking about most days, it doesn't seem like so much. 

Done for the Week:  July 4 - 10, 2011

1. Completed Week 9 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran twice; swam twice; biked twice
2. Swam twice, ran twice, biked once with my training partner 
3. Visited the bike shop for training and race purchases
4. Continued nutrition education; tweaked my hydration approach
5. Finished Three Stages of Amazement, by Carol Edgarian; 
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
7. Published 3 blog posts 
8. Began family Harry Potter Film Festival with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
9. Took dog and family to the dog park
10. Met again with major new website client; launched his blog; made progress on site redesign
11. Visited Apple Genius Bar to discuss computer problems, strategize solution
12. Went out driving with learning teenager several times 
13. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to his job
14. Worked on cracking the code for road test appointment; minor success so far
15. Volunteered with recall campaign 
16. Made major progress on backyard reclamation
17. Completed sandbox
18. Took mower in for repair
19. Bought new plants for yard
20. Repaired several months old dishwasher, with my son (Apparently, it's not a garbage disposal.  I'm beginning to wonder if it's a dishwasher!)
21. Put away the last of our Christmas decorations (blush!)
22. Supported my dyslexic 20-year-old son in navigating his first 8-hr.-long solo road trip
23. Continued progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering work room, bedroom & kitchen 

Last week's most important accomplishment, I believe, was moving forward on my new client's website.  I can only give a half day a week to working on this account, given my other commitments.  But my client's work is very important, in my opinion, and I am excited to be contributing to it.  He just accepted an invitation to speak at a UN-sponsored international venue in a few weeks.  I will be stealing what time I can find between now and then to finalize the first stage of the new design.

Last week's focus goal was a third-week continuation of my intention to declutter our house, involving my housemates in the excavation, and starting with the kitchen, my work room, and our bedroom.  Somewhat disappointingly, I am not there yet.  I plan to keep working at it, in my "spare" moments.  As to my housemates, they keep leaving town.  My husband was gone for work from early Monday morning (yes, the 4th of July) through late Thursday last week.  My most available son will be 8 hours away for most of this week.  The other son spends what time he is not at work with the friends who will be leaving for college in a few weeks; he is deeply engaged in his own Last Hurrah project.  And the dog doesn't have opposable thumbs.  

At least I finally left the worst of my summer virus behind, and am now at about 90%--still coughing, but having more energy.  For this week, then, I will continue the focus on our cluttered environs, and I will make an effort to get back to yoga and meditation.  I don't especially like splitting my "focus," such as it is, in this way.  But I am reluctant to abandon the house-straightening goal only about a third of the way through.  And yoga and meditation keep me sane.  More or less.  It is time to attend to reviving my practice.

This morning, though, I have to add gutter-cleaning to my list.  A brief torrent, followed by an ominous basement trickle, brought that little item to my attention.  "Life is what happens. . ." and all.

Done for the Week: Time to Power Up

Over the year and a half that I have been writing this blog, I have reported several colds, viruses and injuries that have served to interrupt my productivity on various fronts.  Last week I was visited by yet another bug.  One that has felled several friends and family members, and apparently borders on the interminable.  

Was I always so frequently plagued with minor physical difficulties?  Is this just some of that rain that, "into each life . . . must fall," according to Ella Fitzgerald and the Inkspots?  

Should I be 

• eating better?  (Yup.)  
• worried that I've contracted some immune-system compromising condition/illness?  (Probably not.)
• sucking it up a bit more?  (Yeah.  I admit it.) 

Despite my virus-caused general malaise this past week, I got a fair amount done.  And undone.

Done for the Week:  June 27-July 3, 2011

1. Completed Week 8 of 15-week triathlon training program, modified to accommodate virus I caught; ran once; swam twice;
2. Swam twice, ran once with my training partner 
3. Registered for Danskin Triathlon
4. Registered for Open Water Swim clinic
5. Made hotel reservation for tri weekend
6. Finished The Film Club: A Memoir, by David Gilmour; Thursdays at Eight, by Debbie Macomber
7. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
8. Spent some couch time suffering from a virus being passed through my family
9. Welcomed my grandson back from his vacation
10. Resigned from Search Committee
11. Blew off a couple more meetings
12. Resigned as volunteer backup secretary for nonprofit organization
13. Saw my therapist
14. Published 3 blog posts 
15. Meditated 2 times
    
16. Had lunch date with my husband
17. Went to Happy Hour with my husband
18. Watched one episode of Treme with my husband
19. Finished caring for my out-of-town daughter's dog and house, days 10 and 11
20. Got various family members, including our dog, to walk temporary foster dog with me
21. Met again with major new website client
22. Went out driving with learning teenager several times 
23. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to his job
24. Volunteered with recall campaign
25. Continued supporting my 20-year-old in his return to the academic environment; lent moral support to completion of final project and online final
26. Went to Summerfest with my husband, and couple friends of his
27. Attended 50th wedding anniversary
28. Attended wake
29. Watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, with my sons and husband, in preparation for Part II's upcoming debut
30. Made progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering work room, bedroom & kitchen 
31. Bought new bedding to celebrate our newly unearthed bedroom 

In my view, my most important accomplishment last week was finally signing up for the triathlon I am training for.  My delay was partly a matter of securing the necessary monetary outlay; partly related to procrastination of an intended action, due to residual feelings of inadequacy and fear; and partly the result of an unwillingness to put my own needs (to sign up in, and thus be measured against, my own age group) ahead of the imagined needs of my first-timer partner for companionship in the mixed age-group category.  It turned out to be no big deal, when I finally brought it up with her.  All that remained was to pull the trigger.  Which I did.

Last week I continued to focus on the goal of decluttering our house, and involving my housemates in the excavation, starting with the kitchen, my work room, and our bedroom.  As you can see, in green above, I continued to chip away at this goal.  Housemate involvement?  Not so much, though my husband joined me in uncovering (and re "cover"-ing) our bedroom.  At the moment, I can see more of the floor of my work room, and occupy most sitting surfaces, but I still have a ways to go in there.  The kitchen?  I find some of it, I lose some of it, I find some of it, I lose more of it. . . .  It's a perennially moving target.  The whole project needs at least another week.  Hopefully, I can be healthy soon, and bring a bit more energy to it.

As I head into the coming week, I'm going to be thinking about just that--energy! 

## Today makes me think of my poem, Independence Day, posted on ReVersing Course.

Done for the Week: Getting Into Getting Out of Stuff

For the first time since I started this Done for the Week feature, I am a day late (if not a dollar short) in posting it.  I may have some fine-tuning to do on this whole laying back thing.

I am still, however, getting some things finished, of the many that matter to me.

Done for the Week:  June 20-26, 2011

1. Completed Week 7 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran twice; biked twice; swam twice
2. Swam once, ran once with my training partner 
3. Got my son to the gym with me once
4. Finished Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem
5. Attended 2 yoga classes
6. Participated in final interviews for organizer position 
7. Participated in hiring decision
8. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
9. Planted orphaned begonia
10. Put in backyard sandbox
11. Cut back summer blogging schedule
12. Stepped further back from organizational overcommitment
13. Blew off a couple of meetings 
14. Published 4 blog posts 
15. Meditated 2 times
    
16. Had lunch date with my husband
17. Went to Happy Hour with my husband
18. Watched two episodes of Treme with my husband
19. Took care of my out-of-town daughter's dog and house, days 3 through 9 of 11
20. Got various family members, including our dog, to walk temporary foster dog with me
21. Met again with major new website client
22. Went out driving with learning teenager several times 
23. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to his job
24. Volunteered with recall campaign
25. Continued spending time on, and making progress with, yard recovery project
26. Spent time outside in my swing, reading and relaxing
27. Continued supporting my 20-year-old in his return to the academic environment
28. Made progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering work room, bedroom & kitchen

Last week's most important accomplishment, in the opinion of this overworked and under rested blogger, was the jettisoning of some items that have been clogging my agenda of late--this was by way of embracing summer, and its legendary opportunities to sit quietly on the planet and revel in its glories.  Now if I can just keep myself from indulging my busy-ness tic and signing up for replacement obligations, I may begin to recover some much-needed energy.

My focus goal for last week was to begin to declutter our house, and to involve my housemates in the excavation.  The plan was to start with the kitchen, my work room, and our bedroom.  As you can see, in green above, I did make some progress on this goal.  But I am almost always (my family would say always) too ambitious.  Our nest has been neglected for too long, and by too many of us, to be rewoven in a week.  Or two.  Or three.  So I am extending this focus goal at least into next week.  After I have unearthed a modicum of surface space, I intend to fight the impulse to move on, until the hordes of stuff have retreated significantly.

Life Management 101--From Pillar to Post

For today, and one more Life Management 101 Tuesday, we are looking to Laura Stack's Find More Time:  How to Get Things Done at Home, Organize Your Life, and Feel Great About It for guidance.  This week, Chapter 7, "Mastering the Seventh Pillar--POST," is our focus.

In this chapter, Stack deals with Post in the military sense--one's assignment and set of responsibilities.  As with each chapter concerning one of the eight pillars of productivity, we start from a self-assessment related to that particular realm.  (See Stack's website for the entire productivity quiz.)   My score on Post--not one of my worst pillars--resulted from rating each of the following ten quiz items as:   1) to no extent; 2) to a little extent; 3) to some extent; 4) to a considerable extent; or 5) to a great extent.  My responses are in red.

To what extent do I . . . 

1. Hire out tasks requiring a level of expertise I don't have. [2] 
2. Hire out simple chores to helpers. [2] 
3. Have goods delivered to avoid unnecessary time at the store. [2] 
4. Complete shopping efficiently. [3] 
5. Run errands efficiently. [3] 
6. Function efficiently as the social, child, and family coordinator. [2]
7. Do routine chores on a regular basis and keep my house clean. [2] 
8. Conduct preventive maintenance on my home. [2] 
9. Prepare meals quickly and systematically. [2] 
10. Expect family members to do their fair share of the housework. [2]

In general, Stack's vantage point on the subject of time management seems strongly a function of an upper middle class life style.  Her recommendations often rely on a level of financial prosperousness that allows one to purchase services and products beyond the means of many potential readers.  She makes a good, if by now standard case for buying help, for those who can afford to do so.  But ever since I held a part-time job cleaning a professor's home, and chasing pubic hairs around his family's tub, I have had a bias in favor of everyone doing as much of their own s_ _ _ work as possible.  It keeps us humble, I think, and provides a counter to the increasing class divisions in our society.  It also assures that most of the fallout of overcomplicating our lives and overaccumulating possessions will land right where it belongs.


And as a feminist, I resist Stack's assumption of the household executive role.  For example, items 6, 7, 8,  9# on the list above.  Not that I have done much better than she at functionally escaping this gender-typing, and the unequal division of labor that still applies in most of our homes decades after women were "liberated" to participate in the nondomestic labor market. But perhaps one of the reasons that Stack is a productivity expert, and I am something of an unproductivity ace, is that I spend more time than she seems to being troubled about this.


Politics aside, however, I agree with and had already adopted several of her recommendations, including:  consolidating errands; online shopping; farming out work for which I don't have the necessary expertise (like filling our cavities, wiring light fixtures, and replacing mufflers); relaxing cleaning standards; having a meal plan; and training my children to participate in household work.  I need to step it up a bit in some of these areas.


I especially liked the simplicity of her distinction between routine and maintenance chores.  It helped me to see that putting off routine chores can turn them into maintenance level jobs.  Stack also pointed out that maintenance chores can be scheduled when I can get to them--generally, unless I've allowed them to become maintenance emergencies, like the furnace that had to be shut down in the middle of a very cold January a couple of years ago, and replaced, after a freezing night.  I hope this categorization will have the effect of urging me to do better at taking care of the daily stuff daily.  


I'm not sure that this week's reading can be said to have yielded me more time.  But following some of Stack's good advice, and reinstituting some of my own good past practices may increase my peace of mind.  I suppose that could save me some angst, and the time I devote to it.

Next week, Play--the final pillar.  

---

# To be fair, Stack gives her husband credit for preparing most family meals.

Done for the Week: I'm Working on It

Last week's quote for the week, from Winston Churchill, was "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  Last week's results were mixed, so I'm keeping that quote before me.  And the Buddhist thought that "It is what it is."  And that ubiquitous contemporary phrase, "It's all good."  

So, returning again and again to my purpose, and to my focus, and as my yoga teacher says, "without judgement," here's what I got done last week.

Done for the Week:  Nov. 1-7

1. Continued off-season race training, in too-busy-to-turn-around mode; biked once, spent lots of time walking with kids and dogs
2. Finished The Sweetest Dream, by Doris Lessing; It's Easier Than You Think, by Sylvia Boorstein
3. Continued significant support to transitioning nonprofit organization
4. Worked my two part-time jobs
5. Published 5 blog posts
6. Meditated 3 times
7. Wrote 3 Gratitude Journal entries
8. Spent 4 hours working on my novel
9. Continued reading aloud Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner with my husband; worked on improving communication, over coffee, one lunch and one dinner out, and on drives and errands
10. Attended 2 yoga classes
11. Walked my dog twice, with sons, and my daughter's dog once, with grandson
12. Had babysitting "movie night" with grandson
13. Watched our two favorite basketball teams play 5  games, with various combinations of sons and husband
14. Attended church
15. Attended stepsons's open house
16. Entertained stepdaughter and various grandchildren
17. Arranged Thanksgiving visit to my sister's
18. Purchased futon for teenager's newly (mostly) straightened room
19. Survived husband's three-day absence
20. Attended forum on community justice
21. Spent several hours outside, reading
22. Found my missing cell phone--and lost it again!
23. Maintained living room, did some laundry, worked on kitchen, and recruited some only-slightly-grumbly help with the dishes

Last week's most important accomplishments, in red above, had to do with my relationship with my husband.  We have been going through some difficult times lately, as his already overloaded work schedule has ramped up in anticipation of his upcoming month-long overseas trip.  We live with two teenagers--need I say more?--and in the midst of a not-so-blended family situation.  We struggle to maintain our equanimity, and to weather the emotional storms around us.  I am trying to do what I can to bank some good feelings, and anticipate and deal with issues that will come up while he is gone.  We made some progress on these fronts last week.

Once again,  I met last week's focus goal of spending 4 hours working on my novel.  It is getting a little easier each week to keep to the schedule I've established, though I see little possibility, given the other demands on my time and energy, to find additional time to write just now.  But the accumulated words and scenes and characters are beginning to exercise an influence of their own.  I am thinking more about the project outside the writing time, and feeling more committed to seeing it through, come what may.  Four hours spent working on my novel is once again my focus goal for the coming week.

My secondary focus last week remained on exercising, meditating and cleaning.  The plan was to meditate more regularly (I didn't); exercise 4 times (I could only manage to squeeze in two sessions on the exercise bike at the gym); "keep hacking away at the laundry" (only managed to keep up with the week's accrual); and get the kitchen ready for the new appliances to be installed (not quite there yet, but I've got until tomorrow).  I think my difficulty in staying the course with respect to these goals has something to do with my acting like a "float" in so many settings--you know, like the nurse who is assigned to whatever floor or department is short-staffed or swamped with patients on her shift.  It's hard to keep one's eye on the prize in such circumstances.  Maybe I should apply for a more regular duty.

Next week, I will try to meditate daily; exercise 4 times; keep up with the week's laundry and diminish the backlog; and finish cleaning the kitchen in celebration of the new, properly working oven and refrigerator.

I will also try to do whatever it takes to be compassionate with my less-than-stellar productivity, and that of my family members.  And to smile more.

Done for the Week: Winning by Showing Up

Toward the end of last week, my mood went south. It seems unlikely that this was unrelated to spending less time exercising, meditating, being outside, and relaxing. Work was particularly stressful, especially when the websites I manage were both suddenly taken down--after I had spent considerable time redesigning both--because of an expired domain name. Communications concerning this impending action had been sent to obsolete addresses and unknown persons involved with the original site set up. This unexpected disaster took another half-day to resolve.


Life with my teenagers and my work-addicted spouse was not exactly a walk in the park either.

In the midst of it all, I got the following done:

Done for the Week:  Oct. 18-24

1. Completed tapering week of 5K training, ran twice
2. Completed 5K race, won my age group
3. Finished The Swimming Pool, by Holly LeCraw; To-Do Lists of the Dead, by Jonathan Katz; The Imperfect Birds, by Anne Lamott
4. Continued significant support to transitioning nonprofit organization
5. Worked my two part-time jobs--made significant progress on second website, strategically skipping a scheduled meeting to do so
6. Published 5 blog posts
7. Meditated 2 times
8. Wrote 3 Gratitude Journal entries
9. Wrote 3 Morning Pages
10. Spent 3-1/2 hours working on my novel
11. Continued reading aloud Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner with my husband; went to Happy Hour, and to see The Social Network
12. Attended 2 yoga classes
13. Took my dog to the dog park once
14. Attended church
15. Helped sew grandson's Halloween costume
16. Called my mom twice
17. Spent time cleaning two of our three bathrooms

My most important accomplishment of last week, in red above, was completing the 5K I ran yesterday.  In the rain.  I won my age group, and for the first few minutes of post-race confusion in announcing the results, it appeared that I was my age group, until another woman came forward to claim second--and last--place.  Clearly, the secret to becoming a successful athlete, at least for me, is to continue training, stay alive and keep having birthdays.  My recent birthday put me into the advanced age group where I rose to the top!  But accolades aside, deserved or not, I was happy to complete the race in the 39 minutes I had set as a goal, and to run the entire time.

Last week's focus goal, as that of the previous week, was to spend six hours on my novel.  I managed less than four (#10 highlighted in green).  I did manage to adhere to my scheduled writing time, though the press of website work lured me into violating my rule of not doing other work during that time--thus, 3-1/2 instead of 4 hours.  Again, the plan to spend two hours writing "sometime during the weekend" was dashed on the rocks of my busy household and my emotional reactions.  I ended up spending time reading the novels of others, instead of writing my own.  This week, my focus goal will be to spend four hours writing.  Since I am meeting or coming close to meeting that goal, and since I need to feel successful, it seems prudent to aim for what appears to be realistic at this point in time.

Again, my secondary focus was and will continue to be exercise, meditation and housecleaning.  I fell short of my desired goals in all three of these areas.  (#1, #2 and #7 above, all highlighted in green.)  This week, I have decided to be more specific about what I'm aiming for.  I plan to meditate 4 times; exercise 4 times; and concentrate on catching up the laundry (which will involve donating a large portion of it), and cleaning and straightening one room.

And to keep showing up.

Done for the Week: All This, and San Francisco!

Last week didn't exactly go according to plan.  Mainly because Plan A was jettisoned, and Plan B taken up just past midway.  But then, in my experience, a week with only one major shift is actually pretty rare.  I've known many weeks where I was flirting with Plan Z before the end.


Here's what I got done, on one plan or another, by hook and by crook:

Done List--Week of Oct. 11-17

1. Continued off-season triathlon training, temporarily tailored to prepare for 5K in 1 week, and to accommodate hamstring strain--swam once, biked twice, ran once
2. Finished When Things Fall Apart:  Heart Advice for Difficult Times, by Pema Chödrön; In the Presence of the Enemy, by Elizabeth George
3. Continued significant support to transitioning nonprofit organization
4. Worked my two part-time jobs
5. Published 5 blog posts
6. Meditated 10 times (see #19)
7. Wrote 4 Gratitude Journal entries
8. Wrote 2 Morning Pages
9. Spent 4 hours working on my novel
10. Spent 1 hour cleaning "Snoopy Room"
11. Continued removing laundry-from-hell from basement floor
12. Finished reading aloud Elizabeth George's In the Presence of the Enemy with my husband; started In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, also by Elizabeth George
13. Attended 2 yoga classes
14. Celebrated my daughter's birthday with my family
15. Walked my dog 2 times, including 1 trip to the dog park
16. Attended board meeting
17. Attended Issues Strategy Night
18. Worked and read outside, storing up sunshine and Vitamin D
19. "Attended" online weekend meditation retreat, Smile at Fear, with Pema Chödrön
20. Helped son study for psychology final
21. Sent birthday greetings to my sister, and to a friend who shares her birthday
    

Last week's focus goal was to spend six hours on my novel.  I managed four (#9 highlighted in green), keeping to the recently inaugurated routine of using the time between dropping off and picking up my grandson at preschool, two days a week.  I had planned to write for two hours on the weekend, until I decided, at the last minute, to devote Friday evening and most of Saturday and Sunday to online participation in a weekend meditation retreat.  In my view, however, it was a worthwhile tradeoff.  As you can see, the meditation retreat is in red text, above, indicating my assessment that it was the week's most important accomplishment.  Life-changing?  That remains to be seen.  Although in some respects, applying some of what I learned and re-learned this weekend, everything is life-changing, since life is change.  

A side-benefit to my online attendance was the opportunity to virtually visit the San Francisco area, a destination that has eluded me despite its draw for most of my years on this planet.  Each time I have had an opportunity to travel there, something happens to prevent it.  I have come as close as holding a plane ticket and hotel reservations, and packing my bags, only to be turned around the day before by one of my parents' three emergency bypass surgeries.  This weekend's event was held at the Craneway Pavillion, a "stunning venue" (if they do say so themselves) which "features a soaring, industrial-chic interior, breathtaking waterfront views of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, and state-of-the-art infrastructure."  I didn't leave the building--which is to say, the camera providing the live video feed for the 2,000 online participants didn't leave the building--but I did get to see 3,000 in-person participants milling about, and sitting on chairs and cushions; the two main speakers, Pema Chödrön, and Carolyn Gimian; and a glimpse of the ocean waves and a sailboat or two behind the podium backdrop.  Ah, San Francisco. . .

My secondary focus, last week and until I feel that these essential activities are well established, was/is to continue devoting significant time and energy to exercise, meditation and housecleaning.  Of the three, I admit that housecleaning is getting the shortest shrift.  (What is a "shrift," anyway?  I seem to remember looking this up before.  In this context, however, I find the World Dictionary meaning particularly apt:  "brief and unsympathetic treatment."  I definitely struggle with being sympathetic to housework in all its many forms.)  

Activities related to this trifold intention are highlighted in green.  Meditation, good.  Exercise, pretty good, considering my need to baby a knee inflamed by too much running in a two-day period on Sunday and Monday.  Housecleaning, passable, all things considered.  

For this week, my focus goal remains the same as last week--

to spend six hours working on my novel.  And . . . to keep exercise, meditation and housecleaning in the foreground.

I'll keep trying until I get it right.  Smiling at fear all the way.