Done for the Past Two Weeks: The Heart of, er, Family

Another week, and in this case two, done.  Another year gone. 

If I were trying to cut a wide swath through life, I might be worried at my lack of "progress."  But since I believe more in being awake for the journey than in racing to its endpoint, I am learning to be content with my small moments.

Here are some recent achievements, as I closed out 2011:

Done for the Past Two Weeks:  Dec. 19, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012

1. Finished Christmas shopping
2. Finished Christmas decorating, minimalist style 
3. Packed for taking Christmas on the road
4. Got our dog settled in his vacation digs
5. Traveled to New Orleans--surviving a hectic departure, which included delaying a plane full of people while my husband ran for the gate
6. Spent time with my sister and her family
7. Celebrated Christmas with my mom, my husband and my two sons 
8. Took my sister and her family out to dinner
9. Watched four basketball games with various family members
10. Held a Polar Express party with my grandson 
11. Celebrated New Year's Eve with my daughter, her husband and two children, my husband, and one of my sons
12. Reunited with our dog after a week away
13. Took my dog to the dog park with my husband, and on two long walks  
14. Watched Kung Fu Panda II, with my son and husband
15. Continued reading Elizabeth George's A Traitor to Memory aloud with my husband--only a couple of hundred pages left
16. Went to dinner with my husband
17. Unpacked
18. Biked once, walked five times
19. Read The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl;  My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love, and Laughing Out Loud, by Kevin Clash
20. Continued to work my two part-time jobs
21. Published 1 blog post
22. Continued work on current clients' projects
23. Spent 6 hours working on recall campaign
24. Attended 2 yoga classes
25. Did laundry 
26. Meditated 6 times
27. Began moving our bedroom, exchanging rooms with my son
28. Shopped for new bed
29. Communicated with my mom's investment advisor; used trading authority to make needed adjustments
30. Looked into reverse mortgage for my mom
31. Confirmed my mom's dental insurance coverage
32. Began sorting books, in preparation for offloading a couple of hundred no-longer-needed volumes

As for many people in this most family-oriented of seasons, my time for the last two weeks was focused on family.  The efforts I made, and the experiences we shared were the most important things that were done during the past two weeks.  Our holiday wasn't perfect, but no lives were ruined in its making.  I count myself blessed to have spent these days surrounded by people I love, who love me and each other.  As always for me, the challenge is to come off such intense absorption in family to make room for my separate existence.  I am currently reading May Sarton's A House by the Sea, one of her journaled odes to solitude, which may help in retrieving my inner life.  But then May Sarton didn't share her home with three large male humans in various (and fluctuating) stages of maturity. . .

My focus goal for this period was to make time to exercise at least three times, and to meditate daily.  To be clear, that goal was meant to cover the first of the last two weeks.  Since I didn't get around to blogging last week, by extension the goal targets should be doubled.  

I did manage to get some exercise in, and in the process to baptize my new running shoes.  With the New Year, it is time to kick it up a notch, and to resume, gently, a more strenuous training regimen.  My tri training partner opened 2012 with a lovely e-card, and a separate email detailing all the races she wants to do this year--including one I haven't yet warmed to, a muddy 5K obstacle course slog called the Dirty Girl!  But my injuries are mostly healed, and my excuses used up.  So it's back to the track, and the pool, and the bike trainer this week.  My focus goal?  One session each, running (sort of), biking and swimming. 

As for my meditation goal, well, I did take lots and lots of college math so I know that daily meditating for two weeks would have resulted in a few more than 5 sessions.  The first week, however, was the crucial one, with all its built-in challenges and demands.  I meditated four times that week (twice while squished into an airplane seat that was a tight fit even for my diminutive self), but only two times since returning home the middle of last week.  

My New Year's resolution is still in draft stage (stay tuned), but is going to require regular meditating. 

Done for the Week: Launching My Blog Revival

At the end of every summer when I was a kid, my indulgent grandmother took my sisters and brothers and I shopping for new outfits to wear to the first day of school.  It took the sting out of the ordeal of returning to the classroom.  New school supplies helped, too.

Now that I'm grown (as I have been for awhile now), it seems I need to be responsible for my own transitions, and their easing.  I am not starting school this fall, but I am adjusting to new work schedules, and most importantly, to the waning light and warmth that signal impending winter.  

Since, like so many of my countrymen and women, I find myself a few shekels short these days, I will probably have to come up with something to get me through the first couple of weeks of September that doesn't involve pulling out a little plastic card.  One thing I can give myself that may help is the gift of renewed blog rigor.  (See last week's statement of good intentions.)

Although last week concluded a string of weeks of relative blog neglect, I did get some things done.

Done for the Week:  Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

1. Continued 5K training with my youngest son, in preparation for his first race--Finished Week 1 of 9 Week program
2. Ran 2 times; walked once (babying yoga-induced hamstring strain)
3. Finished Run, by Ann Patchett
4. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
5. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
6. Published 1 blog post
7. Attended 2 yoga classes
8. Continued significant work on current clients' projects
9. Launched client's new site
10. Attended Unity Rally in response to White Supremacy gathering
11. Attended Social Justice meeting
12. Had lunch with friends
13. Went paddleboating with my kids and grandson
14. Picked up my husband at the airport, back from Kenya
15. Did laundry
16. Attended church picnic; helped with setup
17. Reapplied for vocational support for dyslexic son
18. Organized and helped cook four at-home dinners
19. Took my dog to the dog park, with both my sons

Last week's focus goal was to "come down gently, and as little as possible, from Cloud 9-3/4" after finishing the triathlon.  Despite being busy with a clump of work commitments, I did manage to maintain my unaccustomed happy mood.  With it came a bit more energy, which led to a little burst of housecleaning, which reinforced my positive feelings, which boosted my energy level, which . . . .  All good.

So, still not down.  And trying not to second-guess the lifespan of the happiness fairy's reign.

The most important thing I got done last week was getting the new blog site up for one of my clients.  A lot of work went into preparing the site, and we were all pretty excited about seeing it "go live" when his wife clicked the "Publish Post" button.  (You can see his fascinating work at http://callmeexcellency.blogspot.com/.

His is the fifth project of the small business I seem to have inadvertently started.  I am enjoying the challenges, and the opportunities to contribute to others' communication efforts.  Now I will need to learn how to incorporate this new level of activity into an already full work life, and to save some time and energy for my own writing.

My goal for the coming week:  stick to my plan of publishing three blog posts, having taken Labor Day off, and commencing my new regimen of Monday through Thursday posting.

One down, and two to go. . .

Done for the Week: Ready to Reconnect

While I was getting around to finally getting this post up, it turned into the first day of September.  And the first day of my intended blog reform.  My worst week of blogging, followed by cleaning up my act.  That's the plan, anyway.

I did get some things done last week, and here's the list:

Done for the Week:  Aug. 22-28, 2011

1. Relaxed and enjoyed my post-triathlon glow
2. Tracked down my bike pump lost on bus at the triathlon
3. Returned rented wetsuit, and made plans to purchase
4. Attended introductory spin class
5. Went to outdoor water park with my kids and grandson
6. Launched 5K training program with my youngest son, in preparation for his first race
7. Babysat while my daughter and her husband watched the Brewers beat the Cubs
8. Went out for breakfast with my son
9. Finished Good Things I Wish You, by A. Manette Ansay
10. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
11. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
12. Published 1 blog post
13. Continued reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
14. Continued significant work on current clients' projects
15. Purchased new laptop tote for my new business
16. Attended 9 to 5 National Day of Action
17. Helped my husband prepare/pack for trip to Kenya
18. Joined my husband's family (in his absence) for lunch
19. Did laundry
20. Called my mom and sent tri pictures

Last week's focus goal was to "come down gently, and as little as possible, from Cloud 9-3/4."  I can honestly say I pretty much devoted myself to that pursuit.  I even managed to continue reveling while helping my stressed-out husband survive the start of a new semester and leaving for a ten-day international trip.  

I realized, in the process, that it has been a long time since I have had that feeling that "God [or whoever] is in her/his heaven, and all is right with the world."  I should probably try to stay in practice more, so I don't get the spiritual bends ascending to this relative height.

I believe my most important accomplishment last week, supported by my happy mood and my less-training-intensive schedule, was the attention I was able to give members of my family.   I know I have missed them, and I believe they have missed me, as the amount of time I spent training and preparing for the triathlon, working on a recall campaign, and accidentally starting a small business, has engulfed my recent weeks.  

It seems that the way balance works in my life, when it does, is as a wild ride--consisting of going too far in one direction, and then taking drastic action to right things by going too far in the opposite direction.  I'm not sure if I can, or should, learn another way. . . .

Next week's focus goal? Resuscitate the blog I have neglected over the summer.  My recovery plan is to post four days a week, Monday through Thursday, taking off time for major holidays and traveling.

It's September, "back to" time.

Done for the Week: Crossing the Finish Line

Back from my day at the races.  But not back to earth.  Not yet.  And not for a while, if I can help it.

Here's the story of what I got done last week: 

Done for the Week:  Aug. 15-21, 2011

1. Completed Week 15 of 15-week triathlon training program, resting for race; ran twice; biked once; swam twice
2. Worked out and meditated several times with my training partner
3. Attended second Open Water Swim class
4. Swam across the lake--sort of 
5. Rented new, larger, more life-sustaining wetsuit (unlike the one I own, this one permits breathing, which I've come to appreciate--the hard way!)
6. Continued working on pre-race anxiety, mental training, pre-race nutrition and hydration
7. Packed to leave town for the race
8. Picked up race packet; bought stuff at the expo 
9. Shared pre-race dinner with my husband and training partner
10. Did gear check with my training partner
11. Finished the race!!!  Beat even my stretch goal
12. Celebrated with my training partner and friend, who also finished with strength and grace
13. Attended triathlon camp reunion, post-race
14. Helped youngest son prepare for first long-distance flight on his own
15. Finished No Death, No Fear:  Comforting Wisdom for Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh
16. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
17. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
18. Meditated four times
19. Published 1 blog post
20. Continued reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
21. Continued work on current clients' projects
22. Attended Issues Night
23. Attended Jobs Prayer Vigil
24. Paid the monthly bills
25. Accomplished major cleaning/decluttering/rearrangement of main work room
26. Did laundry

Last week's focus goal was to "finish my training using the less-is-more and self-nurturing approach appropriate to the final days before the race."  Did that. 

Tuesday evening's pre-race swim across the lake proved even more of a hurdle than I had anticipated.  Last Monday I wrote about this planned workout that "I intend to get to the other side by any means necessary."  And by Tuesday night, I had delivered on that prediction.  The "means necessary" turned out to include yelling "Help!" in the middle of the lake when my extra small wetsuit and this year's two additional pounds combined in a way that was literally breathtaking.  After the motor boat came to my rescue, and I had regained my breath, but not my cool, I transversed about a third of the race distance using a "noodle."  Thus I joined the ranks of what my partner referred to as the "noodle girls."  A humbling, and scary experience overall.

Subsequent race preparation made room for learning all I could about how wetsuits can restrict breathing and contribute to panic attacks in the open water swim portion of a triathlon.  This led to re-thinking my sausage casing of a wetsuit, and deciding to rent one a size larger.  I also crammed in a short session in the pool on Friday trying out the borrowed suit.  The result?  I could breathe on race day, and made it all the way across the lake , without stopping to rest, or switching from freestyle.    Spent my way out a dilemma, but it was soooo worth it.

Last week's most important accomplishment--hands down--was finishing the triathlon.  Once again, I surprised myself by doing better than I expected.  I took 4:44 off the swim; 1:03 off T1 (the time spent shedding the wetsuit; getting on shoes, socks, helmet, Camelbak, and sunglasses; and, unfortunately discovering I had forgotten to unlock my bike before the race); 1:06 off T2 (bike to run); and 2:22 off last year's run time.  I added 1:18 to my bike time, but race officials had added 1.5 miles to the course this year.  My pace was just shy of 2 mph faster.  My net gain put me at 2:00:35--36 seconds over my "dream" goal of breaking 2 hours, nearly 2-1/2 minutes under my stretch goal of 2:03:00, and 4-1/2 minutes under the 2:05:00 I thought I would do.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic!  In my second tri, I moved from the back of the back of the pack, to a position near the middle--and in the top third of my age group. 

For today, I'm resting on my . . . ahem, laurels.  

My goal for the week:  come down gently, and as little as possible, from Cloud 9-3/4.

Done for the Week: Staying the Course in Wisconsin

This morning, my fellow Wisconsites and I awake to another week in the land of what many refer to as FitzWalkerstan.  Last week's recall election losses were hard to swallow, though "our side" did manage to take two of six.  Up tomorrow are two more recalls, this time of two Democratic senators who left the state for a few weeks last spring to conduct a virtual fillibuster intended to slow down the Walker train wreck.  Needless to say, we are again holding our breath and hoping for victory.

Despite the dispiriting effect of watching the candidate I had worked hard for go down to defeat, I managed to keep going last week, and to get some things done.

Done for the Week:  Aug. 8-14, 2011

1. Completed Week 14 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran three times; swam three times; biked three times
2. Worked out several times with my training partner
3. Attended second Open Water Swim class
4. Attended race simulation; included biking the race course in windy conditions, on pace to meet my goal
5. Continued working on pre-race anxiety, mental training
6. Purchased bike inner tube, new running hat
7. Finished The Scent of Rain and Lightning, by Nancy Pickard; Nose Down, Eyes Up, by Merrill Markoe
8. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
9. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
10. Meditated four times
11. Published 2 blog posts
12. Shared Happy Hour dinner with my husband
13. Continued reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
14. Arranged to meet with possible new web client
15. Continued work on current clients' projects
16. Worked to get out the vote for recall candidate 
17. Advised newly voting-age son on registering, voting 
18. Attended election night party
19. Coped with election loss depression
20. Kept up newly straightened/cleaned/decluttered areas, with some family assistance
21. Did laundry

Last week's focus goal was to return to the regular practice of meditation.  As you can see above, I meditated four times in a fairly crazy week.  You'd think I could manage to remember what a difference it makes. 

Once again, last week's most important accomplishment was all the effort I put into getting ready for the triathlon.  Triathlon seems to be, for me and for many others I have met, something of a container/metaphor for growth.  At least, that's part of what I tell myself about why the endeavor deserves all the time and sweat and money I expend on it.

I am still learning things I need to know from triathlon, and things I apply across the rock-strewn landscape of my life.  This week's focus goal, another learning opportunity, is to finish my training using the less-is-more and self-nurturing approach appropriate to the final days before the race.  I will spend less hours on the track, on the road, and in the water; I will continue to meditate; I will eat to enhance health and performance; I will encourage sleep; and I will work on my head, using music, mantras, positive talk, and camaraderie.  And in the end, I will show up on race day and do what I came to do.

The final pre-race hurdle is a Tuesday evening swim across the lake where the race will take place on Sunday.  In the company of a dozen or so other nervous swimmers, I intend to get to the other side by any means necessary.

Done for the Week: Nearing the Home Stretch

As soon as we can manage it, my husband and I plan to see the heralded movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.  Life here lately has been all three.

In the midst of it all, I'm still managing to get some things done--and not others.



Done for the Week:  Aug. 1-7, 2011

1. Completed Week 13 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran twice; swam three times; biked twice
2. Worked out several times with my training partner
3. Attended first rained-out Open Water Swim class
4. Began working on pre-race anxiety, mental training
5. Purchased new hydration system for biking
6. Revised race goals
7. Finished The Purple Culture, by Stephen Boehrer
8. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
9. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
10. Meditated once
11. Published 1 blog post 
12. Shared Happy Hour dinner with my husband
13. Continued reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
14. Met with new web client, finalized agreement; worked on project
15. Met with current web client; worked on project
16. Worked for recall candidate several times
17. Voted early with my husband, and accompanied son to vote early
18. Helped family member with minor medical crisis
19. Attended grandson's birthday party
20. Made continued progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering living room & family room 
21. Worked with my husband on major push to clean/straighten/declutter kitchen
22. Shopped for (nearly unaffordable) groceries with my son
23. Did laundry

Last week's most important accomplishment, as the week before, was all the effort I put into getting ready for the triathlon.  And last week's focus goal was to give triathlon the attention and the energy it deserves, and to relish its gifts and take in its lessons.  Triathlon is beginning to take its rightful place at the top of my list of priorities most days, as it will need to for the remaining 13 days before the race.  And I am starting to feel excited, as well as nervous. 

I had hoped to beat last year's time by 8+ minutes, bringing my overall time under 2 hours.  Last week I learned that the bike course had been lengthened by 1.5 miles, which will most likely pretty much trump my new, faster bike.  My times in each event are slightly faster this year, from what I can gauge in training.  But probably not enough faster to get me in under 2 hours. 

 I hope to take 2-1/2 minutes off my swim time, 29 seconds off my first transition, 28 seconds off my second transition, almost 3 minutes off my run time, and to finish the biking course in 54 minutes (improving last year's pace by 1.5 mph).  That's the stretch goal, which would bring my overall time to 2:03.  I would be really happy with 2:05.  (Pretty slow for a sprint triathlon, but way faster than the people my age who are sitting on a couch on a Sunday morning in August!)

Oh, and not to be forgotten, the essential goal of having fun!

This week's focus goal will be to return to the regular practice of meditation as an aid in taming the nerves I am starting to feel.  It should also help keep me more balanced as our recall election, and this phase of the long crazy political journey we are on, conclude in the next two days.  

As to that, I'm keeping my fingers and toes, but not my eyes, crossed.  Time to take our state government back!

Done for the Week: Narrowing My Sights

I have reached the part of this summer that will involve focusing intensely on preparing for the triathlon in less than three weeks.  My training partner and I spent all day yesterday traveling to, participating in, and returning from the Danskin Triathlon Prep Camp held at the location of the upcoming race.  Tomorrow we will begin the Open Water Swim class, which will have us traveling to and training in the Lake we will be swimming across.  It is time to take my bike in for its pre-race tuneup, and to finalize additional equipment and technique tweaks.  The training schedule for the next three weeks will be hectic.  And it is time to start working on my nerves.


Even though this is my second tri, and I am no longer considered a newbie, I still approach the event with a bit of trepidation; although I have to say that getting into the lake yesterday was much less intimidating than it was last year at this time.  But, at least for me, an undertaking of this magnitude requires the kind of organization, persistence, faith, self-discipline, and FOCUS that do not come naturally to me.  Which is why this sport has been so good for me.  And so challenging.


To further complicate things this year, August brings me new staff to deal with at one job; my grandson's birthday (which I am struggling to remember is in 3 days!); a new web client, with his September launch date; a major website overhaul for another client, due at the end of the month; my continuing efforts to keep this blog up and running; support needed to get one son ready for college, and another to finish high school; and the rush to complete the long list of summer projects we came up with, what seems a few short weeks ago.  Oh, and then there's the recall election that Wisconsin believes the world is watching.  Eight crazy days, and lots of volunteer hours to go.


I am still managing to put one foot in front of the other, and still searching for equanimity.


Done for the Week:  July 25-31, 2011

1. Completed Week 12 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran three times; swam three times; biked three times
2. Worked out several times with my training partner
3. Attended Triathlon Prep Camp
4. Ordered & received new triathlon shorts; found old ones
5. Got new contacts, and began wearing them 
6. Finished If Sons, Then Heirs, by Lorene Cary
7. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
8. Published 1 blog post 
9. Shared Happy Hour dinner with my husband
10. Continued reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
11. Took my dog to dog wash/coffee bar, with my husband
12. Set up lunch meeting with new web client
13. Met with current web client; worked on project
14. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to and from work
15. Took last child to driver's license road test in the rain (He passed!)
16. Worked for recall candidate
17. Worked at two Get Out the Vote events, in the blazing heat of mid-day
18. Attended stepson's fiance's graduate school graduation party
19. Celebrated my husband's birthday
20. Visited "Summer of China" Forbidden City exhibit at Art Museum
21. Bought "new" sofa and sofa table at consignment shop
22. Picked up sofa and sofa table, and moved out old sofa
23. Made significant progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering living room, family room & kitchen  
24. Did laundry

Last week's most important accomplishment was all the effort I put into getting ready for the triathlon.   And in the process, I determined that my approach to training and preparations for this much-anticipated event has been neglecting its importance.  I have been trying to wedge this significant campaign into an already crazy-making agenda, and experiencing the necessary activity as more of a nuisance than the joy it was last year.  

Some of what has been missing is training with my daughter, which gave us some time and a shared interest outside of family.  She is four months pregnant, and not a triathlon candidate this season.  But I am enjoying training with a friend, and supporting her first effort.

The real culprit is the rest of my jam-packed life.  I haven't yet figured out what to do about that, though I have certainly spent a lot of time contemplating solutions, and writing about that contemplation.  But I have decided to enter more fully into the experience of triathlon, which is not just about race day.  I am going to try to give it the attention and the energy it deserves, and to relish its gifts and take in its lessons.  That is next week's focus goal.

Last week's focus goal, creating a realistic schedule that reflects my many current commitments, got short shrift, I'm afraid.   Given the crunch-time nature of these last weeks of summer, it was probably unrealistic to have expected otherwise.  As I said last week, "When I can be more strategic about my use of time, it should be easier to defend against additional incursions of responsibility (by using that two-letter word I have so much trouble with), and to prioritize projects in a way that will allow me to feel that I'm making progress."  Emphasis on when.  That time is not now.  

Later, for the realistic schedule.

Done for the Week: Always Behind

Another week of activity, to-do items crossed off, milestones in the rear view.  And yet, a deep down feeling of being perpetually behind.  Something systemic, I believe.  Something unlikely to be resolved by making lists and writing about my inability to get through them.

I did, however, do these things.

Done for the Week:  July 18-24, 2011

1. Completed Week 11 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran twice; swam twice; biked three times
2. Swam twice, ran twice, biked once with my training partner
3. Biked once with my husband
4. Signed up for additional triathlon prep camp
5. Replaced swim cap & goggles left at the pool
6. Made appointment to get new contacts 
7. Went with my husband to pick out his new glasses
8. Finished The Apothecary Rose, by Candace Robb
9. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
10. Published 2 blog posts 
11. Shared Happy Hour dinner with my husband
12. Watched Treme with my husband
13. Returned to reading Elizabeth George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner aloud with my husband
14. Saw Beginners with my husband
15. Took my dog to the dog park, with my husband
16. Attempted (prematurely aborted) game of Pictionary with my family
17. Saw new Harry Potter movie with my husband and son
18. Met with prospective web client
19. Met with current web client; worked on project
20. Drove with about-to-be licensed teenager several times 
21. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to and from work
22. Finally cracked the code for road test appointment; succeeded in moving appointment up six weeks, to this Wednesday (Yay!)
23. Worked for recall candidate
24. Made major progress on backyard reclamation
25. Planted more flowers, started putting down mulch; got three bee stings
26. Went to outdoor jobs prayer vigil (in 100+ degree heat!)
27. Attended Issues Night
28. Attended 1 yoga class; sustained hamstring injury
29. Called my mom
30. Picked up prize won in library reading program
31. Listened to my son's amazing hip hop creations online
32. Continued progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering work room, bedroom & kitchen  

My most important accomplishment last week was squeezing in time with my family.  This, despite the fact that, to a man/woman, all of them would say that I was too busy, and barely available.  In part, they are right.  In part, they are reacting to the sea change over the past couple of years, as I take back some of my energy and time from absorption in family tasks and responsibilities.  They may not think so, but they are still first in my heart.   

Last week's focus goal, back by not-so-popular demand, was to declutter our house, involving my housemates in the excavation, and starting with the kitchen, my work room, and our bedroom.  I am embarrassed to admit that five straight weeks of "focusing" on this goal have not produced the desired results.  It is beginning to dawn on me that I have left no room in my crowded schedule for this project, depending on "working in" this effort to achieve the desired end.  And like the overflow patients "worked in" to a doctor's bulging appointment calendar, these rooms are still waiting.  And waiting.  Their time in the queue has produced little in the way of real attention.  

Our bedroom saw the most improvement, though it has yet to be completely rehabbed.  But it's close.  The other two rooms see the most daily use, the kitchen in particular.  So reclaiming them requires dealing with continuing accrual of detritus, and making a dent in the significant backlog.

Given the scope of the problem, and my tardy recognition of the real barriers to its solution, I have decided to shift my focus this week to creating a realistic schedule that reflects my many current commitments.  When I can be more strategic about my use of time, it should be easier to defend against additional incursions of responsibility (by using that two-letter word I have so much trouble with), and to prioritize projects in a way that will allow me to feel that I'm making progress.