putting things off
(6:08a) I came downstairs this morning at 5:30. It’s almost ten past six, and I’ve already been very busy. Made coffee, checked email, read the front page of the NYT, checked out People.com’s Academy Awards coverage (weak), watched six boards of a team match played by eight people I’ve never heard of before, gotten in trouble in my story and kicked off an entertaining (to write, so far) blog post. I’ll go back to the story at 6:10.
(6:07a) I am the worst procrastinator! Right now I’m reaching over my notebook and pen to blog rather than work through a tricky passage. I’m going back to it right now, but odds are I’ll be here again in a few minutes.
(6:42a) That was a productive half hour. I made more coffee, checked my email twice and toyed briefly with the idea of attending some correspondence while writing the inventory of my character’s kitchen drawers. What does a recluse need with cabinetry? She has three coffee mugs, two dinner plates, one soup bowl, two water glasses, one frying pan, one saucepan, one soup pot, three well-seasoned wooden spoons, one cookie sheet, one loaf pan, two forks, two butter knives, one steak knife, one paring knife, one chef’s knife, one bread knife, six teaspoons and a corkscrew/bottle opener. She used to have a wine glass in the kitchen, now it’s planted in front of the chives , an adorable little marker. She likes to toss a little clover into the potting soil; into the tiny green field she stands a frog holding a toothpick with a banner, “Herb Garden.” For a woman who’s been sober for fourteen years, six months and two weeks, it’s the highest and best use for a wine glass. She still celebrates her own sobriety.
(6:50a) We’re starting a new regime this morning, in about 15 minutes I’ll go upstairs and wake up the littlest Jacobs. The elder cherub has agreed to get herself up and dressed and ready to leave for school by 8:20a. I failed to reconfirm this last night, so I may be a little noisy when I go in to check on her. Will definitely remind her tonight. Responsibility is a big word. I know she’s up to it. We’re dancing to Pink this morning, “The One That Got Away.” Did you know? We believe days which start out with dancing are better than days which don’t.
(7:01a) Time to put the story away until after lunch. I’ve got to get the kids up and off to school so I can come back and feed my Speedball addiction, return a handful of phone calls, schedule practice dates with Sue, make the last few arrangements for our Spring Break road trip and figure out about dinner. I’m disappointed I didn’t make more progress this morning. Resolved to do better.
(6:58a) Can’t decide if I’ll keep this post going, edit it, rearrange the paragraphs, control-all delete or what. So instead I checked my email, browsed the shoes on sale at Neiman Marcus (ohmygod! Last call!) and checked my horoscope.
The morning’s discouragement can shift into afternoon resolve as you prepare to take the bull by the horns. You are tired of being bounced around by the unpredictable waves of change. It’s time to put your mind to work by creating powerful intentions and then following through on these ideas to make them real.
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