My Own Worst Enemy

So, I have a list of things to do today. I create these often, usually the night before, though it's rare for me to actually consult them until a few weeks later, only to find out I still haven't done most of it.

Today was one of those days where I consulted it off and on, but out of the 15 things I had on my list, I only achieved 6 of them, one of which was putting a 'test beer*' in the fridge. Woo-hoo.

This isn't to say I sat on my ass all day, though based on the fact that Ian and I didn't even get out of bed until 10:45 this morning – just in time to head out sans shower to meet a friend for lunch around 11:45 – that scenario would not have been surprising.

The problem is I make these lists, then proceed to do a bunch of things not on them. For instance, I checked two things off my list on my way home after lunch, then got home and decided to clean up all the leaves on the street in front of our house and on the sidewalk – not on the list. But thanks to the drought, we have the only tree on the block that has shed most of its (tiny, annoying) leaves and I've been feeling guilty about how crappy it looks.

And I had a brilliant plan – I'd use the wet/dry vac to suck them up. I couldn't wait to get started.

Ian went down for a nap (hallelujah), so I figured I'd just put in a load of laundry before heading outside – not on the list. Once I got down to the basement, I noticed the rug in front of the washer and dryer could use a vacuuming, so I did that – not on the list. Then proceeded to clean up around the litter boxes – not on the list. While I was at it, I vacuumed all the floor that wasn't piled high with coal room stuff and the stairs leading up to the kitchen – not on the list.

I made the mistake of looking up and decided to vacuum all the disgusting cobwebs that had reappeared since the last time I did it in early September – not on the list. Miraculously, Ian was still sleeping, so I was able to go outside and take care of the leaves – still not on the list. I even got so far as getting the leaves up from the back stairs and around our back porch – not on the list, either.

Then I took out the garbage and recyclables (the first time in two weeks - good grief!), did some more laundry, took a shower, called a friend, talked to my husband, paid some bills, played with and read to my child, made a crappy dinner for myself and cleaned up yesterday's and today's dishes – not on the list, not on the list, not on the list.

Whew. It was a big day. And while I feel good about what I've done, I don't have that sense of accomplishment that would come with checking off everything that actually was on my list. Tomorrow is another day...

* A cooler full of beer has been on our back porch since Ian's baptism. There were two coolers, but one I could actually lift myself, so that has long since been brought in, its contents put in our basement fridge. This one, however, is heavy and waiting on Rick. So I thought I'd try one of the beers to make sure they're not skunked before bothering to unload them, provided Rick does, one day, bring in the cooler. Thus the 'test beer.' Exciting, eh?