Friday, September 30, 2011

Time Management

My apologies if you've been checking in, looking for a posting from me.  I'd actually like to think that someone MIGHT have been doing that.  For 10 days now, I've been thinking, "I have to blog.. I have to blog."  


I didn't realize how hard this blogging would be.  Trying to come up with something to write about .. without having a "theme" for the blog ... is quite a challenge.  I'm beginning to understand writer's block! So, I decided I would just sit down and start writing "stream of consciousness" and see what I could make of it (remember the old exercises in journalism class?).  However, then I couldn't find the time (subconscious procrastination?)!  Yikes! There are 86,400 seconds in a day ... how could I not have found 30 minutes out of 864,000 seconds to write something!  Maybe I should think about time management.


Now that I've had time to reflect on it, I have been pretty busy during those 864,000 seconds and I did some pretty terrific things during them.

  • I have been with 7 of my 8 grandchildren ... sporting events (Megan, Landon and Cam), birthday present deliveries (Lauren and Emily), student recognition award ceremonies (Daniel) and the joy of a bonus hug and kiss from one (Nathan) while delivering birthday presents to his sister. The 8th one (Delaney) eluded me only because she was out of town playing in the state baseball tournament at the times I saw her siblings.  However, I hear she hit 2 triples in one of the games, so "Way to go, Delaney!"
  • Shared meals with several different groups of friends:  coffee and bagels with a neighbor who had just retired after 25 years as a nurse; breakfast with an 84 year old friend who sat behind us at 5:00 Mass every week until she and her husband had to leave their home of 50 years and move to a senior high-rise; lunch with a friend I have known and worked with for 25 years; Mass and dinner with a group of friends we've known for 30 years; a wonderful dinner my husband cooked for another friend turning 70; lunch with my 92-year old mother and my best friend; and lunch with my former boss (who retired the same day I did) and our former secretary.  
  • Baked my first peach pie of the season (delicious!)
  • Volunteered for 8 hours at the local library
  • Saw the movie "The Help."
  • Played 36 holes of golf (and bid adieu to my golf league until next April) 
  • Cleaned house
  • Did 13 loads of laundry
  • Cooked a few meals (Ed would tell you "a very few" and, looking at all of the meals I shared with others listed above, I'd have to agree)
  • And a bunch of stuff I've forgotten!
No wonder I haven't had time to blog.

It is October 1. Summer is definitely behind us, despite a few warm days this past week and a few that will come in October. As I write this, the sun is out .. the leaves are changing ... and the feel and smell of fall is in the air.  The maple tree in our back yard is usually at its peak on our anniversary ... October 9.  Today, the top of it is a brilliant red ... right on schedule for its annual spectacular dress-up of our back yard. 

A few days ago, a couple of our neighborhood wild turkeys (the two-legged kind) visited the ground under our bird feeder (deliberately feeding wild animals is now illegal in our community ... interesting what issues our politicians can fix while the recession runs rampant and homeless people and hungry children increase by the day).  The turkeys don't make an appearance most of the summer, but they abound in the winter, so I'm preparing myself.

And as I write this, it is 85 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes to Christmas (less by the time you read this!)  I'd better get busy.

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