Resting From THE LIST

The day that I decided to do the list thing I was very motivated. Part of my motivation stemmed from the fact that no matter what I did accomplish each day, my mind tended to focus on what was left UNDONE.

For instance. Spending a day at the beach with my family. A glorious time was had by all. The snorkeling was something that most people only get to watch on the travel channel; my son and his friend took me out to a place past the reef with dramatic 40 foot drops of underwater cliff covered in coral, schools of rainbow fish feeding in a frenzy, then bursting in all directions like a fourth of July firework display when I swam into the middle of them. I had the fun of watching free divers exercising their lungs by jumping off the reef holding mini boulders. While I floated on the surface like a tourist, these guys would plunge straight down to the bottom. One of them sat crossed legged and mimed transcendental meditation and I had to wonder if it was something he would normally consider doing or if it was just for me and the boys. His friend reenacted Blue Crush and jogged along the floor of the ocean with his boulder. Since I had loaned my snorkel and mask to my son’s buddy and was instead goggling the show with swimmer’s goggles, I had to bend my head back for great gulps of air. Twice. I was very impressed with everyone else’s lungs. The whole scene reminded me of a grown up version of playing tea party on the floor of my friend’s swimming pool as a kid.

After spending two days up at the North Shore, my next day back home I felt overwhelmed by tasks left undone after a week of summer.

With only six weeks now left I went with the list idea.

Which worked really well the day I started it. That day I:

1. Wrote a blog.
2. Wrote a chunk of the stuff I’m doing for work.
3. Balanced my checking account and paid some bills.
4. Took my son to the orthodontist.
5. Made the meal and shopping list for the summer camping trip.
6. Went to three separate stores and bought the food/supplies for the summer camping trip.
7. Got my son to clean the yard.
8. Got my daughter to vacuum the house.
9. Fertilized the potted plants.
10. REFILLED OUT my daughter’s college financial aid paperwork, since her college says the online version we did two months ago had missing information and that they had been having this problem A LOT, so to please do the whole shebang AGAIN on a hard copy.
11. Best for last. Cleaned my bathroom. Not a regular cleaning. EVERYTHING. The cupboards, drawers, medicine cabinet. Organized. Pretty. Someplace one can go and actually take a leisurely bath ( I located the leisurely bath items - including candles, incense, and bath beads that had melted into one giant blob- under piles Costco priced TP) It’s a good thing I’m NOT AT WORK and therefore can choose to ignore both symbolism and irony in my own life.

Things on the list I did not get to included filing of crap in the office and cleaning the ceiling fans. Ah. Well. Still a day where a task oriented person can be proud. Even if one is trying to reconnect with one’s creative side and NOT BE TASK ORIENTED.

The next day I woke up with a migraine and had to spend half a day laying around napping and waiting for the Imitrex to do its thing.

I think the headache was more from sleeping in a bedroom still reeking of the smell of bathroom cleaning supplies than from the actual work itself.

I’ve chosen to take the attitude that the half day was NOT WASTED. I had meant to put napping on the list in the first place.