One would think I would be quick to put that time to good use. Oh, I've had "good intentions" of doing so. But to actually say I have is an over-statement. For all the years I said if I just had some time I could get so much done, it just hasn't happened. Time has been spread out before me like a banquet, and I haven't even bothered to do more than nibble.
At first it was just nice knowing I had only one easy trip each week for the month of April. I truly was surprised I was even awarded a regular schedule. In fact I got my second choice. The way things were being presented at United, I thought for sure that I probably would get a regular schedule, but one not of my choosing. Wrong. And I was really amazed and happy.
My initial trip was the very first day of April's work month. March 31st. After that trip the schedule called for multiple days home before the next 2-day assignment. Wow! I haven't had a chance to be home that much since I had cataract surgery--and then it wasn't all that great because I had limitations. So, the first few days I just basked in doing what I wanted when I wanted--or NOT doing anything at all. Then that got old.
I began to think I had better start some serious effort to take care of the housekeeping details that are easily overlooked, just so there is enough time that the basic minimum is taken care of. We are talking here of cleaning cupboards and drawers, washing all the artificial plants in the house--and there are A LOT of them, laundering the bedding, vacuuming the furniture, scrubbing the tile, dusting the baseboards. You get the picture.
And in addition to that, how about finding repair people for the caulking in the shower since that is beyond the job description of other people in the same house, an electrician to replace some blown fuses which got that way when the hand mixer started smoking before Christmas and rendered the plug on the kitchen island and all plugs on the south side of the kitchen inoperable, and an arborist to do some serious trimming and repair on the remaining trees in the backyard.
Then there is a third level of jobs that need to be addressed. Those pertaining to organizing the pertinent information of my personal financial and online life and put them together in one place in case anyone might need to go looking for a bank account number, a life insurance policy, or the like. Or what about the stuff I always say I would work on IF I had the time (I'm thinking all the times I said I do have things to do AFTER I retire). That would include tossing 95% of the recipes I have collected over the years--I mean REALLY getting tough and not thinking that "Hey, this might be a good and easy dish to make." It ain't a gonna happen. I know that, so I need to get tough and get rid of those recipes. Compile the rest into a doable pile from which to make a final NICHOLS FAMILY EATS cookbook. And then again there is always the picture box if I run out of stuff to do. Maybe edit and self-publish a second volume of V.T. letters with LULU. And the never-ending specter of Family History which always looms over my head.
Okay, I knew what I had to do. Make a "To Do List" and start knocking off those jobs one by one. ( Oh, I do love to check off items on a list!) Or at least make a start on SOMETHING! Only, tackling that list was harder to take care of than I thought. Some days I have taken a look at that elephant and said--"not today". I have to be in the mood for some of that stuff. Like I already know the housekeeping details that are involved with many of these jobs, and sometimes getting a singular task done is downright hard work.
I even tried the "Faye Nix" way. Nixes were a family we knew in the ward when we lived in Berlin. They had five or six kids, too, but Faye said she didn't stress over housework like I did. She put three things on her to-do list every day. If she got them done, fine. If not, whatever was left went to the top of the list for the next day. I used to think it was best to get the basics done every day before stuff piled up until the whole job of housecleaning was too overwhelming. Now here I am emulating Faye Nix. Unsuccessfully, I might add.
What has the outcome been...? Not very much accomplished, I'm sorry to admit. A drawer. Three or four singular shelves. Wiping down the kitchen counters. A thorough cleaning of the laundry room, including pulling out the washer and dryer and scrubbing the grungy floor underneath them. Washing the artificial plants in three small areas. Tackling the under-sink cupboard in my bathroom just one little bit at the time as I have literally thrown stuff under there for lack of a more dignified storage for bars of soap, make-up mistakes, and the like. And that's about it. Pathetic, isn't it!
Not making any promises, though, to myself or anyone else. It will all probably still be here at my life's end for my children to spend countless hours sorting through while they grit their teeth and snarl, "Why? Why? Why?" over and over.
...QUE SERA, SERA
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