My sisters and I have been updating each other on the phone and by text of how we have been spending our time while social distancing! This post was inspired by those conversations! Thanks to Mother Fran, our family bond is strong!
I like to keep myself relatively busy. I wake up most days by 6:00am and am ready to greet the day. Once I drink my tea, take my quiet time, eat some breakfast and walk the dog; I’m ready to get cracking! I’m not good at just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Between Covid19, daily rain storms, and not working at the nursing home; I have way too much time on my hands.
One recent Saturday, I made homemade laundry detergent, did a load of wash, organized my clothes that hang in the closet, rolled $84 worth of change and got 24 hour yogurt in the instant pot. The next day, I vacuumed, cleaned the counter tops, did some basement organizing and worked in the yard.
What else have I accomplished during this “stay at home” time? My dog has never walked so much, smelled so good or been brushed this often! I have made brownies, blueberry bread, banana bread and Switchel! I have emptied a big bin in the basement and that resulted in a pile of stuff to be donated. I have scrubbed the bathroom, washed the shower curtain and vacuumed the carpet every other day. Heck, I even got my honey to clean out the gutters while I did some weeding in the back yard.
I have been to the cottage four times already. The water is turned on, the furniture is set up and one of the beds is made. My honey and I even did our first overnight there for my birthday! The contractors have been hired and so far they have repaired the driveway and built a beautiful retaining wall. I found a used hospital bed for sale and bought it for Mother Fran. Number 9 helped me get it to the cottage and we set it up. Right before I finalized this post, I watched the sunrise over the lake! Yes, I am in my happy place.
During this time period, I spoke to and texted my siblings and found out what they have been up to. Child #1 has been cleaning out her basement. Child #2 has washed all of her windows and cleaned her blinds. Child #3 has been dehydrating spices cleaning her junk drawers and baking up a storm. Child #5 is enjoying his pool (he lives in Florida) and enjoying having his honey at home. Child #6 is working from home. Child #7 is busy with Mother Fran but also cleaning the house and tackling the projects that usually get put off until she leaves Florida for New York. Child #9 is doing some hiking and making homemade sourdough bread. I guess keeping busy runs in the family.
Although I have been keeping busy, I have not been tackling the long term priority tasks. You know the ones that sit on your to do list for month after month, year after year… Seriously some of the items on my list have made an appearance on every procrastination list I have written for the last 5 years. I have not accomplished them but I have not let myself forget them!
I think it is time to create another procrastination list! I do this when I feel like I have a lot to do but am avoiding certain tasks. I pick the priority items off of the list and assign a due date. Trust me, not everything gets completed but I do generally make some good headway.
Here is my list! (I wrote it several weeks ago when I started this post, hence the updates…)
- Finish stripping the dresser (this has been on my list for a few years)
- Stain the dresser
- Set up beneficiaries for accounts
- Contact a lawyer regarding a will
- Fill out health care proxy forms
- Organize the garage
- Finish updating Google Contacts
- Teak oil outdoor furniture
- Finish downsizing the kitchen box – DONE
- Donate bottles and cans to roadside bin – DONE
- Mop kitchen and bathroom floor
- Get water on at the cottage – DONE
- Clean cottage and get it open for 2020 – DONE
It is kind of nice to have time to do these odd jobs that otherwise need to be squeezed into an already overbooked schedule. Now that yard work season is in full swing, it is harder for me to tackle projects like these. But I do have slow days and rainy days so I will refer to it often. That means saving it on my GOOGLE KEEP page so it pops up onto my screen every time I turn on the computer!
It is also nice that I have been communicating with my siblings way more than usual. We have a sibling text thread so Child #7 and whoever may be visiting can give updates on Mother Fran. It has also become a way to just tell each other what we have been up to during these trying time. Child #6 organized a ZOOM meeting with her daughters and invited all of us to join them. It was nice to see Mother Fran and to hear her voice. It was also fun to hang out with my siblings for an hour!
While we twiddle our thumbs, hanging out on the couch, time has a way of feeling really slow while it is actually zipping by us. 2020 is almost half way over and it is time to get cracking. Go tackle a project or two; you won’t regret it!
What projects have you tackled? Which ones are you avoiding?
A big shout out to all of you who have had to work through this crisis to keep us healthy, fed, safe and housed. Thank you for your dedication and your service.
Lake Girl
