Three Elephants

For the month of June, I didn't hit one personal goal on my worksheets.  Hum, I probably hit my reading goal because I did read four of the twenty books I have to have finished by September for a writing workshop.  However, I didn't keep track of the time, so I am not counting the win on my spreadsheet.  I am not going to kick myself too much.  We did have the funeral for Mom and cleaned out the entire house.  Also, the house has a buy/sale agreement.  June was productive on this level.  Now, I look at July and wonder what is next?

I am overwhelmed.  Everything is messy in my life: house, yard, and garage.  I have resolved myself to the fact that I won't be writing fiction this summer, but I still want to write.  Where do I start?  I am reminded of the question of how do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  Unfortunately, I feel like I have three elephants in my life.

In the summer, I hate cleaning house.  I tend to leave it until the last minute.  Okay, I always leave it to the last minute.  Little squirrels distract me from my chores: crocheting, writing, cross stitching (thanks a lot Madelle), photography, gardening, and the list goes on.  I am trying to change that bad habit.  One room at a time.  Today, I am working on my bathroom.  I know.  I can do more than that in a day, but I would rather be outside if the weather is good.

In the last two days, I have worked in the sidewalk garden.  I am not close to being done, but I will keep at it.  Once the grass dries out, I need to work on the mowing and trimming.  I can't think about the other gardens or I might give up.  My hand and wrist are a bit sore from trimming two of the bushes.  I might have to take it a bit slow today and do more housework.  Boring.

The garage is a huge project.  Between not cleaning it in years and all the moving of stuff into the huge space due to my father-in-law's passing a year and a half ago and now my mother's death, I have a disaster.  I am excited though because Clay is coming later this week to help me get stuff hauled to the dump and organized.  I will also take runs to Good Sam.  Finally, I want to sell two big ticket items at least.  I will have a clean garage at some point.

Writing is my last part of my life I need to get back to in some regards.  I don't really count this as an elephant.  Sure I have things that need done, but this is more for my peace of mind.  I am leaving the fiction writing alone for a bit.  I need to process life and get life in order before I add that distraction to my day.  I have sixteen more books to read.  That is my main goal, but I have to literally write my own words.  I am going to blog and do morning pages.  My voice is struggling, so I might be writing erratically, but I will be writing.

With three elephants to eat and a little writing, I am working at twenty minute segments.  First thing in the morning, I will write my morning pages.  This is mandatory for a good writing schedule to begin my fall.  Later in the morning, before it gets hot, I will work in the yard.  In the afternoon, I will work in the garage.  The evenings I will use for housecleaning.  In between all these activities I will rest, walk the dog, and run errands.  Taking all of these items in chunks, I am not so overwhelmed.  Now, I just pray nothing happens for the next three months to mess up my plan!