Countdown to Spring – New England-Style

Spring has officially started, although you would never know it. The spring equinox was March 20th but we are now into April and it still feels like February. There recently has been 10 consecutive days of some kind of rain. There were more days of wind in March than could be counted. And it was real wind, like gusting 30 to 40 mph. This didn’t prevent me from photographing the beautiful sunsets off my balcony. I do a series of 3 or 4, even though the change is negligible. That is a hard word to say. I dare you. Try to say it 3 times in a row. Fast. See what I mean?

My family had one hamster die this “spring”, Daisy, who we loved. We bought one new hamster, Armand, who is small and feisty and no sweet Daisy. He eats handfuls of Lucky Charms and Cheerios but hates his hamster food. He has bitten everyone once.

My daughter and I have completed 8 episodes of White Lotus. We held our breath at least 5 times per episode. I have gone on zero vacations or day trips this spring but I visit the grocery store daily and sometimes, twice in the same day. I always forget the one crucial item I went there for. If I get to a retail store in between endless duties and chores, I consider that a mini-vacation. As Alexander Pope said, “Hope springs eternal” and with my glass half-full and birds in my hand (not in the bush), I am going to march forward into this season with hope for good weather and good things ahead! Happy spring everyone!

See any difference?
Sunset 2
Sunset # I don’t know.

Book review: Maybe You Should Give Up

I swore I was not going to take on the task of another book review until I had completed my own manuscript and made a valiant effort to get it published. I have become a professional procrastinator when it comes to my own affairs. So when I received an email from Byron Morrison, I became distracted and intrigued. I consider that the mark of a curious person and a procrastinator. The title, Maybe You Should Give Up caught my attention and Byron’s last name is similar to mine. So I replied. We emailed, I looked at his website and I thought, What do I have to lose?

The title of the book is Maybe You Should Give Up and the subtitle is 7 ways to get out of your own way and take control of your life. I need to get back in control of my life and my time and 7 ways to do it seemed quite manageable to me. 50 ways would be way too much. Even 10 might be too many but 7 is a good number. But this isn’t about numerology, although I would love to go there. This is about getting stuff done. The 7 ways are essentially identifying the 7 “mental rocks” we are being weighed down by and removing them to get going again. The book stated, “Stop carrying boulders. Give up on them. Leave them behind.” Sounds simple but can you do it? I wasn’t sure I could. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I could read the whole book and write a review, let alone learn anything from it. HOWEVER, I decided to read and immediately take action from Byron’s advice. And you know what? It worked! I don’t want to divulge the secret things on my to-do list that I finally pulled the proverbial trigger on but I started acting instead of allowing fear and self-criticism to stop me. In essence, I gave up on trying to be perfect which the book recommends. I had drafts of emails waiting to be sent out until they were perfect. I perused them and hit the send button. I will never be able to be rejected if they are sitting in the drafts folder. Truthfully, I already received a couple of rejections but they felt better than not acting at all.

The book is well-written, easy to read and peppered with anecdotes from Morrison’s life experience and his work as a life coach. I highly recommend this book and you can pre-order your copy here.

I have been promised an autographed copy. I can’t wait!

A new year of potential

It’s a new year!  It’s a time for new beginnings, releasing old habits and generally, shaking off the dust.  And if you live in my house, there is plenty of that because the way my schedule is set up, there is very little time for “frivolous” chores like dusting.  Something like cleaning a toilet, well, that needs to get done but dust, well, I know that is pretty gross too.  I could make a bunch of excuses as to why I can’t get everything done but just envision yourself working and parenting without 2 people.  As in, all on your own.  I love when friends or people in general complain about how hard it is to be a parent and I see their husband at the ball field, at the grocery store and let’s say, lending 2 additional hands to the parenting role.  I am like a human octopus….truly, all hands on deck.

Now that I think of it, since dust is made up of sloughed-off skin cells (among other vile things like mites and other dead insect parts), I should dust and I could create an assistant to help me multi-task.  My dust assistant could go grocery shopping, while I assist with homework.  That would be a cost-effective way to secure some help.

And I am not complaining.  I am generally happy and I make time every day, no matter what the weather is, to get out for a walk in nature.  The things l don’t like to do – cooking, laundry and scrubbing floors, I would have to do with or without children.  To me, the parenting stuff is easy – challenging, at times, and time consuming for sure but immensely enjoyable.  The daily chore stuff…not so much.

Truth be told, when I looked out my slider today while drinking a coffee, I realized the 5 pumpkins I bought for the fall were rotting beside the “Welcome to the pumpkin patch” placard.  It should say, “Welcome to my world – procrastination sprinkled with exhaustion”.

No dust here. Nothing but blue skies.