Resurrection of the List Journal

Lately it seems like I have just been drifting through life without much purpose or direction.  I get a few things done here and there, but not nearly what I used to accomplish.  Last week  when I was cleaning things up in the studio, I came across my old list journal.  It still had a lot of usable pages in it, so I figured I might try to resurrect the old list making habit.

The way I like to work is to start out by making a list of all the things I want to accomplish throughout the week, then break it down by making five smaller lists on the same page for each day.  At the very bottom I make a tentative menu plan and add the food prep needed to the daily lists.  On the far right side, I list errands and grocery needs.  One page per week is all I seem to need to keep things going.

So far this week I have been twice as productive as I have been for the last several months, but I guess I wore myself out because this morning I went back to bed and slept for an extra three hours!  On the plus side, we have been eating better and I feel good at the end of the day knowing that I have accomplished something.  So far I have made lists reasonable enough that I am actually able to cross almost everything off.  I am trying to get to the level of not too little or too much.  I am almost there.

It was good for me to take a break from it for a while (about a year) since I had become rather obsessive about both making and following the lists. The lists were often so long and overwhelming that they drove me away from accomplishing things instead of being beneficial.   I think I can handle it again without overdoing it--if not, I'll go back to slacker mode.  I am trying to de-stress, not make things worse!

The heat has been oppressive this week.  We have been under an ozone alert each day and the lack of wind makes things feel so much hotter.  I have been trying to keep up with the watering and "tea" schedule for the garden, and so far I have only lost one plant.  The tomatoes are all split, one of the peppers has a scorch mark on it and the birds have eaten every strawberry that has come on so far, but I have only lost a couple of plants I put in from seed and I am pretty sure I will have a nice crop of jalapeno peppers in a few weeks.

Ornery finally got the fertilizer on the lawn last weekend (we had it for six months before we moved, so that is why I say finally!) and the grass looks pretty happy. It was organic and the bag said it could be applied any time.  Much as I hate to use the water, I have had the sprinkler on this week since it is so hot. I also re-potted the two shamrocks I got in March and found them a new home outside on the patio.  I got the top coat put on the little patio table Ornery built, so it is finally out there between our rockers, awaiting a cool morning for us to enjoy our coffee out there.

Ornery's travel schedule seems to have changed again, and now he won't be gone for so long.  Site trips are financially beneficial, but I really do enjoy having him home.  I think he just wishes they would make up their minds so he knew what to do!

Today's task is to do some cooking and paint the bookcase in my studio.  I am going to have to put some wild music on and wake up a bit more if I am to accomplish much!