Wednesday Opportunities

[OKay]

You are skilled and experienced at making progress. Each day, each challenge, and every situation is an opportunity to make some more.
Simply living your life up to this point represents a tangible, impressive achievement. Now you can use your strength and experience to create many more achievements.
Don’t sell yourself short. You are highly capable, so make good and meaningful use of those capabilities.
You have already traveled a unique and valuable path. Now is your opportunity to continue the momentum, and to inject even more positive purpose into your journey.
You are good and worthy, experienced and effective. So keep going, and add more beauty, more substance, more meaning and joy to your life and your world.
Though the challenges are great, you are stronger than every challenge you’ve ever encountered. Keep going, keep moving forward, keep on living with purpose and passion, for that is what you do best.
— Ralph Marston

[OKay]

We had a quick storm come through this morning. It knocked internet and power out for about an hour. Well worth the hassle since we also received some rain with it! I'll check the rain gauge when it become light enough outside to see the marks.

I have been emailing and hoping to find a drum teacher for LO. We have our first positive reply - although it was tentative (on his part). Today, I'll be taking LO to meet him and see how it goes. Starting drum lessons will be a huge commitment on our part - both in time, money and effort. The drum lessons are pricey plus the 60 miles of travel to/from. Plus purchasing LO a "real" full size drum set. And that isn't even considering the hours of HIGH NOISE LEVEL while practicing. Once again I find myself wondering......why doesn't he want to play a nice quiet calm harp????

One question I had though is about the logging of papers. If it takes the same amount of time to process a paper as to log it, wouldn't it be more efficient to process it instead?

Yes, I agree the best way would be to immediately process each packet of papers to completion. To stay caught up on paperwork would most definitely be better than devising a system to track & prioritize them. However, I can't seem to consistently be that organized paperwork processor. It seems I blink and paperwork mushrooms into a mountain.

Logging takes much less time than processing. I just timed myself logging the 5 packets that were put on my desk after I went to bed last night. It took me 2 minutes and 8 seconds to log them. So averaging it out…..it takes approximately 30 seconds to log a packet of papers. This clears my desk of papers and allows me to put the new incoming papers in priority order with the older packets.

I do not think my way of logging and processing paperwork is best way to handle papers. However it a huge improvement over the stack-it-and-keep-it-in-sight-in-hopes-I-don't-forget method that I have been using. AND I like the feed back. I get an atta-boy feeling from seeing how much I have accomplished. Yesterday I processed to completion 27 of the most important packets of papers. I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY knowing that and it makes me want to do it again today. Instead of being something to dread, I'm actually looking forward to it.

I know…..mind games are silly. But my head likes them.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I've been following the paperwork handling discussion with interest. I'm in the piles camp.

Piles everywhere.

But I can 'see' them in my mind and when I was in the hospital, was able to guide dh with some accuracy to where he could find things in the overwhelming clutter of paperwork so he handled everything I remembered that needed handling.

There are some things that could be out of sight with no great loss. For example, it has been over 2 months since ddad passed away. There is really no need for sympathy cards and laminated obituaries, etc., to still be piled on the counter.

Actually, I can think of a very good reason why they need to be there. They are a visible reminder of the loss you are feeling. Your life hasn't formed a new 'normal' for you yet and it is reasonable for you to need an affirmation that you haven't quite moved on yet. That's ok, it will come (slowly but it will come) but in the meantime, if seeing the stack reminds you of how loved you are and how loved he was, then leave it there. At some point, my stack started to be an irritant, making me feel sad, not comforted, and at that point it got put away (and just this winter finally got tossed out.)

Harriet Your dd is definitely a vibrant Sonic Sky kind of person. I'm willing to bet she picked the colour as much for the name as the hue!

I'm up. Bed is made, room is tidied. I've had tea and too much chocolate. Dishrack is emptied. But it is 9:30 and that is all I have to show for the day so far.

The house got too cold last night (well under 70) because a cold front we weren't expecting blew through just after midnight. Windows are shut but blinds are all open and we'll go for solar gain to heat up the house to something more comfortable.

I need to either eat breakfast and then s2s or the reverse.

[Twins' Mom]

I am moving along this morning - ddogs walked, breakfast down and a.m. routine underway. Body work at noon so I must move along.

Nothing like starting the day with a grumpy email from temple office manager because we're not "keeping her informed" regarding the wall decision; note that no decision has been made yet.

-clear breakfast bar and kitchen table
-clear and wipe kitchen counters
-make the bed
-s2s
-reboot laundry
-take meds

[Lilac]

Yesterday dd1, her dh and dgs19 took 2 cars and went to the college town 2 1/2 hours away, that dgs19 plans to attend. He was going for a 2 day orientation. Dgs19 has Asperger's and we have all been concerned about him heading off to college. This orientation had a limit of 30. Dd1 said that there were probably 18 there. Dgs19 will drive himself home on Thursday. Dd1 said it was so hard to leave him there, where he knew no one. Today dd1 will be out of town all day at a seminar and we won't be walking, but she called at 6:30 this morning. She had received a text from dgs19 last night, "I am having a blast." She called to let me know because she knew how worried I was about him. Needless to say, we are thrilled that he is having a blast. We all felt like he needed this experience to see if he really was ready to attend college away from home, opposed to attending the local Jr. College.

[Twins' Mom]

Lilac, they really make a strong effort at these college orientations to be sure all the kids have positive "having a blast" experiences. We had the same thoughts about our kids - not knowing anyone, and in particular, ds' social skills are not strong - but we were very impressed with the orientation process at both UT-Knox and GA Tech. Different, but both very effective.

I'm a piler of paper also, then I put in a basket. A lot of my papers are temple notes and minutes and agendas and other stuff that I need to file in a notebook for posterity. Until Jan, when we cleared the DR table I had a notebook there with dividers and just filed what I found in the notebook w/o punching. I also tend to just leave something there if it doesn't have a logical place. Scanning actually takes longer than filing but the upside is that it is searchable - I use Evernote and have logical notebooks there.

And now, back to those "opportunities."

[Emptynester]

Nothing like starting the day with a grumpy email from temple office manager because we're not "keeping her informed" regarding the wall decision; note that no decision has been made yet.

I say put her in charge. Get all the grumpies and make them the committee and then sit back and send them emails where they don't do the job right.

Oh, no, you're supposed to be a leader and turn the other cheek and all that good stuff.

One of the campers, 2 sites down, has some sort of an electrical problem. So he sets up his generator and lets it run until about 1:30 AM. At least it wasn't too close to our rig. But I couldn't have my window open so I was hot most of the night. Don't sleep well hot.

So I'm the grumpie this morning.

Hope y'all have a nice day.

[Lilac]

Twins, dgs19s social skills aren't strong either. We figured that the kids attending this orientation would have this in common with him and will be a great opportunity for some friendships to form, hopefully.

MT, I love your sense of humor.

[Nancy]

{{{EN }}} Generators are noisy!

I've been ignoring the kitchen got some sewing done yesterday a dress and pants one more pr. of pants to do later on when #1 dgd eldest is here so she can pick up some sewing tips. #2 dgd is doing some thing with horses this week barrel racing with a friend.

Yesterday it was great to hang out in the basement h. said the boss sent every one home early b/c of the heat they had started early so that was good.

I need to get on the ex. bike, yesterday I walked the hill that was a great work out. Chickens are okay but it's hot for them too.

Twins my to do's resemble yours.

I have a plan for dinner.

[Harriet]

Twins' Mom, is it time for the temple leadership to question ... WHY does the office manager expect to have info about a matter regarding the building-and-grounds, or, really, ANY future membership agenda item at all? Does she hope to pass this info on personally, ahead of its announcement? And if so, to whom? Who expects her to inform them? (meaningful face ) This is SO not an office matter. I will quote Barney Fife and say, considering all these odd situations you've had with her, I think she's a NUT.

Kathryn, yes, having decided on a sky blue, I'm sure Sonic Sky was a color name that "spoke" to dd.

lucylee, advise me on this one.... I have guilt because I have not yet cut my ddad's obit out of the paper or laminated as you did, which I'd like to do. I think it's just that it's a process, not a moment.

Happy for your grandson, Lilac.

That was a frustrating night for you, Emptynester.

I liked the opening post, OKay. Each of us would certainly see ourselves in those first few sentences.

I see some wisdom in doing something tangible for each paper item that appears. If things are getting chancy/out of hand at any time, that would offer reassuring order.