TEN MILLION THINGS ON THE TO-DO LIST

I hate when break is almost over and I haven't finished the ten million things I intended to do.  It just depresses me into thinking I am a worthless slug.  Honestly, though, I have been on the move since the moment I got home after work last Friday (the 16th), and I've accomplished quite a bit.

(Ready for the shredder)

My problem is that I start projects and don't finish them in succession.  I start one thing, then I realize that I have to do something else before I can finish up the project I started because there's something else that I've been meaning to take care of that's in the way.  For example, the back room that used to be my bedroom needs to have the last of the stuff cleared out of it.  I have old family photos that I promised to go through about four years ago, wrapping paper that finally finds a home, an electric keyboard that is plugged in and gets turned on periodically, and a huge pile of filing that is left over from the Clinton administration ... maybe even before.

This is all fine and well except for the box and the bag full of paperwork.  Some of this paperwork is legit, but most of it needs to be shredded (old receipts, old checks, and taxes older than seven years).  I have been happily ignoring all of this, only occasionally putting things in order (hence how the electric keyboard managed to find a home).  The other day I finished organizing old craft supplies and was surprised to discover modeling clay and knitting needles that range from very small to humongous. Guess what?  I really can't knit.  I can knit and purl rectangles, but that's the extent of it.

I am not a hoarder.  There are simply some things I cannot let go, like handwritten documents from both grandmothers that trace the family geneaology, all of the family slides from my childhood, and books ... even after much pruning, so many books.

(Pretending I can knit)

I've had a good week, though.  I've shoveled snow a couple of times and enjoyed two glorious days of summer-like weather right smack-dab in the middle of the week.  I've spent time with family and friends.  I've gone on several marvelous adventures over the past few days.  I took out a file of drafts that I have not worked on nor edited in a while, but they're out, in plain sight, and waiting for me to dig in once again.

I do hate when break is over and my To-Do List is still staring me in the face, mostly not done.  However, I absolutely love when my Done List far outweighs anything I expected and keeps me happily connected to family and friends.  So I didn't sleep as much nor read as much nor write as much nor clean as much.

Obviously, if it has taken me years to prune down to where I am, clearing out the junk in my life isn't nearly as important to me as clinging to those things and people who are the most important to me.  I'd have to say that's successfully accomplishing a To-Do List after all.