Category: trying to use time well

creating order, living my everyday life, seeing the world, trying to use time well

Plan #14 – Run some errands

by Lori2 Comments on Plan #14 – Run some errands

Are you like me? Do you get “pick-up amnesia”?

I swear, if I drop something off at a local business, that thing ceases to exist for me. The pants I dropped off to get hemmed? Gone. The film that is being developed? Forgotten. The package that I am supposed to pick up at the Post Office? What package?

The few times that a fleeting thought of the item hits my consciousness, it is after midnight, the place is closed, and I wouldn’t be able to get the stuff anyway.

But November is the month of executing plans! So today I made a list of all those neglected errands and decided to knock them off, one by one.

First stop: Action Fast Photo. Got some absolutely gorgeous pictures that Quinland had taken in Europe… almost five months ago. (Disclaimer: I took pictures of these pictures with my phone. The original quality of the prints is much better. I still love them, though.)

Chiesa

Doges Palace

Next stop: the Post Office, where I picked up a pair of shoes I’d ordered from eBay a few weeks back. They put the notice on our door quite a few days ago. There was postage due (damn you, eBay seller and your claims of free shipping!) so we had to pick it up in person.

Then: the dry cleaners, where I picked up a pair of jeans I’d had hemmed for Quinland. Honestly, I can’t tell you how long ago that was. Months and months and months.

I also took back some stuff of other people’s that had gotten left at our house. I didn’t make it to Powell’s (to sell that box of books that has been sitting there since August) or to Goodwill (to return some stuff and drop off a huuuuuge box of stuff we are getting rid of, or to Fred Meyer to return some key hooks, or…

Yeah, I still have my work cut out for me. But thanks to today’s errands, we have some excess stuff out, some useful stuff in, and some lovely places to remember. Hooray!

Gondola

fixing up our house, rolling up my sleeves, trying to use time well

Plan #8 – Use a hacksaw

by LoriLeave a Comment on Plan #8 – Use a hacksaw

I have been slowly turning our spare room into a guest room. Very, very slowly.

We set the room up with a bed, nightstand, and dresser over a year ago when my nephew was staying with us. He moved his stuff in, it looked pretty cool, I was feeling good about the space. But when he moved back home, the room was pretty barren.

At that point, I decided I wanted to have a dedicated guest room. (We’ve lived here ten years, and our guests have been staying in pretty haphazard conditions.) So for the past year, I’ve acquired some things to fix the room up: new sheets, a quilt, some window coverings – but I never got around to putting it all together.

The worst thing? All the unfortunate people who have stayed here this year had to deal with glaring sunshine and/or makeshift window coverings. The blackout shade and the new curtains were right there in the room, but I never managed to get them hung up.

Until now!

Yes, today I broke out the hacksaw and started sawing some metal. See, the Ikea shade I got was sort of one-size-fits-all. You use scissors to cut the shade to fit the window, then saw the extra inches off the metal rod at the top. It took me three tries to get the length right,  so I am now a pro at this whole hacksaw thing. I got to put my skills to use an hour or so later, too, as I hacked down a Goodwill curtain rod for that same window.

Saw

Shade = installed; curtains = hung. An excellent day’s work after a year of procrastination.

In related news, my arms are killing me after all this over-my-head drilling and measuring (on top of all the hedge trimming and leaf raking I did this morning). I’m beginning to wonder why I scheduled a massage for 9 AM today instead of 9 PM!

rolling up my sleeves, trying to use time well

Plan #4 – Book some appointments

by Lori4 Comments on Plan #4 – Book some appointments

Haircut

I don’t have a fear of doctors, dentists or hair stylists. Why, then, am I so bad about making regular appointments?

See, I’m very, very good about going to Urgent Care. Part of that is because I am often ill; part of it is because I am terrified about things going wrong. I’ve decided I’m not a hypochondriac, because they want something to be wrong, but I’ll admit I get anxious about my health.

But regular checkups? Mammograms, skin checks, flu shots? Seeing the dentist twice a year? Somehow I never remember to make appointments for those things.

I’m definitely improving on the haircut front. I’m growing my hair out (goal #2 for my 50th birthday), and I am facilitating the process with regular trims. But I had to cancel an appointment when I was in California last month, and kept forgetting to re-book it. I do much better when they just schedule me right at the end of the last appointment so I can put it in my phone and move on.  Now I just need to get Kaiser to update their systems to book out for six months or a year so I can do that there, too.

Check this space for updates – I’m gonna make myself book those doctor and dentist appointments tomorrow!