Sometimes I feel like this book was actually written about ME.
Sometimes I'm the poor victim who gets suckered into giving that needy, easily distracted little rodent a cookie, and sometimes I'm the mouse. Sometimes it's a cookie I'm given (or a request to bake some!) and sometimes it's a task or an idea. The cookie can also be seen as the mess left behind by the rest of my family...who also take turns as the role of that pesky mouse.
Just last night, one of my darling children lost her grip on an almost full gallon jug of apple juice as she was retrieving it from the fridge. It landed sideways, the cap broke off, and apple juice instantly covered my kitchen floor. During dinner. Now, I guess I've just cleaned up too many messes to let this one disrupt my dinner. The child in question mopped up the juice and resumed eating her dinner. While it looked clean, I knew that there would be a sticky residue left behind and told myself I would be mopping it tomorrow. I did mop it today, but I still need to go over it again. I'll leave the mop out to remind myself to do it, but I'll probably stop noticing it right away and won't remember what it's for until I stumble across a sticky spot I missed when mopping the first time. I'll try to get to it tomorrow.
By the way, 'tomorrow' is actually my very favorite day to complete any task. My desk needs organizing? I'll get right on that. Tomorrow. See how easy that is?
I have been meaning to write a letter to someone in response to their letter to us. I really wanted to respond correctly to the original letter and needed to find it first. That makes sense, right? It's just too bad that there were so many things to grab my attention between my computer and where the original letter was most likely kept. Just walking down the hall it always occurs to me that there is laundry to wash, dry, or put away, and there are bathrooms to clean and closets that must contain that *thing* that I had been looking for and forgotten about but I am convinced I really need to find right now but was probably sidetracked by something else the last time I tried to locate said item.
See how easily it happens?
If you ask Leann for a cookie,
she'll decide she needs to bake some.
While she starts gathering the ingredients,
she will realize that she doesn't have any butter.
She will decide to go to the store,
but she won't have time to get back before the kids get out of school.
She will start to make a list of other things she needs from the store,
when she notices that the recycling stuff needs to be taken out.
When she starts to gather the recycling,
she will remember there is a plastic jug in the garage that needs to be added to the rest of the recycling stuff.
When she goes out into the garage to grab that last jug,
she will realize that there are a few pairs of the girls' shoes out there too.
When she brings the shoes back into the house and puts them in the proper rooms,
she will see the dirty laundry in the bedroom floors.
Once she starts gathering the laundry,
she will remember that she needs to wash a few towels as well.
As she heads into her bedroom to grab the last few towels to make a load,
she will notice that the cat needs more water.
While she is giving the cat fresh water in his dish,
she will notice that her bathroom counters need to be wiped down.
While grabbing the supplies from under the sink,
she notices that she will soon need to buy more toilet paper.
As she walks back down the hall to update her shopping list,
she will notice some hand prints on the door frames.
As she grabs the Lysol wipes to clean the door frames,
she will remember that it is cold and flu season and she should disinfect the door knobs and light switches.
As she is wiping the door knobs and light switches,
she will remember how much the Lysol wipes dry out her hands.
As she goes back into her bathroom to find some lotion,
she will notice that she hasn't made her bed yet.
As she makes her bed,
she remembers the remote control needs new batteries.
Once she is in the kitchen getting the batteries,
she will realize that she is hungry.
While she heats up some soup in the microwave,
she will remember that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded.
As she unloads the dishwasher,
she realizes how disorganized her plastics cupboard is.
As she is straightening out the cupboard,
she finds things that she does not need and can be recycled.
After she adds the items to the bag,
she remembers that one plastic jug is still in the garage.
While she is back in the garage to retrieve the jug,
she notices that she will need to buy more dog food soon and should add it to her list.
While she is adding dog food to her shopping list on the fridge,
she realizes that she is forgetting an appointment for today and can't remember the time.
As she grabs her phone to check the time of the appointment on her calendar,
she realizes she missed a text from her daughter.
As she is texting her daughter back,
the house phone rings.
I could go on and on, but I can almost promise you that she will not be baking any cookies today. She will probably be late to her appointment and hasn't even thought about dinner yet!
Story. Of. My. Life.
I can be busy all day and get next-to-nothing actually accomplished. Some days, I can put my blinders on and walk past the other things that need attention and actually complete a task. Most of the time, that is not the case. As I type this, I realize that I still have a few things to do before I need to pick up the girls from school and race to an appointment.
Lucky for me, most of those things can be done tomorrow.
By the way, 'tomorrow' is actually my very favorite day to complete any task. My desk needs organizing? I'll get right on that. Tomorrow. See how easy that is?
I have been meaning to write a letter to someone in response to their letter to us. I really wanted to respond correctly to the original letter and needed to find it first. That makes sense, right? It's just too bad that there were so many things to grab my attention between my computer and where the original letter was most likely kept. Just walking down the hall it always occurs to me that there is laundry to wash, dry, or put away, and there are bathrooms to clean and closets that must contain that *thing* that I had been looking for and forgotten about but I am convinced I really need to find right now but was probably sidetracked by something else the last time I tried to locate said item.
See how easily it happens?
If you ask Leann for a cookie,
she'll decide she needs to bake some.
While she starts gathering the ingredients,
she will realize that she doesn't have any butter.
She will decide to go to the store,
but she won't have time to get back before the kids get out of school.
She will start to make a list of other things she needs from the store,
when she notices that the recycling stuff needs to be taken out.
When she starts to gather the recycling,
she will remember there is a plastic jug in the garage that needs to be added to the rest of the recycling stuff.
When she goes out into the garage to grab that last jug,
she will realize that there are a few pairs of the girls' shoes out there too.
When she brings the shoes back into the house and puts them in the proper rooms,
she will see the dirty laundry in the bedroom floors.
Once she starts gathering the laundry,
she will remember that she needs to wash a few towels as well.
As she heads into her bedroom to grab the last few towels to make a load,
she will notice that the cat needs more water.
While she is giving the cat fresh water in his dish,
she will notice that her bathroom counters need to be wiped down.
While grabbing the supplies from under the sink,
she notices that she will soon need to buy more toilet paper.
As she walks back down the hall to update her shopping list,
she will notice some hand prints on the door frames.
As she grabs the Lysol wipes to clean the door frames,
she will remember that it is cold and flu season and she should disinfect the door knobs and light switches.
As she is wiping the door knobs and light switches,
she will remember how much the Lysol wipes dry out her hands.
As she goes back into her bathroom to find some lotion,
she will notice that she hasn't made her bed yet.
As she makes her bed,
she remembers the remote control needs new batteries.
Once she is in the kitchen getting the batteries,
she will realize that she is hungry.
While she heats up some soup in the microwave,
she will remember that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded.
As she unloads the dishwasher,
she realizes how disorganized her plastics cupboard is.
As she is straightening out the cupboard,
she finds things that she does not need and can be recycled.
After she adds the items to the bag,
she remembers that one plastic jug is still in the garage.
While she is back in the garage to retrieve the jug,
she notices that she will need to buy more dog food soon and should add it to her list.
While she is adding dog food to her shopping list on the fridge,
she realizes that she is forgetting an appointment for today and can't remember the time.
As she grabs her phone to check the time of the appointment on her calendar,
she realizes she missed a text from her daughter.
As she is texting her daughter back,
the house phone rings.
I could go on and on, but I can almost promise you that she will not be baking any cookies today. She will probably be late to her appointment and hasn't even thought about dinner yet!
Story. Of. My. Life.
I can be busy all day and get next-to-nothing actually accomplished. Some days, I can put my blinders on and walk past the other things that need attention and actually complete a task. Most of the time, that is not the case. As I type this, I realize that I still have a few things to do before I need to pick up the girls from school and race to an appointment.
Lucky for me, most of those things can be done tomorrow.
