The Problem with Planners

Life, as well demonstrated on this very blog, does not always go as planned. 

Late in 2011 I was introduced to an awesome company that produces personalized day planners, calendars, and a whole lot of other cute and colorful things to spend money on.  Now, being a sucker for cute and colorful things to spend money on (have you SEEN my purse collection??), I was too intrigued to stay away.  So I went…and I shopped. 

And I’ll be honest…I was 100% thrilled and in love with the final product. 

You see, I had some grand plans for 2012.  I was totally going to get my shit together and be super on top of things in my own life.  Time to take charge!  Embrace the power of now!!!

But there was a problem.

And that problem was that I completely forgot what happens EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to get it all together.

The Gods look down on me, one tiny human in the vast sea of infinity, and laugh. 

I got to use my lovely, personalized, ridiculously expensive planner for less than one month.

*Sigh*

The most irritating ‘down side’ to the this whole year has been how completely scattered I’ve become as a result of my medical issue and the associated medications.  I lost control of my life and my brain in January.  Seriously spinning in circles!  I couldn’t plan, couldn’t organize, couldn’t tidy, couldn’t think! 

Normal scatter-brained is one thing – like “hey, didn’t we need milk?” – but this has been something entirely different…more like “hey, where’d the house go?”  We are talking seriously lost. 

As the medication wears out of my system (sadly, still looking at this in terms of MONTHS to go…), I feel myself becoming mentally clearer each day.  I’m better able to remember things, I don’t have to make multiple copies of the same note or list.  I no longer pull wads of Post-Its out of my pockets at the end of the day.  I know from one minute to the next where I’m going and what I need to get done. 

These are things that are so small, but believe me when I tell you that they make a HUGE impact on your life when you can’t deal with them.

While my mental fog clears I am taking steps to help myself.  I went to the office supply store and purchased a student planner on the cheap.  I bought colored pens.  I went home, sat down at the kitchen table and dutifully entered appointments, meetings, Stitch Nights, and family events.  I demanded that my roommate provide me with her appointment info as well, because if I know where she is then by extension I should know where I am (yes, that’s circular logic but it makes sense to me so SHUT IT!!).  I know which day of the month to reapply the cat’s flea treatment (18^th) because it’s right there, in black and white. 

And it helps.  It really does.  It’s a paper and ink security blanket.

So my focus has changed.  Because it turns out that I don’t need to be 100% on top of things.

I just need to know where the hell I am.

- HistoryDiva

Random Un-Reality Awesomeness

Good morning!  

 

How’s Friday treating everyone?  

 

Me?  I’m in an excellent mood today.  

 

And here’s why…  

 

Now, normally I don’t write down my dreams…because they are usually just too strange to bother remembering (trust me).  But last night’s dream was quite the exception and I just have to share….so here you go.  

 

I was vacationing in a small Welsh village, staying in a lovely little cottage.

 

 

Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.  My next door neighbors were a very nice young couple, and you will never guess who they turned out to be…Wills and Kate!

 

Yep, I was totally the next door neighbor of royalty!  And they were every bit as lovely and friendly as I imagine them to be.  (Well obviously, since this was a dream…) 

Now, just to make this dream even more entertaining, who should come for visit but Prince Charles himself?? 

Cause if you’re gonna dream about royalty you might as well have BOTH future Kings of England put in an appearance.  

 

I managed to score an introduction and we had a really wonderful chat about organic farming (which is one of Charles’ favorite topics, btw…thanks for the info PBS!).  Well it turns out that the Prince was in the area on an official visit to the local military base where he and William would be flying one of their new gigantic planes.  So after asking several amazingly intelligent questions about aviation (weirdly, I somehow knew that everything I asked was actually relevant and correct and in reality I know exactly SQUAT about planes) he invited me to tag along the next day and go with them on the demonstration flight!  And OF COURSE I said yes!  So there I was, in my little RAF flight suit, sitting in the cockpit of a gigantic military plane being piloted by the two future Kings of England.  

 

Needless to say, I woke up in a FANTASTIC mood!  

 

You just gotta love how my brain works sometimes.

 

- HistoryDiva

Brain Droppings

…some random thoughts about random things for a random Tuesday.  

 

You know what’s weird?  Cats.  

 

You know what’s not fun AT ALL?  When your indoor cat gets fleas.  For no apparent reason.  

 

Books:  Lately I just can’t seem to settle into a book, no matter the topic.  It’s very normal for me to have several books ‘going’ at the same time and while I flit from title to title (a bit like a hummingbird) I tend to settle on one for a day or so at a time and finish them off pretty quickly.  But lately, no dice.  I find this annoying.  

 

Music:  Dear Adele, please stop getting stuck in my head.  Seriously, you’re on infinite loop inside my brain at the moment. 

 

Brain “…when will I see you again?...You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said…”

Me: GAH!!!  Trying to WORK out here!!!

TV:  Currently going through another one of my “I’m so tired of this show” phases (sorry, SYTYCD, you’ve been voted off the island).  The only thing I’m really making time to watch is Doctor Who (Season 7!)…seriously, nothing else holds my attention these days.  Copper, a new period crime drama on BBC America, is absolutely fabulous…but I’ll admit that I’ve been catching it in reruns rather than staying focused on Sunday nights.  I’ve run through all of The Big Bang Theory (excellent show, btw) on DVD, and OH!  I just got Season 1 of Once Upon A Time (also excellent TV). 

Bananas are good.

I haven’t figured out what I want to have for lunch today.

We get a lot of phone calls from wrong numbers. 

That’s really it for now…

- HistoryDiva

*Tarzan Yell*

Hello blog!  I’ve missed you.  Sorry about the cobwebs and the dust.  How about a little Spring cleaning…even though it’s like almost Fall. 

 

So here, have a bit of a redesign.  Nothing makes a girl feel better than a new outfit, am I right?? 

 

(Oh and note to self, correct/update links to blogs in sidebar...you people just keep moving on without me!!) 

 

And just for fun, here’s a picture of one of the random plastic ducks which have mysteriously appeared in the front yard.

Okay, moving on.  

Hello readers…if there are still any of you guys around at this point.  

Real life seems to have gotten the best of me this year.  But hey, at least I’m mostly on the other side of things at this point.  

I don’t honestly know how much more we can squeeze into one year, but hey *knock on wood* let’s not push our luck by counting out anything.  

Big events to catch you up on:  

Eye Surgery:  Oh, the horror!! The squishy, icky, more than you’ve ever wanted to know about your own eyeballs horror!!  Well…okay, it has been a trial but we’ve handled it.  Now officially three surgeries down and zero to go.  Everything was looking really good at the most recent checkup and the doctor is very pleased with my progress.  My field of vision is markedly improved and I can actually read out of my left eye, which is flat out amazing.  My mother keeps threatening to parade me in front of her church congregation as proof that God does in fact still gift us with miracles.   

Random Side Adventure to Eye Surgery Number 3:  I managed to seriously turn my ankle while walking through a parking lot two days prior to surgery.  It was bad.  Like, screaming, crying, thought-I-was-gonna-vomit-from-the-pain bad.  Worst part of it was that I had to crawl into my car and drive 20 miles to get home.  Thank goodness for my overly prepared roommate who, along with my mother, met me as I pulled into the driveway with an ice pack, an ACE bandage, and the big bottle of Tylenol.  The long and the short of it is that I came down hard enough to bruise the bones in my ankle.  It’s a slow recovery and my ankle is still stiff and swollen at the end of every day.  The up side is that it totally took my mind off the surgery!  

Knee Replacement Surgery: Yes, you read that correctly, and no, it wasn’t me.  My aunt had her left knee replaced on June 18^th.  (At the ‘other’ branch of Northside Hospital…we’re keeping them in business this year.)  It’s been a long time coming and though she was toying with the idea of waiting until she retired, she decided to go ahead and have it done.  And thank goodness!  She’s slowly recovering and finds the entire process to be tedious in the extreme…however, she’s moving better than she has in years.  True, one kind of pain has just been replaced with another but all parties concerned know that it was the right thing to do.  

Heart Surgery: Again, yes, you read that correctly, and no, it’s also not me.  We rolled past the one year anniversary of my uncle’s heart surgery in August.  All three stints are in place and doing their job.  He’s fit, happy, and feeling better than he had been for quite some time.  He’s been in full on ‘handy-uncle’ mode around the house for the last year, turning up to take care of this and that whenever he’s needed.  He even climbed under my bathroom sink to make a minor repair one Sunday in his church clothes!  

Random events to ramble about:  

Medication:  I’m into my third full week of being ‘steroid free.’  After 7 months of constant use I’m finally free of that particular medication (taken for my eyes) and it is wonderful!  I feel more and more like myself every day and haven’t gotten ‘ridiculously angry for no reason’ for about a week now, which is just heaven!  As they wear out of my system, which will still take MONTHS *sigh*, I’m beginning to get the little things back…like my generally happy disposition and my ability to remember things without having to leave a trail of Post-Its.  

The 50 Book Challenge:  Well, 50 books was apparently not enough of a challenge.  So I moved my target up to 75 books…and I’ve gotten through 68 titles so far.  I’ve added a widget on the sidebar which will keep you more up to date.  The odds are good that I’ll be increasing my target again before the end of the year.  Not too shabby for a girl with two bad eyes.  

My cat: Is still fat.  And lazy.

- HistoryDiva

It Was A Tuesday

Dear Christine,

We remember.

For LibraryDiva

Who NEVER replies to text messages.

Good thing I love her anyway!