Thoughts on January

So, the month is nearly over and what have I done with the time?

Frankly, I'm amazed that I get anything done. My idea of a great January, and part of February, if I can manage it, is to dive into a stack of books, surfacing occasionally for some protein and chocolate.

I actually used to do the diving-in part. After the big rush of the holidays, including endless plays and concerts and craft shows and baking and everything else, I took January off. Within reason of course. I still fed my family and did laundry and chauffeured. But when all the girls were in school, I would read. It was my retreat, my personal recovery program.

And it worked beautifully.

But it doesn't work for me anymore. No matter what the time of year, I have stuff to do. And the little stuff usually takes more time than I expect. More time than it deserves.

There are the bits and pieces of shopping that I didn't have time to put away. There's the laundry I washed and folded but didn't have time to put away. There are all the odds and ends of paper that we need to save but didn't have time to put away. Do you see a pattern here? So I make time and, voila!, the clutter is gone, but so is a big chunk of time.

A week ago my daughter happily reported that she'd finally gotten her suitcase put away after her trip here for Christmas. You know, refilled or replaced the travel toiletries, did all the laundry, and in this case, put away her gifts. And the cat's travel gear. Since she had to get back to work on some projects, she could only do it in bits and pieces.

As she was talking, I was thinking that it was a lot like putting away Christmas decorations. Despite my best efforts, I could never do it in one swell foop. There was too much, and too many pieces that had to be individually wrapped. It could take days. Or weeks. Even then, I frequently ran across a piece or two that had somehow been hidden or traveled to an unexpected place.

BTW, I briefly considered bragging that my Christmas decorations had all been boxed up for weeks. About 56 weeks. But I can't lie to you. Besides, I think I mentioned earlier that because of time constraints we skipped all decorating this year.

So I spent a lot of brain power trying to figure out ways that would work for me - as opposed to the great ideas I read about that simply don't work. This could be described as day dreaming. Or possibly wishful thinking. Either way, I have a few ideas. And if any of them are successful, I'll let you know.

I think I'm going to make myself a present of the rest of the month. It makes me feel very organized to start something new on the first of a month or a Monday. Actually, any good day to begin that isn't today.

Now I'm going to go read.