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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

A list is like an onion.

I am going to get all Zen about lists.  Hold onto your hats.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing anymore as a simple list.  You know the kind - you put down five items and then you neatly check them off as you progress through your day.  My lists are an enigma to me.  They start out straightforward enough - Call Mom; Feed chickens/Guineas; Dry Plums; Repair coop stoop with metal.  But what actually happens is this:  I call my mother; I go to feed the chickens and find two more holes so I curse all rodents, grab the rake (which is so conveniently stored in the barn - a quarter mile away), then rake a big pile of rocks around the foundation of the coop and stomp on them.  And go back into the house.  Where I find I have not fed either the chickens or Guineas.  So I go back out and feed them.   Hmmm.  Did you see that furtive little non-list item sneak in there? 

I come home from work, after stopping to pick up a tarp.  We have a nasty little storm predicted for the next day and the Guineas, God bless them, will not WILL NOT, roost inside the coop.  I have managed to put backing behind their outdoor roost (not on the list), but they are still exposed above.  So I put up the tarp (after luring them into the enclosure so they won't freak out outside) then I tie it down to within an inch of it's life.  It is now dark, and I cannot affix metal to the coop stoop - because I can't see it.  Another layer has crept in.

On the weekend's list was to cut boards and finish at least two sides of the run-in shed and paint them.  I know, I know, but a girl can dream.  I go out and measure the back, which is only missing one-and-a-half boards at the top, go cut them, struggle with the wet, raw board, get it clamped up and mostly screwed on and....hear a sound much like a steam engine.  It's Flora.  Her chin area, down to her neck is swollen solid and she is rattling away.  Tools down, ladder down, trot them inside and come back to check her out.  Place a call to my animal specialist - Kay - and we decide to dose her with penicillin.  It sounds like a fluid-build-up kind of thing and not (necessarily) a parasite problem.  We compare Use By dates, get the syringes counted out for a 9-day course, rassle the old girl, and it's too late to continue with the shed project.  Yet another layer.

I am not sure if being a homesteader means you are incredibly stubborn, in total denial, as flexible as a Slinky, or all of the above, but it does mean that your lists are like onions, with many, many layers, one interchangeable with the other.

15 comments:

Mama Pea said...

I'll tell you what came zooming into my mind as soon as I read your blog post title: A list is like an onion . . . because it makes you cry.

Pessimistic? Defeatist? (Did I just make that word up.) Maybe. But you caught me at a low point of my day. :o/

Susan said...

Mama Pea - I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. I am sorry your day has a low point. A big hug to you from me.

Tombstone Livestock said...

I have the same problem with a list or without. Enjoy your cooler weather.

Judy T said...

I have resolved this by adding the already completed items onto my list, so I have the satisfaction of crossing them off (really so I feel i accomplished something!)
But I so, so hear you on getting sidetracked. I do it all the time. Just try to look at all the things you DID get accomplished, even if they weren't on your list.
Judy

Akannie said...

LOL--sounds like my life of lists as well, Susan. In my misspent youth the company I worked for made all the general managers take that Stephen Covey organizational/time management course. It was ludicrous for anyone who actually worked for a living. LOL BUT, the one thing I liked about it was making the list of things to do, and if you didn't complete the list, the undone items went to the top of tomorrow's list. VOILA!

(And I always put things I've already done on my list so I can cross them off. LOL Otherwise I'd have to shoot myself in the head some days....)

TTFN...

Cat Eye Cottage said...

I can TOTALLY feel your pain!

Susan said...

TL - I almost feel guilty writing about it; especially for those folks who still are battling heat and dry weather. I think the lack of focus problem afflicts us all.

Susan said...

Judy - Hey! That's cheating! ;o) Actually, that is a very good idea. Do you mind if I steal it?

Susan said...

Akannie - I am not familiar with the Stephen Covey method - I will look it up. I have found that I am pretty much un-trainable. And, I hate to say, I could probably ignore the same number of undone items no matter how many days they topped my list!

Susan said...

TWH - Amen, sistah!

Leigh said...

Homesteaders are determined! Your method of accomplishing your lists is so much like mine. Of course, I think I might do better if I didn't lose my list so often.

petey said...

I have found that making the list at the END of the day is more satisfying. Then I only put the things I DID on it, and check them off, making me a total success.

Unknown said...

Ah yes, flexibility and you do what you can. Working full time it's a real juggle!

Erin said...

Ha, I do what Judy does!

gld said...

I blogged about this same thing just the other day!

Something always comes up that must be done immediately. I often look back at lists and laugh....only 1 or 2 things done on a long list.

WE learn to prioritize quickly living on a farm or homestead.