I've been feeling Uninspired lately--another good U word--but to write about that would be boring and terrible. It would likely result in a woeful and pathetic treatise about The Travails Of Dinner At The Dept., something I've written about many times here before. Let me just say this: Sam now works dangerously close to the pie shop, and it is taking all my Restraint and Resolve not to call him at least once a week and say, "Hey, could you stop on the way home and get Dad a 6" cherry and me a 6" lemon meringue for dinner?"
But I digress.
Here are a few things in my life currently that remain Undone, for one reason or another.
1. The Back Yard: Nearly everything in my landscape beds died in the past three years, including my ornamental junipers and my hydrangea tree. Even my viburnum. We called Marv, our original landscaper, made a plan, and picked some stuff out (with consideration of the evil black walnut behind us). Then did nothing about it. We never finalized anything, and here we are. Sigh.
2. The Wall: The entire wall behind the fireplace at the lakehouse is fake brick and I hate it. We've been talking about tearing it up since we bought the place seven years ago. "We'll do it in the winter when we don't have the nice weather and boating to distract us," we keep saying. The Wall is still there and I still hate it a lot. I also hate the mess of remodeling and drywall and demolition a lot. The entire situation is a Hate Crime.
3. Someone's Clothes Hoard: Someone has no less than thirty pairs of jeans hanging in the closet for various Jeans-Wearing Situations, should they arise. This same person has another closet full of work clothes from a company previously worked for, even though that job was held over a year ago. Another drawer is full of that company's shirts. Yet another drawer holds teeshirts, given away at professional basketball games, that no one has ever seen this someone wear. When I put away this person's clean laundry, I have to cram stuff to get it to fit. "I'm going to go through this stuff," Someone tells me. I prepare bags and bags and bags of donations to Vietnam Veterans and Easter Seals many times a year, and not in secret, but Someone has not put anything in them.
4. The Wrought Iron: We have wrought iron accent pieces in both the front and back yard, a lot of them. They are faded and a few of them have some rust spots. I bought everything I needed last summer to refurbish them, like wire brushes and black Rustoleum spray paint, and even a cheap tarp to paint them on. Did I do it? No I did not. All that is waiting for me come spring. Or summer. Or fall, if we have one next year.
Are there reasons for all these Undone Things? Yes, and many of them are pretty decent, and some are even good. In the end, however, the result is the same; Stuff Is Undone. All of it is waiting, and in each case, mocking me because I continue to see it and be aggravated by it.
What things Undone are bothering you? Share and commiserate in Comments.
What surprises me more than folks who have Undone lists is the folks who get everything done! I have a lot of Undone things but less than I did before I hosted Thanksgiving. LOL I have said many times that I host events in part to kick myself into Get-the-Stuff-Done gear! I did not get everything accomplished on my list for Thanksgiving (however, I was pleased with how much I did get done!) so now in addition to some Christmas items, I'm working on finishing those things up. They are boring things that need to be done periodically, things such as cleaning my kitchen lights, wiping down cabinets and closet doors, and scrubbing floors. I've gotten a temporary stay on resolving the rest of the erosion issues my property has been experiencing as I wait for the work that the consultant hired by the community will do to resolve the issues at the street level. (As long as we don't have a ton of rain, I'll gladly take that stay.) Sometimes I get discouraged but in general, I've found that things work out in time. I can't imagine there will ever be a time where everything is done, finis, etc., you know? I suppose the only folks who experience that level of "doneness" are those with unlimited time and funds who usually just hire other folks to do the work. And then they keep coming up with a new list of things to be done so they'll have something to do. LOL I know that when you finally get those items done, Nance, it will be supremely satisfying! I know you know that as well though. Last, I think "uninspired" and "undone" often go together, don't you?
ReplyDeleteShirley--Oh, yes! I do think the two U-words often go hand in hand. I need Inspiration to get me going on a project (or Shame! LOL). It's true that items on the list simply get replaced by other things that need to be done. It's neverending. Sigh.
DeleteSometimes, I think "things work out in time" because I just finally Let Stuff Go, in that I stop being so crazed about it all.
I'm glad you got so many things done. The satisfaction is often worth the effort, and it's always nice to have a clean home. Just don't wear yourself out! XO
Take it from me - be glad that juniper died! We paid a small fortune to have a bunch of it ripped out. The vermin! The weeds! I feel you with clothes hoarding. I looked at The Husband the other day and told him that his shirt needed to be tossed (it was in such bad shape it couldn't even be donated) and he said, "Why? It's just a shirt for around the house." I informed him that he better go first because if I go first he will live out his days looking like a hobo. Yes, he WILL buy new things but then will overlook them to go to his tattered favorites.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Undone List around here is huge - and then with Christmas looming - I'm slightly (ok, not really)...I'm FULL ON PANICKING. Hopefully, that panic will get me through Christmas and then I can sit back and try to figure out the rest of it.
Gigi--This was a six-foot tall ornamental juniper tree, though, and carefully manicured like a poodle cut. It wasn't that creeping juniper stuff that is a haven for vermin and weeds. We ripped a ton of that out along our lakeshore because it harbored snakes, which I am terrified of.
DeleteRick is the same way about wearing tatters and rags, especially at the lake, where he seems to think that if he is working on stuff, he has to look terrible. It does not help that my brother encourages this behavior, and they compliment each other on who is wearing the worst outfit. I am not kidding.
I fully appreciate your choice of words about the holiday--Christmas IS looming. I feel it's like a hulking dark presence waiting to smother and hurt me. Right now, I'm kind of in a false sense of Denial. Dangerous, I know.
I could have written this post, except all of my undone items are different than yours. We did get a few things done this year, like installing ceiling fans in our bedrooms, and new windows (late last year). I also am happy to say that my daughter and I brought several big bags of clothing to Goodwill last week, and my husband contributed. He has been on a big kick of getting rid of books lately. He says he will never read them again, so why have them? It makes me kind of sad for some reason, though the result is more room on our shelves for MY books that I will likely never read again. He did a huge purge and took 4 or 5 boxes worth to the library. I've been trying to winnow mine at a much more reasonable pace. I sometimes drop books off at one of those little free libraries in our neighborhood, and I decided that my sisters are getting used books from me for Christmas this year. Strange, I know.
ReplyDeleteSo that is a huge list of things I HAVE gotten done. I know you have one of those as well, but the letter is U and the theme is Undone. One Undone thing that I've been noticing lately is that we talk about hanging a bunch of family photos in our upstairs hallway. We have the pictures, we have the frames. Some of the pictures are already IN the frames. But we don't do it. Why? I have no idea. Another undone thing is buying a new bed frame. Years ago, we bought a mattress set at Macy's, and it came with a free metal frame. We hated that frame. It would squeak every time one of us turned in our sleep. It was a LOUD squeak, I could hear it downstairs while watching TV or blogging, when Ted used to go to bed early and get up (very) early. If we were both in bed, and one of us would turn, it would wake us both up. Finally I had enough, and I got rid of it. So now our mattress sits on the floor (well, on the box spring), and I feel like a poor college student every time I look at it. And I work in my bedroom (sounds like I'm a prostitute, but no, this is just where my desk is), so I look at the bed on the floor a LOT. It is quiet and doesn't squeak, which is wonderful. But I would very much like to get another bed frame, one with a headboard. But we can't seem to find one that we both like. It really is difficult being married to someone with whom I share very little in the way of aesthetics. I swear, trying to compromise on this is so difficult. If we ever see something, like a couch or a chair or a wall hanging or whatever, that we both like, we just buy it right then and there. I think if we had two separate households they would look entirely different.
I'm most sorry about your back yard. I have griped before about the eucalyptus trees behind our house, over which we have zero control. I have consulted with Master Gardners on the situation, and they commiserate with me, because they leach the soil of nutrients and water, and they drop toxic leaves all over the place. I hate them. I have had the most luck growing things in pots, but my back yard is truly pathetic and needs a plan by a professional, and someone to maintain it apparently, because I suck at it. I enjoy working in my tiny garden, though, so I don't really want to pay someone.
Our floors are a disaster. We need to get new carpet or wood or something throughout the house, but I am too overwhelmed by the thought of moving all of the furniture upstairs, so it just remains undone and crappy looking. Sigh.
J--I found this comment hiding in my email and in my Blogger Comments, marked Spam for some reason. I was away on the weekend and offline. I have no idea why Blogger approved the second comment, but decided to censor this one.
DeleteAnyway.
I find it most interesting that you and Ted have such colliding aesthetics. Does he love full-on modern and avant garde and you like more traditional? As far as the bed frame, can't you get a platform bed frame? I think that's what we have--it even has drawers along both sides for extra storage. I would hate seeing my bed on the floor, too, probably even more than the squeaky bed frame, which I would have taken back to Macy's, even a month later. Hey, Macy's--what's the deal?
Your eucalyptus problem is similar to my black walnut problem. I have so, so many times even considered approaching the neighbors and saying, "Look. I hate your tree. I will pay to remove it. Is that okay with you?" But it would cost like $1500, and the tree people would have to go through their yard to do it. It seems like a really massive request. I think the main reason Rick and I put off the backyard landscaping is because we may just scrap it and return it to grass. It's been such a hassle with that damn tree, you know? We are tired of all the maintenance.
I hear you about the floors. Ugh. It's definitely time for us, too. Especially the whole second floor and the bedroom. So much to do.
I suspect blogger was confused because my comment was SO LONG and it said, "Wait, does J intend to post this on her OWN BLOG? Why is she trying to take over Nance's blog? WTH?
DeleteYes, Ted really likes modern aesthetics, and I find them mostly cold and off putting. He had an eye doctor ask him once if he preferred stark contrasts to more muted ones, and he said yes, why? Because he is mostly colorblind. Could that be why he likes such things? Perhaps. Perhaps not. If the house were only his, it would be modern art and angular furniture. If it were only mine, it would have pictures of flowers or such, and more traditional furniture. Regarding the bed, I know. We've looked at platform beds, and that is what we want. But I want a headboard, as our bed cannot be up against the wall (there is a vent in the floor right there, it's a stupid place to put the bed, but the only place that works with all of the furniture we have crammed in here), and that is what we have trouble agreeing on. Sigh.
J--I just had a feeling about your aesthetics, and I was pretty accurate. As far as The Headboard Debate, it sounds like you are going to have to Make It A Focused Mission.
DeleteWhich sounds terrible, unless you include something nice, like going out for dinner, too. Perhaps you two should explore something non-traditional for a headboard, like repurposing some interesting doors or windows, or perhaps a piece of wrought iron/metal fencing, railing, or gate.
I still haven't looked for my cinnamon sugar yet today, nor have I figured out dinner. I have to get going. It's a windy and gloomy day here today. I am unmotivated.
Let me begin. Just some. Not all. Several plants froze. In February! We have a flowerbed that had palms. Yep froze!! Dug one out today. Now, back ache. Then an area needed more new bags of bark mulching. Started, never finished. Then...the toppingon the cake...over 3 years ago I bought paint for the garage, one wall of 4 has been painted.
ReplyDeleteAnni--I remember well your deep freeze (almost a year ago)! As far as your partially painted garage, you're still well ahead of a house in our neighborhood a few blocks away. It's been undergoing a paint job for about six years, the ladders in place all that time. Only the front has been painted, and yes, you guessed it--now that needs to be repainted, too!
DeleteIt drives me crazy to have undone things. I've been known to get out of bed in the middle of the night to finish something. Right now I've got a stack of Christmas cards half done.
ReplyDeleteJean--Oh, I've hit Crazy and zoomed over into Angry and settled into Resigned With Flare-Ups Of Grief. Good luck with the Christmas cards, but I'd hurry just a little bit. With the USPS still under the auspices of that devil DeJoy, it takes weeks for things to arrive.
DeleteOh, I have many undone items. I start but often get 0distracted by another need or time factors. I amazed myself this past week by reorganizing rooms, removed a dresser that was useful but not needed. Advertised on Buy Nothing for person who could come soonest. One person could 'come now". She came, grandson helped move it. Gone within 1 hour. I bask in the glow of one completion.
ReplyDeleteJanL--Congratulations on your achievement! I know how good it feels to get rid of stuff. And now you have a little bit more room, too. Well done!
DeleteDee--I understand. It's the Blessing/Curse, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMy SIL says - there is always a list of things left undone. So I visit that list whenever I think I have nothing to do (LOL!). I procrastinate about some things because I'm unsure of my capabilities or who to hire or other priorities or lack of time. The pandemic has taught me that having more time to accomplish something wasn't the reason in many cases. I come across to-do lists from 5+ yrs ago and laugh. I did get the outbuildings clad instead of painted; the fire pit was completed this summer; the old fencing got taken out; the porch got painted awa the exterior trim. OK, now I'm just bragging and trying not to think about the list of things undone, i.e. list the old tractor, rebuild corrals, paint the bathroom, lay new flooring. That's the short list for now. Motivated by your post on scissors, I did buy a pair for use in the basement proudly displayed on a wall hook! Remember the old Nike ad campaign? Just do it. I laugh at myself sometimes when I finally get a job done and it takes half the time I projected. That sense of accomplishment when it's finally done is priceless.
ReplyDeleteMona--First of all, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BASEMENT SCISSORS! They will be life-changing, I promise. I am excited for you. Truly.
DeleteYour SIL is correct, of course. If I took the time to list ALL the Undone things in my life, I'd have overwhelmed myself with horror and sadness. I'd still be on my fainting couch, calling out for sustenance in the form of wine and, perhaps, brie and fig jam.
I am impressed by all the burly and outdoorsy stuff you got done, and if you tell me that you did it yourself, I am going to insist you give me your phone number so that you can come here and help me do some of my Undone things, which sound positively sissified compared to all the tough stuff you've been accomplishing.
Do a garage and a shed count as outbuildings? How far out do they have to be to be classified as such?
Anyway, I am impressed. If you tell me you have a cow, I am outright In Love, and will arrange a visit with you immediately.
Your viburnum croaked? I didn't think that was possible. My condolences.
ReplyDeleteAs for undone things, they are the bane of my existence. Husband believes that starting projects is akin to completing them. I am of the opinion that until a project is completely completed, it is not done and therefore cannot be checked off the list. I want to check things off my list.
I hope you get your faux brick wall destroyed soon. That'd bug me, too.
Ally--I know, right? That thing was a beast, too. But little by little, it started dying off. We cut it back, cut it back, and then...it gave up. No idea what happened.
DeleteI think my husband went to the same Husband Class that yours did. Almost Done Is Good Enough 101 must have had a huge enrollment. I wonder if they had a final exam, or if attendance was all that was required.
I am a compulsive finisher and list-checker. As a high school teacher, being able to BE DONE was a gift. I was always holding onto a unit folder for one kid to make up a test or quiz, or waiting to turn in grades for one kid who was taking his final as a make-up at a different time. It's so satisfying TO BE DONE WITH SOMETHING ONCE AND FOR ALL. Having ongoing projects hanging over my head is killing me.
So many things I want done , depend on others in my 1oving fami1y. Undone: gifts for the giving. Undone: getting the porch to warm enough for winter enjoyment, Undone: so much therapy. !ove my therapist.
ReplyDeleteUndone: p1ans for Christmas. They just changed again. She's come undone......but she's going to beat it
kathy b--You've put your finger on it there: when the Undone things depend on the efforts of others, we're kind of at a disadvantage. That's a tough spot for us, for sure.
DeleteMy Cmas shopping is still largely Undone, too. And plans for the holiday are still sort of shapeless, but they'll firm up in a week or two. I'm sure yours will as well.
Don't skimp on your time with your therapist if you can possibly help it. You can't be helpful to others if you can't be at your best and help yourself, as you know. I'll be thinking of and rooting for you. Stay well.
So many things I would like done...would have liked done years ago. Someone (not me) saves EVERYTHING. Old magazine, catalogues, etc. Makes me CRAZY. We've been talking about re-doing the upstairs bathroom for ages. Truthfully both bathrooms need to be re-done. But here they are, the same as ever. And here I am crazy as ever!!
ReplyDeleteVera--And does your Someone ever look at that stuff? Use it? I'm guessing No, BUT HE MIGHT, SO IT HAS TO BE SAVED. Sigh. I have the same Someone, but it's woodworking magazines and woodworking project pattern books. Makes me CRAZY, too. Someday, we have to meet up and laugh, knit, and commiserate.
DeleteWe just re-did both bathrooms, but it was a struggle, especially the downstairs one. I'd like to rip up the carpet in the bedroom and get to bare wood on the floor, repaint, and get new curtains and bed linens. Maybe next fall...?
So many undone things in my home that I wouldn't know where to begin! So I don't!
ReplyDeleteHard to get motivated some days and so I read blogs and books and play solitaire on the computer and if I get out for a walk, I figure - good enough for the day! Sounds sad when I see it typed out like that!
Good luck with your undone list!!
Ellen--I completely understand the Elusive Motivation. That is me on so many days. And the weather has been so terrible that getting out for a pleasant walk has been truly difficult. I miss my daily outing. Who feels like being Suzy Homemaker as a substitute when other cozy activities are available? It's not sad at all--it's Life.
DeleteToday I'm going to peck away at something Undone that's not even on the list. But I sure don't feel like it. Sigh.
The clothes situation would make me nuts and I'd have to take matters into my own hands.
ReplyDeleteFaux brick is almost as bad as faux doors.
Remember when we had our floors redone way back in August? Well, there is an issue with the grout and that has not been addressed. It merely would take a phone call from the Mr. of the house to contact his flooring guy (he's not my flooring guy, so I don't have the liberty to do it) We've moved onto several other projects here and there without addressing the ONE I look at everyday. *sigh*
BB Suz--I am thisclose to surreptitiously taking the clothes situation in hand, little by little. It has to be done. Someone is, perhaps, merely looking to be saved from himself.
DeleteI don't mind the faux brick in the kitchen so much since we have a wine theme going on in there and there is very, very little, but a whole humongous wall of it is too much. In a lakeside home, where I think things should be light and beachy, sort of. It has to go.
I'm with you on the peevishness of an Undone that I have to look at every single day. It's the worst. And there's only so much prompting you can do before it crosses into downright bullying. That's a tough situation, and one I have been in many, many, MANY times. Good luck, Suz. Keep me posted.
Hmm. I left a book length comment here the other day, and it’s nowhere to be seen. Perhaps that is one of the undone things in my life…I will summarize and tell you that I could have written this post, the undone stuff around here is huge. One of these days, I need to go through our linen closet and throw everything away. Then I need to go through one of the cabinets in our kitchen and throw everything away. Really, I just need to get a dumpster in front of my house and throw everything away, including the furniture. Then I could redo our floors, which really need redoing. And I could paint, which really needs to be done. And I could put in new cabinets in the kitchen. And perhaps a walk in shower instead of the tub/shower we have now. So many projects, but they all require more effort and money than I want to commit. So they remain undone.
ReplyDeleteIn better news, we did take 5 or 6 bags of clothes to Goodwill last week, and Ted did a huge purge of books that he will not read again. That one bothers me, I dislike getting rid of books. But so often I know in my heart that I will never read them again, so I don’t know why I cling to them.
And of course, the ‘throw everything away’ is just hyperbole. I only really want to throw most of it away. And if I am going to be perfectly honest with you, I am the one in the house that has trouble letting go of things, so the reality is that I might get rid of 5% of the crap around here if I put my mind to it.
J--I'm sorry about your comment being lost. I don't know why. Did you wait after you hit Publish before you left the page?
DeleteI'm glad you were able to purge things for Goodwill, including books. I do a huge purge of books about every two years, taking them to the library in town for the annual book sale. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I do not go to the library for books; I buy them. In hardback, whenever possible. The library wants the books back, and at a certain time, and that is a bad deal all around for me. So I buy the books I want, and then I keep them for as long as I want, and if it's forever, then okay. If I get a less than satisfactory book, then I know that going in.I can try it again another time, and if it's still not great, I can always give it away. Once, an author who I collected did something unsavoury, so I completely cleared out all his books and gave them all away to the book sale. I felt better. And it raises money for the local library, which I think is a very important asset to our community. (Just not for me, personally.)
I feel the way you do so often about just tossing a third of our stuff in general. I keep eyeing so many things and saying, "What if I just threw this away? What if I donated this to the Vietnam Vets? Would we miss this? Do we need this?" This is the time of year when I start feeling it, especially, since I am cooped up in the house so much.
If we had the funds, think of what we could accomplish! And how liberating it would feel!
Perhaps we need to start small and do one small thing per week. A cabinet. The linen closet. I did that for a blog post project and when I first retired. It was wonderful. Maybe it's time to do it again.
Nance, we donate our books to our local library for the library sales as well. Our local library system has done away with fines. You still have a due date, but it won’t cost you to keep the books. I am not sure how that is working for them, but I at least have never kept a book forever due to it. We have 3 weeks, and generally I can get the book back in time.
DeleteOnce a week sounds reasonable, and once a month sounds even better to me. Perhaps that will be a project for 2022. One cabinet or whatever a month, and maybe this time next year it won’t be an issue.
Regarding my disappearing comment, who knows. I could have sworn that I saw it appear on your comment thread, I was number 3 maybe. But that may have been my imagination, and probably I left the page or closed the browser too soon.
Well, your list is certainly shorter than mine! The only thing that makes it not as bad is that the other person living in our house has a bigger undone list than I do ...
ReplyDeleteBridget--Oh, this is by no means a complete list. It's a list of a FEW of the Undone Things That Are Plaguing Me. Good heavens! If only it was just these few things total. What a dream my life would be, right?
DeleteGrowf. This is my third try ... I guess the others have landed in the 'undone' file. Yeah. Anyway, my complaint is that my house, after close to 25 years of occupancy, is still lacking baseboards, doors and a few other embellishments. The contractor, to whom I am married, is not big on finishing things. To say the least. As well, curtains that were added to our downstairs bedroom when the grandkid, age about 10, could not sleep unless the room was dark, still do not have the hems finished, although the grandkid is now in university, with, I assume, curtains in her dorm window. This is the home of serial and prolonged procrastination.
ReplyDeleteJust in passing, we have four inches of wet snow and I am not going anywhere until the plough comes by. Does that count?
There is a line from a song rattling around in my head, something like 'I've come undone'. ? No idea.
Hey, if everything we wanted done WAS done, what would we do with all that spare fretting and muttering and resolution to Do Better?
Happy December!
Mary G--Your original comments may yet show up. I have no idea what Blogger is doing. I found J's and Gigi's comments later in my email and Blogger Comments Dashboard quite after the fact. It's a mystery.
DeleteIs this the song you're thinking of? Another Canadian treasure.
The worst thing and best thing about marrying a Do-It-Yourselfer is that they can do so many things around the house, right? That means so many things get Almost Done, or they are Waiting To Be Done because he won't hire someone to do that when he can do it himself so much more cheaply. So we wait. And wait. AND ARE STILL WAITING. It's infuriating. I completely understand.
Sometimes, I dream of moving into an apartment where someone else is responsible, you know? Someone I can call, and they will come fix it in a timely manner, not years later or never.
Happy December, Mary, and keep the snow to yourselves, please.
Hah! posted. finally. the first two were better.
ReplyDeleteMary--Oh, they always are. And we may yet see. Who knows?
DeleteMy undone garden was beginning to depress me a lot but then a miracle happened - my brother retired and offered to look after it for me! Now if only I could find a retired person who loves housework and decorating, I would be set for life!
ReplyDeleteAround My Kitchen Table
AMKT--If only lightning would strike twice! I'm retired and don't want to do any of that stuff most of the time. My husband is still working, so I feel guilty if I don't balance things out and do my share around here, at least.
DeleteEnjoy having a gardener. Perhaps you could coax him indoors a time or two.
I think Undone is my middle name. The problem is that Mike and I are both rather low energy people. We can easily talk each other out of doing things. For example, I was going to start a load of towels yesterday, but Mike "seemed" to think that was too late (it was 7:00) & why bother & I thought, "why bother indeed?!" I'll do them after work tonight. What's crazy is why did he care? HE wasn't going to be washing the towels. And laundry is one chore I don't mind, so why did I care? An analysis of this situation would go a long way toward helping us get SOMETHING done around here. Ha!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, as usual I was ambivalent about putting up a tree this year, but I came home one day & Mike had already done it. So there are random bursts of getting things done.
Bug--Perhaps The Professor felt that if you did a load of towels, he would feel a bit guilty about just sitting there doing nothing, and would then feel compelled to Industry himself. That's often the case here if I get a burst of energy and Rick feels more like lazing in the recliner and reading something on his computer or phone. I do tell him that my activity doesn't necessarily mean he has to get moving, but sometimes he just cannot stand to be slothful in my wake.
DeleteI completely understand your Tree Ambivalence; we both are there as well. I think the only reason we put one up is for those who visit us during the season. And the cats, who love to lie underneath it and pretend to be wild.
Undone. Where do I start? Oh, yes. Undone comments on your last 2 posts. At home, undone is cleaning up the war zone we have lived in since COVID began and I had to spend untold hours preparing online lessons for live classes on TEAMS. Like most folks, throwing out stuff and organizing drawers, closets, etc. Mostly throwing stuff out. It's hard when there is sentiment attached to things, but then I think "Who's going to want this when I'm pushing up daisies?" Other undone stuff: sorting out the mess of how and when to retire. How much income I can actually expect and how my current health insurance will change when I have to flip-flop from what I have now to having Medicare be primary and my job retirement insurance be secondary. I just went in for an eye exam for new glasses and the optometrist said I was ahead of the curve for my age, but a cataract operation could be in the not too distant future: 2-5 years, and probably sooner than later. Apparently, it is much better to have this covered while on primary job insurance in terms of choices of what kind of surgery you get. So yeah... lots of undone rolling around.
ReplyDeleteOrtizzle--I don't even want to think about the whole Medicare mess awaiting me in the near future. Right now, I'm just glad that all the commercials about open enrollment are done with. What a blitzkrieg.
DeleteDecluttering and streamlining have become a mission for me for the reason you mentioned along with simply needing a simpler environment. I'm getting sick of stuff. I've looked at it long enough now that it's annoying me, you know?
Thanks for the nudge about seeing the eye doctor. It's been since pre-covid for me, and I really need to go. I'm sure that your job insurance will do a better job with coverage for a wider array of surgeries than straight Medicare will.
As far as tossing the sentimental stuff, I will admit that I am not as sentimental as most. I've found that the things I let go of, I don't pine for. And the things I keep, I rarely if ever look at or think about. I've always been kind of a Move On sort of person, and while I keep memories fondly, the objects don't hold onto me. I'm not sure why that is.
I couldn't even begin to start on listing all the undone things here. Unfortunately, I had allowed them to accumulate expecting to take care of them once I stopped working. I hadn't counted on developing some limitations before I got to it making it very difficult for me to do much of what is needed. Clearly I will need some assistance but I haven't wanted to hire some stranger to aid me since this pandemic intruded into our lives. I was all set to move ahead with getting help and then this most recent variant emerged. Much to do.
ReplyDeleteJoared--I completely understand. We always think There Will Be Time.
DeleteUntil there isn't.