Tag Archives: deadlines

following through on friday.

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You know that expression, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”?

It seems a bit harsh, don’t you think?

I get what they’re trying to say. I even googled it to learn more (there are plenty of heated debates out there, if you’re interested).

But I think that we’ve all been guilty of having the best of intentions, and not following through. In fact, it could be argued that we are a society made up of well-intenders.

Just look at how many gyms across the country bank on this very fact on or around January 1st every year.

I have been caught in the start-stop, start-stop trap more than a few times and today was no exception. I had a short 3 mile run scheduled. As soon as my feet hit the floor this morning, I had every intention of putting on my running shoes and getting out the door. Just getting it DONE.

But then, things like

deadlines and
breakfast and
a sick kid and
a sick husband and
a nap during lunch and
really comfy pajamas that I wasn’t ready to take off

got in the way. I never INTENDED for my run to be pushed to the side. It just happened. It wasn’t MY fault, it was my to-do lists fault.

Right?

After beating myself up for awhile over my lack of motivation and discipline, I decided that a pizza dinner with my loves would surely be just the pick-me-up I was needing.

We headed to this great local place, right on the water:

Don’t you just love finding little hidden gems like this? They’re such a treasure.

Speaking of finding things, guess what I found after dinner?

The courage to follow-through. On my to-do list. On my goals. On myself.

Was I looking forward to doing a run with a sloshing belly full of pizza and wine? No.

Were my pajamas calling my name the minute I walked in the door? Yes.

Did I listen? No.

Did I have to walk a few times and talk my belly out of evicting said pizza and wine? Yes.

And guess what? I feel pretty great about my decision to get off my butt and do this.

What I’ve set out to do is entirely for me. I’m not in this to win big prizes, get flashy sponsors, or make lots of money.

(What? No one is looking for a spokesmodel whose husband can walk faster than she can run? They’ll be sorry!)

And the only person I will let down if I don’t follow through with this is me. I don’t know about paving any roads (or blazing any trails for that matter) but I know that I do have every good intention of honoring what I’ve set out to do.

And also? I have a 7-mile run scheduled for this weekend, and it’s written smack in the middle of my to-do list. Right below “Believe in myself.”

And I plan to put a big ol’ X right through both of these tasks.

P.S. I also wanted to give a little shout out to all the great dads out there as we head into Father’s Day weekend! The little lady and I are heading to this relaxing place with our handsome and amazing fella for some well-earned RNR.*

*Disclaimer: ok, so this was *technically* supposed to be our Mother’s Day weekend getaway but a certain someone was sick (not naming any names, but it was me).

Dear husband: thank you for all that you do, every day. When I see the beautiful way you parent our child, I am speechless. And also? Thank you for this little getaway re-do. Let’s just dub this one Parent’s Weekend and call it a wash, how’s that sound?

What are your plans for the weekend? I’d love to hear from you!

tea parties and trouble shooting.

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I am super busy at work right now with only a week left before we head to Europe (we’re going here and here – it is all very exciting!). Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE (all caps) my job and the company I work for and I truly do enjoy staying busy, but having a laundry list of deadlines and to-do’s + being short on time = a recipe for disaster for a (recovering) procrastinator.

(that rhymed)

Anyway, it’s a good thing I love deadlines (“I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by” – Douglas Adams).

And strong coffee. There’s always that. If that fails, I can always sleep on the plane, right?

Aside from my work deadlines, I have a few fun personal projects that I need to wrap up before leaving on a jet plane. Olivia’s sweet little school, Hazel Creek Montessori, is having a tea party and fashion show fundraiser next month, so naturally I had to volunteer to design the posters.

And then there’s the set of 12 laminated, custom write-on, wipe-off placemats that I donate every year to a very worthwhile event, The Detlef Schrempf Auction that raises money for my most-beloved charity, Rise n’ Shine, and – natch – the auction winner wants to redeem her order this month. (wow, that was a crazy run-on sentence)

Image

Last but not least, there is a handmade greeting card for a friend’s dad who wants to do something special for his wife at their 50th anniversary party. Am I busy? Yes. Could anyone possibly turn away a hopeless romantic who sketches interlocking hearts and writes things like “I am still crazy in love with you and you are still the most beautiful girl in the world” to his bride? No. That would be like kicking a puppy. (Which I also would not do, for the record.)

I’d better hold off on sharing the visual for this one because, who knows? This post could go viral be read by someone other than my mom and I would hate to ruin the surprise.

What’s that saying about when it rains, it pours in sets of three? Or something?

Anyway, it’s a good thing that being busy always sometimes helps me curb my procrastination.

Plus, there’s that whole business about idle hands being the devil’s tools that I’m trying to avoid.

In other news, my poor hub’s Mac is sick, sick, sickety sick. He’s a graphic designer too, but without the benies of an internal IT department. He is his very own jack-of-all-trades and usually does an amazing job of juggling-deadlines-troubleshooting-computer-issues-monthly-billing-dinner-cooking-laundry-doing-lunch-packing (and this is just the abbreviated list). And, since we’ve recently embraced the Quiet Life here on Bainbridge Island, he had to kick it planes, trains and automobiles-style to get his Ailing Apple in to the nearest authorized Apple shop (waaaay across the water in the big city of Seattle).

OK, so it was just a ferry ride in the car but still, when your computer ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy. Fingers crossed they’ve got the good meds. It’s supposed to be ready for pick-up “sometime” “tomorrow”.

In summary, I am definitely going to start exercising. Soon. And drinking more water.

Stay tuned.