good wonderful morning to you all!

Today I am up early, despite being assured that it is indeed Saturday.? Why I have chosen this day of days to be up before dawn, I have no idea — but I am determined to make good use of my time.? So far I have crossed “Drink the perfect cup of coffee” off my list.

For my next act, I think I will write a list of what I hope to accomplish this weekend.? In fact, I think I will put “Write List” on my previous list just so I can enjoy that pinch of accomplishment when I cross it off.

There is an art to making lists, see… the trick is to put a few things down that are on the “quick and easy” category so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the monumental items that don’t go away as easily.? (If you are a list maker, you know you do this.? Admit it.? There is no shame, you’re among friends.)? For example, for a while I had “Paint House” on my list.? Well, lists.? Several.? It took about two months to actually finish*, so it lasted through a couple “To Do’s” before it was “Ta Done”.? I had to balance things out by throwing every normal chore I could into the mix.? (“Wash dishes” and “Do laundry” were frequent flyers.? It was only depressing on the days when I couldn’t cross those off.)

Of course the parent of the “To Do” list is the “To Do” pile, which I also have.? But just one.? (Mostly because the three that I had before finally grew together at the base and formed one large stalagmite — or is it stalagtite??? Eh, it’s all good til it starts developing its own center of gravity.)? In the spirit of sharing and openness, here’s a sliver of a photo:

(If I knew ya better, you’d get to see more.? But let’s take things slowly, shall we?)

To be fair, there are parts of my studio that are actually quite clean and organized : }? Behold my flat files**:

This is my coolest studio organizational thing — made from sock drawers from IKEA : )? (Yeah, even after repeatedly explaining *why* I wanted a dozen sock drawers to the associate, I still got the “kooky lady” look.? But I got two great sets of flat files for cheap, and all he got was another “kooky lady” story to tell his friends — who won this one, buddy?!***)

*Epilogue:? the house is now in a perpetual state of “almost done”, which is its own level of hell.

** closely cropped to appear clean.? No animals were harmed in the process.? Unless they jumped on top of said files during cleaning, in which case I kicked their butts.? Gently.

*** me.? Unless he got a really great story.? No… still me.