Monday, August 3, 2009

Another Summer Gone

I start back to work on Wednesday....sigh....and though I am VERY grateful to have a job, and am really looking forward to getting a paycheck again, I'm not ready. It's too soon. You see I had this plan, a list, of all the things I was going to accomplish this summer.....and I'm not done! This shouldn't surprise me, because I NEVER finish the list, but every summer I'm so hopeful that this will be the year.

  • I haven't read a book in two months....should have managed to read at least 3 or 4.
  • I haven't scrapbooked, beaded, or done any family history research.....though I planned to do each at least a few hours a week.
  • I haven't painted the bathrooms.....but I bought the paint for one.
  • I didn't deep clean the house from top to bottom....barely kept it decent enough for company.
  • Never had lunch with three friends that I meant to.
  • Never finished the food storage inventory or reworked the menu.

I could thoroughly depress myself by continuing this list!! So maybe it's time to think about what I DID accomplish.

  • I painted the kitchen and family room in a shade of light periwinkle blue....that I absolutely love.
  • I cropped a bunch of pants into shorts for the kids.
  • Helped to purge and clean the kids bedrooms.
  • Went on a vacation to San Diego where I got to relax with the family.
  • Had some good conversations with my kids.
  • Went to girls camp.
  • Made new friends & strengthened old friendships.
  • Started a blog.
  • Got a Facebook page.
  • Learned to text.
  • Saw Wicked!
  • Went to my first midnight movie showing (Harry Potter -- awesome).
  • Tried a new recipe.
  • Started journaling online.
  • Got some family photos hung on the wall.
  • AND started an exercise routine that I have actually stuck to and will be able to continue even when work starts.

That list makes me feel better. Maybe it's time to start keeping better track of the things I do get done instead of just the things I don't. I'm thinking if it's not on the list, but I do it, I should write it on the list and then cross it off!!

How often in life do we focus on the things we don't get done....focus on our weaknesses, instead of giving ourselves credit for all that we do, and do well. We, especially women, tend to be our own worst critics. Why is that? Why is it easier to see the bad in ourselves than the good? I know that we should be humble, but surely it's possible to be humble and still recognize our own worth and talent, and give ourselves a pat on the back once in awhile. Maybe if we all made more of an effort to point out the good we see in each other, commend each other for jobs well done, maybe we'd start to see more of the good in ourselves. I for one think I'm gonna give it a try.

3 comments:

  1. i'm a serious list person and i always add stuff just so i can cross it off. it makes me feel better:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. you are so right! that is exactly what i did. as i was reading this i realized even though i didnt get all the things done i wanted to i did get a lot accomplished even things i didnt plan on doing. that makes me feel so much better.
    and i definitely agree about complementing each other more. we do that a lot less lately.
    oh and btw, this whole summer list reminded me of an episode of arther where the end of the summer came and he couldnt find his list and thought he didnt do any of the things on it. he looked for it for a couple of days and finally found it thinking he wasted his whole summer. then he read it and realized he had done it all. lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. I only read one book this summer and caught up on some magazines that had piled up. I'm usually an eight book over the summer reader. That said, I've enjoyed every moment of my summer having fun and relaxing from the grind of the last 2 and a half years of study and work.

    Work begins for me in another week and a half and I'm not ready either. Oh how the school gossip has begun. Ugh!

    ReplyDelete