In my family, we have a fairly inelegant way to declare that our lives are under control: we claim we have our sh*t together. It was a phrase we have each adopted in turn to declare the end of a particularly tumultuous time and the beginning of one that was a little more, shall we say, “in control.” If I’m completely honest, I can’t exactly lay claim to the phrase yet. Still, after not having it together since the week after Thanksgiving, I’m getting closer every day.
So, what is this magic formula, you ask? It’s that relentless incrementalism. Two days ago, I started my “Three-A-Day” routine. That is, every day I would do three things at home: one from the garden/harvest; one related to cleaning up the basement; and one related to cleaning up the dregs from renovation. Each day, no matter how much time I have to devote to these tasks, I will do at least one thing. Yesterday, I was able to shell more of the black beans for long-term storage, put the second coat of teak oil on four of the newly hung doors and reassemble the shelving and put things back on it in the basement. In all, I had about two hours yesterday.
Today? Well, it’s not looking as promising, honestly. I have about 7 hours of zoom calls today. When I finish, I’m not certain how many brain cells will be left firing. However, even if it’s just five minutes a day, I am committed to the Three-A-Day. Already, I can see where I’m making progress. Give me a few weeks of Three-A-Days and I’m thinking you will see some good progress around here.
So, today’s agenda is pretty simple. I’ve got some leftover bins/items from storage that have been hanging around in the corner of the livingroom since we finished renovations. Those can be put away today. There’s a few more black beans to shell and I can likely finish those off. As for the basement? It’s getting trickier because the easy stuff has been done. But, I’ve got some cleaning supplies I stored down there from the guest bathroom. I will likely go through those and either toss or redeploy to other cleaning supply storage areas in the house. I will also clean up the sweet potato storage and tidy up that small corner of the basement. In all, this represents about a half hour’s worth of work – so not a big deal. But, it’s a step forward. Always, a step forward.
And that’s how it’s going to get done around here, at least until May 19th. I am just not going to have large chunks of time I can dedicate to projects but I also can’t let them linger. My husband has taken a similar approach to the guest bath. Every day, he plans about an hour a day of working in that room. Hopefully next weekend, I’ll be able to paint the room as he will have finished the drywall. From there, we can then lay the floors and that will be a significant step forward in getting that room finished. After floors are laid, sealed and grouted, the vanity and toilet can be re-installed, making the bathroom functional. We will still have to install the shower doors and the closet and new interior doors, but that won’t be that big of a deal. The last step will be installing the shelves. My hope is that by the middle of May, we can cross the guest bathroom off of our renovation list.
In the meantime, we will also have started seeds for the garden, begun the summer mowing season, celebrated the graduation of my two nieces and completed the home office for my newly minted niece/lawyer (the attorney part is newly minted/she’s been my niece all along).
Step by step and without great lurches forward, progress will be made around here. Between Three-A-Days and my husband’s hour per day (more on weekends, he says), we will get there. In the end, I believe we will make more progress than we actually realize through weekday work, allowing us to very slowly reclaim both our weekends and our lives.
The older I get, the more I realize that it is the slow, deliberate and modulated approach that gets me where I’m going. Not dissimilar to the tortoise and the hair, I realize that after decades of being the hair, I am now the tortoise.
The Yuppie Homesteader 