ILCW, ALREADY?

I seem to have difficulty keeping track of the days this month. I always feel a thrill when I realize ILCW is coming up and look forward to the 21st of the month in a way that one typically anticipates the season opener of their favorite sports team!


I totally forgot this month (hangs head in shame) until I saw a comment appear with those four tittilating letters at the end.


So, as an ILCW opener, I'm listing the top 5 activites demanding great chunks of my time (read - don't be offended if I don't get to your blog until the buzzer nearly goes off).


TOP 5 ACTIVITES DEMADING GREAT CHUNKS OF MY TIME:

5. Cooking and Laundry (they deserve mentions even if they are on the top-bottom of my list, right?)


4. Reading - current book: The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. (I am a firm believer that reading and writing go together and to be great at one you must be committed to the other)


3. Writing - both my book and my column for Exhale magazine (don't know it? You must check it out - IT ROCKS!)


2. Blogging- Ok, this might seem like a selfish one, but I do have four* blogs you know! And - I am nit-picky enough to want them all to be authenticly writen for their own designated purpose.
This takes a lot of time! (Oh- and the totally-kickin-makeover Calli and I have up our sleeve is eating up a few minutes too!)


And, the NUMBER 1 activity demading EXCESSIVE chunks of my time is founding our local chapter of Share- Pregnancy and Infant loss support for the southern part of our state. Sure, it sounds like a no-brainer, a snap of the fingers really - but my reality check was solidified when I opened a 28 page (yes that says 28) application for non-profit status.


I am eternally grateful for all the opportunities coming my way this year and spend each minute of my time as such. But, to re-iterate the main point - I may not get to your blog until the buzzer nearly goes off - but I WILL get there - because not on the list - but very important is to ROCK THE IRON COMMENTATOR this month!


*Blogs not already liked to in this post are: The Bear and The Comedian (parenting after loss) and Wall of Angels, a memorial site for all our lost children. Please feel free to add yours by emailing me.

Checklists and Checkmarks

As I logged in to the computer this morning and saw all the amazing comments on my Show-And-Tell post for this week (INTERUPTION: A BIG THANKS TO MY TECH. SUPPORT MICHELLE FOR THIS LINKING ABILITY!) I remembered It is Sunday, September 21st and ICLW kicks off today. I finished smiling at all the heartfelt remarks about my crazy mushroom and clicked over to the ICLW main page. This is my FIRST time participating and so I scrolled down, and down, and even further down to see...OMG 122 (that is ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO) bloggers ready to begin the commentathon.

Then, my natural instincts kicked in. There is NOTHING in this world I love more than a LIST! (ok- maybe a checklist so I can SEE my progress). That is why I copied and pasted the linkage list to a word document then printed it. I now have a hardcopy where I can place a perfectly formed "checkmark" next to each link as I visit and comment. Moreover, I can keep track of how many times I visit each blog and this will allow me to know who I am really connecting with. (anal? compulsive? a resounding need for order? - I don't know...you saw my pantry after all)

Speaking of pantries ... no my obsession with all things categorized would be better vizualized if I bullet off some of my past actions: (mom if the ages are off ...please comment!)

• Age 9 (ish) Turned my white pine bookshelf in my bedroom into a library by organizing the books into an alphabetical sequence (this reaked havoc with their ability to line up by height - but hey..what can you do?) and fixed each one with a label. Then HANDMADE a pre-windows spreadsheet looking-like-thing so you could (and here is where it gets a tad bit crazy...) CHECK THEM OUT!



• Age 12(ish) Completed unassigned and never-to-be-graded book reports in the SUMMER (probably a mental checklist I had created- who knows!)



• Age 15(ish) Labeled my mother's pantry with food and brand names in their designated locations to make unpacking the groceries "easier".
  

Ok - lists are one thing. Setting goals and reaching them while keeping track of your progress is a good thing, right? But here's the REAL problem. I don't like limits, they scare me. I like to be within the limits. I don't like getting down to the wire. I don't like deadlines they scare me too so I have to set a deadline within a deadline. (then why, do you ask are you writing a book?) A few more tell-tale examples:

• Age 20 - In College I ALWAYS finished my papers a day or two ahead of their duedates so I could, proof them, "just" one more time! (Ah-ha...the writer is vindicated)



• Age 22 - Planning a Wedding (Nuff Said!)



• Age 25 - Joined Weight Watchers to lose the weight from the first baby (Emma - stillborn) so I could get pregnant with the next. If my point limit was 25, I used 20. If my goal loss for the week was 1.5 pounds I lost 3. See a pattern?
  

Ok, now that I have effectively established my "live-by-the-ways-of-the-prescribed-world" personality (I have evolved - so don't judge too harshly please - smiles) I think you are in a better mindset to understand the rush of "checklist lust" that went through me when I saw the 122 blogs on the list. Truly, I have evolved, but I just CAN'T resist a checklist!Visting each one was never a question, How many do I need to visit each day? was the question ticker-taping through my frontal lobe. (me- grabbing a calculator and punching numbers...122 / 7) = 17.42 blogs a day. No biggie! 18 blogs a day (see I rounded up, not down??)

My self-imposed mission set I dove into my reading / commenting mode with coffee abounding. Only later, and by a fluke of the mouse, did I see this thing called the Iron Commentator. My delusional reaction? Hmmm...there are people that don't visit all the sites? Ahhh....I have come so far but I have so far to go. (NOTE: must meditate more every day!)

FYI - Yes, I've been to 18 blogs today.