Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Wednesday's Woes

Here are a few photos the Bag Lady took of her yard last night.

This is part of her front flower bed:

Here are her potatoes:

And this is the grapevine that she thought had winter-killed:


The warm weather lasted through part of yesterday, then the clouds started to roll in and it cooled off. There was some lightning far off in the distance, so it stormed somewhere.

She is feeling a little overwhelmed with the struggle between things she wants to do and things she HAS to do. Sometimes when she feels like this, she ends up doing nothing. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally hear you on the "want to" versus "have to."

(And I bet lots of other bloggers can relate--blogging is often a "want to" that fights with the all "have to's" of the world...)

Doesn't leave a lot of time to smell the pretty flowers!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you & the crab.

Although I'm blessed that many times the have to's and want to's are the same.

Ok.

That's too polly annaish.

Off to launder the sheets.

Never a WANT TO around here.

MizFit

Leah J. Utas said...

Nice to see the potatoes poking up through the ground.
Ah, want to vs have to. The have tos get in the way all the time and the want tos are left wanting.
I often feel like I've gotten nothing done even when I start it at 5 in the morning.

JavaChick said...

I hear you Bag Lady...I think half the time when I'm not getting things done it's not so much that I don't have time, it's that I get overwhelmed just thinking about everything I want/need to do and then I can't focus. Must learn to just pick one thing at a time and go with it.

the Bag Lady said...

Crabby - the Bag Lady needs to hunker down and attend to the "have to's" today!

Miz - how lucky for you that they are the same in many instances for you!

dfLeah - ah yes, the early bird gets the worm...but who likes worms?!

the Bag Lady said...

Javachick - that's my problem too - can't focus on one thing and get it done because I'm worrying about the myriad of other things that need attention!

Emily said...

wow! what a big potatoe garden. I can't believe anything living outside survives the winter you had... must be some hardy grapes (make hardy wine???)

Missicat said...

Defintely, all the time.
I wonder if you saw the storm that passed through my area? :-) It was pretty impressive...poor Bad Cat spend the night under my bed again. He is terrified of thunder!

the Bag Lady said...

Emily - we actually cut our potatoes in half this year because we don't have a proper cold storage area...
The grapevine is only 3 years old, so hasn't yet produced enough grapes to actually do anything with! Hopefully one day it will. Should probably get a few more vines, now that I know they will survive.

Missicat - that was quite a storm if I could see it from here!!!
My poor dog hates thunder, too. She starts shaking and either won't leave my feet (which is kind of a pain if I'm trying to get somthing done) or hides under the coffee table. Doesn't seem to bother the cats as much.

Unknown said...

I'm so guilty of not doing anything because I'm too overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to tackle a really tiny project that you've been meaning to do- it'll make you feel loads better and more motivated to continue with the rest of your chores.

Honestly. Even if its something as ridiculous as mailing a letter or putting away some dishes. Or writing a blog post!

Maggie said...

What I want to do is usually what I have to do, which leaves me doing nothing? lol

I can't believe how much work you put into your gardens. I believe you are my hero! Love the pictures of your flowers!

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - that's so true...must tackle the laundry - maybe that'll help with the "overwhelmed" feeling!

Maggie - thanks! I'll post more photos when things bloom, I promise.

Hilary said...

I WANT to finish typing this comment before I turn around to get at the HAVE-tos as long as I don't trip over more WANTs along the way. Ooops, I see that Crabby, Reb and Leah have also posted...

Terrie Farley Moran said...

df Bag Lady,

I cannot believe that you brought this up today of all days! Today is the day I re-prioritized! (Actually the thoughts came yesterday but today was implementation.)

I find that once I am aware of a "have to" , it haunts me until its done. It would be a very rare case when it would matter whether I went to the post office today or tomorrow. But once I decide to go today (because I "have to" go) then I make myself insane readying every thing I might have to mail in the next three weeks, so I get them sent off!! ( I should add that there is a mailbox on my corner for letters and small packages and four post offices within three miles of my house. I am forever passing one or the other.)

So last night, when I realized that today was my weekly "send a package to the Florida grandkids" day, I thought of a few other packages I could send. None imperative. I put one together while I was waiting for the political news to come on and when it did, I stopped packing.

Today I went to the post office and mailed the two packages that were ready. I'll get around to the other package and mail it when I WANT to!!!

There you have it! A victory over my efficiency gene.

Maybe I'll never mail that third package--okay, okay, now I am getting crazy again!!

Terrie

the Bag Lady said...

Hilary - exactly what I'm talking about!! I really have to get another load of laundry in the machine...

dfTerrie - we sound very much alike! I HAVE to do the laundry and housework today, even though it would probably keep until tomorrow....but once I've decided on a course of action, it drives me crazy to NOT do what I planned. Sigh.

Scrumpy said...

Oh the want to do and have to do struggle. I definitely get it!

Reb said...

I wind up in such a dither when my have to list gets big like it is now. Today has not been as productive as I would have liked.

Anonymous said...

Hello! I'm so long overdue in stopping by here for a visit. I see your witty comments on other blogs, and you always make me smile.

Well, that storm you saw off in the distance was probably where I live! We had one doozy of a storm last night. Lightning flashing every few seconds, loud thunder cracks. Fortunately it wasn't very windy, lots of rain, though!

the Bag Lady said...

SB - my have-to list got short-changed in response to the ranch's have-to list today...sigh.

Reb - it's awful, I know! I haven't even written mine down (like I usually do) because I don't know where to start!

Susan - I'm so glad you stopped in!! And I hope you come back! The storm we saw last night dropped about 5 drops of rain, and 2 big crack of thunder, then pased us by! Glad it didn't do too much damage where you are!

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Oh, yes. The "have-tos" can really get to me sometimes, almost paralyzing me. But they also inspire my creativity, which shuts down in the face of too much time to do whatever I want. So I try (and often fail) to remember there's a silver lining.

the Bag Lady said...

BG - thanks for reminding me that there usually IS a silver lining!

P.O.M. said...

Oh heck ya. When I get overwhelmed, I turn into hibernation mode. Also known as "pass me a xanex" mode. AKA "One bottle of wine isn't enough" mode.

the Bag Lady said...

POM - I hear ya with the "one bottle isn't enough...!"