The Slippery Slope and the 10 Minute To Do

April 27th, 2007

A recent survey revealed that 85% of moms admit to “letting themselves go.” That probably goes a long way toward explaining the fashion statements of some of the ladies I encounter at the local Wal-Mart.

At least they didn’t consciously CHOOSE that particular look. It just HAPPENED.

One day, you wake up and decide, “Hey, I think I’ll just forego the eye shadow and lip liner today.” A couple days later, “You know, who really needs foundation?” The next thing you know—no makeup. After all, you only have 20 minutes in the morning before you have to drop off the kids and head out to work or your volunteer job at the school. And who has time to make use of that gym membership, right? The old hubby doesn’t seem to mind the extra few pounds. The flannel nightgown adequately camouflages it anyway. Any you can’t afford to shop at Nordstrom because Little Billy’s orthodontist wants $4,000 for braces and Little Sally’s teacher says you need to get a tutor to help her with math.

It’s a slippery slope.

That slippery slope is at work in the garden too. With so much going on, who has time to worry about a few weeds? And do the neighbors really care that you didn’t plant annuals in the front border this year? And eee gad, so that tree is dead. Who has $400 to pay someone to take it down right now?

See, I am not unsympathetic. I also have a job. (With a mean boss. Me!) I also face the same slippery slopes as the ladies at Wal-Mart, although I try to fight the twin evil forces of entropy and gravity and have the salon bills to prove it.

I also make regular promises to myself that I will call THINGS I WILL DO. Here are a few of the most recent THINGS I WILL DO and rough estimates of their associated time commitments:

-Generally pick up house and do laundry each day – 1.0 hours (probably MUCH more than that)

-Water outdoor plants and do general outdoor cleanup just to stay on top of things – 1.0 hour

-Cardiovascular exercise to burn fat and not get obese — .5 to 1.0 hours

-Yoga – 1.0 hours (or .5 hours 2x daily)

-Sitting (meditation to the uninitiated) — .5 hour

-Practice piano – .5 hour (at least)

-Study French — .5 hours

-Make a “slow food” dinner – 1.5 – 2 hours (at least)

-Household maintenance – pay bills, talk with repair people, making travel plans — .5Okay, so far that comes to about 8 hours a day. Factor in about 8 hours of sleep and a conservative 8 hours at work. That’s a full 24 hours already. And what have I left out? Oh, just a few things, like doing errands, talking to and caring for your kids, your dogs, your cat and spouse, eating, personal hygiene, having a social life, extra work (and there’s always that), travel for work…You get the idea.

Once, when Ben was quite small, Harry was at sea for the better part of two years and I was working a high-stress job at an ad agency, I came up with the idea of a 10 Minute To Do. The concept is elegant in its simplicity. The 10 Minute To Do was a list of things that I could accomplish in 10 minutes or less. For example, say I had 10 minutes before I head to leave to take Ben to the pediatrician. I could look at this list, strategically located on the refrigerator door, and select one of the many 10 Minute To Dos. Over a period of days, I could actually accomplish quite a lot.

Well, in the interest of continuous improvement, I have developed my New and Revised Garden 10 Minute To Dos. To get you started with yours, here are a few examples:

-Deadhead the flowers in a flowerbed. (You can even do this while talking on the telephone if you have a cordless headset like I do.) -Re-pot a plant -Sweep a sidewalk -Water the outdoor container plants -Water your indoor plants -Pick up sticks blown down by the wind -Clip suckers off of small trees -Inspect bushes for early signs of disease or pests -Take a soil sampleYou get the idea now, yes? Now go in peace and avoid that slippery slope.

Posted In: Gardening, Lifestyle

Doom, Despair and Agony on Me

April 25th, 2007

Deep dark depression…Blessed misery…If that little rhyme doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because you didn’t grow up watching Hee Haw every Saturday night like I did.

It doesn’t translate well to 2007, but at the time, to my 7- or 8-year-old self, it was humorous and entertaining to see grown men and women dressed as country bumpkins popping up from behind hay bales delivering stoopid jokes and chewing on hay.

The reason this little ditty is apropos today is because I played a bit of hookey to work in the garden. But rather than it being an uplifting experience, all I could see were the problems. For example:

-The seedlings I transplanted looked pathetically small and vulnerable in the harsh, cruel sun. How will they ever survive?

-My hostas, astilbes, daylillies, lilies, helebores and other perennials need to be divided. Is it too late?

-There are a couple of beds with a BIG weed issue.

-There is a pussy willow bush that is just aching to be incorporated into a proper border.

-I have three other bushes waiting to be planted as well as a few extra hollyhocks that don’t yet have a home.

-My specimen trees need to have the suckers removed.

-I still have about 20 bags of mulch to deal with.

-The new bed next to the driveway is mostly leaf mulch on one side and topsoil on the other. However will I marry the two?

-I still need to set up my fountain in the back.

-I am finding volunteer cone flowers in odd places that need to be relocated.

-I still have house plants waiting to be repotted.The list goes on and on and on…When will I ever find the time?

Doom, despair and agony on me! Deep dark depression. Blessed misery! If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…

If you remember the rest, please let me know. It’ll drive me crazy until I find out.

Posted In: Gardening, Lifestyle