ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES...

Where she'll stop, nobody knows. Where does that come from? Is that what they say when they are spinning a wannabe pinata smasher, or does it have something to do with the game of roulette? Well, no matter. It's the perfect way to describe how my brain works each morning, as I sit here watching the sun come up. Usually it flips past maybe a half dozen subjects before it begins slowing down, then finally latches onto one topic and won't let go of it until I've mulled it over thoroughly, and dumped all of my thoughts and conclusions out on the pages of my notebook.

Occasionally though, I feel more like a slot machine. There are days, such as today, when I just barely have time to pause on a subject - such as the disturbing fact that way too many of my friends and cousins are popping up with cancer all of a sudden - before someone reaches out, pulls the crank, and sets my mind to spinning again. Then it's off to thinking about something I want to cook, and over to the weird dream I had last night, and from there to the subject of how much money we wasted on braces for me and the kids, since all three of us now have crooked teeth again, and then it's on to...well, you get the picture. Finally, it just made me too dizzy and tired, so I chucked the journal and decided to make a list instead.

I love my lists. They always make me feel so much better! For instance, when I find myself stewing over all the things I have not yet accomplished in my life, it's very helpful to turn the tables and make a list showing just how far I've come. When I begin to wonder if I'll ever be able to call myself a "real writer", all I have to do is go back and read some of the first stuff I wrote (Ack! Painful!) then compare it to more recent stories. Can I call myself an artist? No, but there was a time when I could barely draw stick-figures. Don't believe me? Just scroll back to that very first "To Do List" I posted on my blog last September. Yikes! When I get depressed about trying on swimsuits, I remind myself what it was like ten years ago, when I was about twenty pounds heavier, my knees were both threatening to go out on me, my gallbladder was making me miserable, and my cholesterol was trying to go through the roof. In fact, I think that if I were to sit down and make a list of every way in which I've grown or changed for the better; all the new things I've tried or learned; all the adventures I've had and wonderful people I've connected with, just in the past two years here in Wimberley, why, I'd probably be downright amazed at myself!

That, however, would be a very long list, and I haven't the time for it just now. I think I will focus instead, on this one little week. The one that has just flown past me, with so much left undone.

What Have I Accomplished So Far This Week?

1. Finally got rid of the front door wreath full of wasps.
2. Have almost completed one of my newsletters for the old folks, which I haven't bothered with in weeks!
3. Hooked up with a bunch of long-lost friends on facebook.
4. Agreed to sit on a blogging panel at Story Circle Network's national conference in Feb.
5. Fertilized my plants for the first time since early spring.
6. Went to the laundromat.
7. Vacuumed up 20 lbs. of fluff, left by our favorite furball last weekend.
8. Finished reading The World According to Bertie, by Alexander McCall Smith.
9. Went on a mystery shopper call and filed my report.
10. Typed up my first official minutes from the TBS board meeting, and figured out how to post them on our website.
11. Blogged pretty much every day.
12. Put together a book-give-away package for the blog, gave a review of the book, and got the package shipped off.
13. Finally got new glasses as back up for my contacts. I can see again!
14. Finally replaced the key tag for tracking my workouts at Curves, which I lost about a year ago.
15. Finally passed below that magic number on the weight charts where I am no longer labeled "obese" - I'm just fluffy.
16. Finally cleared off my desk. Then proceeded to crap it out again.

Not bad for one short week, eh? What's on your list?