Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Want to get busier?

Do you ever feel like your life just isn’t busy enough? Here’s an excellent way to increase your workload and stress level: set down a few goals and start seriously working toward them. Soon you’ll find you’re also seriously needed in other places.

Here’s the proof. My goals: write half a novel by the end of spring 2013; write a monthly column; write in the blog at least once a week, but preferably two or three times; continue work on the short stories I started last winter; put out a new line of pottery; experiment to create at least one entirely new glaze pattern; tile the three smaller windows in the studio; put carpeting on the stairs; work on my list of possible ceramics articles (i.e. experiment with the methods and start working on photographing the processes) and write at least one article a month for the first four months of 2013.

Now this was, according to our usual winter schedule, very possible.

But then reality happened: we got pottery orders that kept us busy past Christmas; then we got a few more orders and the glaze on most of the pieces from one order went on a trip that drug us to the depths of Hades and hasn’t allowed us out of that infernal disaster yet; Val, our rancher friend had an accident so we’re helping with her morning chores until she’s back on her feet (and we’re sorry she’s not physically well, but we are intensely enjoying taking care of her cows even though {or maybe even partially because} it has kept us from reaching our winter goals); and we did house-sitting and fed the horses for Fred and Barb for a few days (which we also enjoyed very much, though we are glad to be back home and sleeping in our own space, with our own routine and habits and pantry . . .).

And that has brought us up to the present. I’m still working on chapter seven; you already know how the blogging has gone; we’re still trying to work our the glaze problems; we’re still behind on our orders; I haven’t even begun writing my first ceramics article, for which I have all the photos taken; I have done only a few preliminary new glaze experiments; we haven’t yet gotten the other two windows tiled in the studio yet; we had only one stair carpeted, which Ben tore back off so he could paint the back and sides of the stairs before replacing the one and starting on the rest; and I haven’t even looked over my short stories since last spring.

And as for my cooking and exercise/lose fat goals . . . well, let’s talk about something else . . .

 

Like the beautiful new calves at Val’s ranch

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And how the cows come running for range cake

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And how well Ben swings an axe on an afternoon after chores when the sun came out

 

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And how dramatic the mountains look with the clouds resting on the peaks

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