SOL 21/31: I Really Am that Scatterbrained Farm Woman

My friend, Mallory, asked if she could swing by this morning while they were on a layover from Hawaii to pick up her chocolate: 10 lbs of white and 10 lbs of milk. I've had it in my front closet since the fall when we did our yearly chocolate order. I said, "Sure. no problem." Since I knew they were stopping at a favorite donut place before swinging by my place, I asked for a donut. She knows I'm an early riser and a 6:30 am drive-by would be fine. I took the time to brush my hair just in case we took a picture. I perched on the stairs and waited excitedly for their arrival. It was a delight to see Mallory and Jared and their three girls briefly and visit for a bit on our front porch.

I finished half of the donut and then decided it was time to get on with my day. But I really wanted the other half of the donut first. I decided to use pairing, a strategy from a favorite podcaster, Monica Packer at About Progress. "Pair 'blah' tasks with a 'yay' reward." And so I decided to eat the rest of my donut once I had completed my slice for the day. I don't consider writing my slice a blah task, but it is a task that takes up too much of my day during March. 

But first, I wanted a picture of the half donut to accompany the post. I went downstairs and  realized my phone was upstairs. So up again I went and down again I came.

And then back upstairs. Before completing my slice, I decided to make my bed. But first, I had to put away the clothes that were piled on the bed. As I hung up some pants that my daughter folded for me from the guest bathroom downstairs (where I hang my wet clothes that I don't dry), I noticed that I hadn't organized my shirts from my latest laundry day by color (silly, I know, but I decided it would help me plan future purchases). So I stopped to do that. THEN I made the bed. And then I sat down to write this post. But there's that nagging basket of clothes behind me just calling to be put away. It's a task I can do in under two minutes, so I should just do it, right?

And when I return from putting away the clothes, I notice a sweater on the back of my chair that needs to be folded. 

And then my husband calls from downstairs that he's about ready to leave for work. So I go down to chat with him a bit before he leaves. 

 I unwrap the Sunday papers and push back the urge to sit down and read them. Instead, I unload the dishwasher. Then I reload it with the breakfast things.. Then I rinse the pile of plastics from last night's garbage round-up (I despise having trash day on Monday. It interferes with my day of rest.) And then I notice a plastic bib on the counter from Oliver's Saturday visit that hasn't been washed. So a quick hot rinse takes care of the sticky residue. And then I resolutely march myself upstairs to finish my post. 

If you don't know the story of the farm woman's day, well, I couldn't find it, but I'll spare you the details of the rest of my day. Just know that I stay busy all day, but have a hard time accounting for what I've done. Such is the life of an an easily distracted/scatterbrained retiree. I'm off to eat the rest of my well-earned 1/2 of a donut.

 Good thing I split it. It definitely a deserves a second glass of milk.

This is my eleventh year of participating in the March Slice of Life Story Challenge. This year I'll be mining my memories for stories to share.