Friday, September 14, 2007

Guess I 'm Doing OK


Fields, 2007, Oil on Panel, 16x20

Even though I feel like I have been spending too much time on the computer since the kids went back to school, looking back at this last week, I see that I did actually accomplish quite a bit.

I have cleaned the house. Not super thoroughly, but good enough for now.

I sorted through the girls clothing and delivered the outgrown items to a local charity program. I also washed nearly every single item in our entire house; clothes, towels, sheets, bathroom rugs, even the dog's bedding.

We attended our son's middle school open house on Tuesday evening, where the parents were herded through their kid's daily class schedule in order to listen to a short presentation by each of their teachers. I found myself still making a beeline for a desk in the back row, still feeling self conscious when walking into a full classroom and having everyone turn and look at me, and I also found myself inexplicably happy when my friends would say hi to me, while passing in the halls. Some things never change.

I have spent a number of hours in the kitchen each day, peeling and removing the seeds from our nine million garden tomatoes. I have made a number of different versions of tomato sauce and they are now all in the freezer, ready for the coming winter. I have also been preparing peaches, zucchini and apples for the freezer as well.

I have been continually preparing panels as well painting each day. This week I finished up seven pieces, all of which have to be shipped out right away to various galleries.

Got a few walks in this week, which is lots of fun now with TWO dogs on leashes and have spent some time tidying up the gardens. There is still much to do with those though. Sigh. And I can't even begin to describe how much preparation we have to do in order to make our vegetable garden more productive next year.

Oh yeah, all of the usual daily stuff, dinner, writing notes to school, picking kids up, phone calls, running errands, etc. Thank god for multi-tasking or I'd get really off track.

And I have been trying to keep up with my reading, getting in almost an hour each day. Not as good as during the vacation, but better than before! Although last night I skipped that and watched a movie which I highly recommend, The Lookout. It was so good, and it was really nice to see Jeff Daniels, where has he been lately?

Anyway, I am being productive now, and it's a very welcome feeling.

10 comments:

GiselleG said...

Ha! You sound like me! I'm so programmed to multitask now that I can't even watch a movie without doing something else at the same time. I've actually complained when my husband started playing something with subtitles, because it was hard to knit at the same time.

I love that painting, by the way! Yum!

Lisa Call said...

I'm so jealous. My garden didn't do well this year. And the herd of deer that came through and ate my zucchini and tomatoes are just evil. I won't have enough tomatoes to can salsa this year. boo hoo...

Melody said...

Our garden didn't do very well this year either. The spinach didn't produce at all and the carrots were rather skinny
How is Mr. Wilson these days???

Joan Breckwoldt said...

I would say you give a new meaning to the word 'productive'! You get so much done plus 7 paintings, wow! It's a good week, no, a great week for me if I get 2 paintings done. You are in inspiration! Thank you for sharing your beautiful work and your thoughts,
Joan

The Painted Sky said...

pmrxqyifWow, you are Supermum :)

I on the other-hand meandered hapless and lost this last week :(

PS I like your paintings

JT :)

The Painted Sky said...

Opps, sorry, the "pmrxqyif" isn't me swearing....it's me stupidly putting the word verification code in the wrong place by accident :(

Tracy Helgeson said...

Giselle! I always knit when I watch tv too! And because of that, I never watch anything with subtitles either:)

Lisa, bummer about the deer!

They don't bother our vegetable garden much, surprisingly, but they sure eat my flowers and shrubs. The woodchucks and rabbits eat our veggies.

Melody, Thanks for asking about Mr. Wilson. He is still unbearably cute. I am planning a fascinating update on our pets and livestock. Stay tuned:)

I on the other-hand meandered hapless and lost this last week

Don't worry, I have plenty of those kinds of weeks too:) Somehow they all even out and I look very busy!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Joan! Well, it was a productive week, Usually I don't get quite so many paintings done, now that I am working larger.

Making A Mark said...

That's fantastic - what's that quip "If you want something done, give it to a busy woman"

You sound like you've got up a good head of steam Tracy - and your productivity is making me feel positively sluggish! ;)

Tracy Helgeson said...

Katherine, I like that saying! It's true too:) And don't worry, I do have many very sluggish days...