Fun Monday: Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow.

For today's Fun Monday task, our hostess, Faye of Summit Musings wants us to "share your three favorite ways of procrastinating. And if you've figured out exactly WHY you procrastinate, could you share the secret with the rest of us?!" 


Actually, I might know more about the second part of the request than I know about my favorite ways of procrastinating. I put things off for a variety of reasons. Sometimes overcommitment and a busy schedule prevents me from beginning tasks although since retirement this is less of an issue for me. Fear presents another obstacle for me. Fear of failure causes me to be apprehensive about attempting some actions. Dislike for the job at hand is another reason to put off for tomorrow what could easily be accomplished today. 


Even with these confessions, procrastination is less of a problem for me than in my earlier years. When I was in high school, we were required to write a composition every two weeks and turn it in on Monday morning. When did I write my themes? You know...Sunday night at 10:00 PM. In college while working on my undergraduate degree, I finished my freshman term paper at 8:10 AM, for an 8:30 morning English Composition class. However, in later graduate years, my papers were finished a week ahead of time. (I had my papers typed and would have been embarrassed to ask my typist to produce something at the last minute.)


Yes, I have strayed a bit from the assignment. Maybe I am hesitant to confess how I procrastinate. After all if we know how to resolve an issue, why not fix it? If the task is completely unpleasant,  I filibuster with myself creating all sorts of reasons why not to start.


All that being said, I do spend at lot of time at this keyboard whether with social networking. creating projects, or researching topics of interest. 


Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done. 
Aaron Burr 1756- 1836

Fun Monday: Home Bulletin Board

Monday, Monday...can't trust that day. Here it is Monday morning once again and I am composing my last minute Fun Monday post. I am retired for goodness sakes. Why do I put things off? No wait, that should be left for next Monday. Today's Fun Monday assignment from Faye of Summit Musings is, "Share a photo of your fridge and describe what you have displayed on it. What does this kitchen focal point have to say about you and your family?" Whew, this should be easy. 

The main feature of our family bulletin board is the masterpieces of our grandchildren aged five , two , and twenty months. Most of the magnets are souvenirs from various vacation spots from the family. Two of the magnets are picture holders with pictures of our oldest grandchild. In the upper left-hand corner, is a picture of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt on Papyrus, a gift from my sister.

Note that the white marker-board and the tablet in the upper right-hand corner of the refrigerator door are both blank as usually the case. My intent is to become more organized by writing reminders to myself. What does this all say about our family? I guess this says that our family is important to us and that we are not very organized.

Fun Monday: Three Generations

Oh no, it is Tuesday morning, and I have not yet created my Fun Monday post. Our dedicated host for the month of October is Faye of Summit Musings. Faye has asked us to display our favorite family photos. My selection includes representative photos rather than specific favorites. These choices remind me of the many good times in my life and the life of my family.

This first photo is from a Christmas sixty years ago. This is a picture of my sisters and me surveying our Christmas gifts on that December morning in our brand new robes. I am the littlest sister with the toy Ukulele. (Notice the wallpaper in the background; it was dark green...yuck.)

My second photo features my husband and our two sons.

This is a picture of our oldest grandchild as she surveys the intricacies of this stick.

Here our youngest grandchildren are watching their Grandpa plow the driveway with his red tractor.

Fun Monday: When You Wish upon a Star

For this week's Fun Monday task the lovely Sayre is playing genie in the lamp - she wants to know our heart's desire in the form of three wishes. Oh Sayre, you know I wish for the regular things, world peace, a cure for cancer, and a hundred million dollars in the bank. 

In considering my answer, I vacillate between thinking wishing for things is impractical and pondering what do I really want. This wishing is a tricky business. For example, although my thought may be morbid, one of my wishes is to die a quick and painless death. Now, a genie less kind than our Sayre would have granted my wish and zapped me on the spot nullifying my other two opportunities for wishes. Nonetheless, when I do come to the end of life, I do hope that the event is not preceded by a long and painful illness. 


Now, I have wasted my first wish. The choice for my second wish should be more practical and less morbid. Yes, my first wish should be about life. So what do I really want during my lifetime? I want what we all want ...to be happy. Happiness, what can be wrong with this wish? Do I actually want to be happy all of the time? Even this wish has pitfalls. Do I wish to be happy when life calls for sorrow like when a loved one suffers excruciating pain? No of course not, I do however wish for an optimistic outlook about living and loving.


After wasting my first two wishes, I should make a wise choice for wish number three. Genie, I think that I have this one. I wish for wisdom. Wisdom to make wise choices and wisdom to learn from my mistakes.


Thank you Sayre, now that my wishes have been granted, I am grateful. To see what other wishes, our Genie is granting today visit Sayre Smiles for a list of the Fun Monday participants.

Fun Monday: Quiet Time and Place

The lovely Sayre of Sayre Smiles continues as our Fun Monday hostess. Our assignment this week is to show our quiet places. I especially like this topic. In our new home, we have a few quiet places. When the weather is warm, our front porch is a pleasant setting to relax.

When the mosquitoes are swarming, we have a spacious screened-in back porch to spend time pondering the glories and mysteries of life.

 

When the weather is inclement, I enjoy looking out the bowed front window to see this in the summer

and this in the winter.

In My Brain

The lovely Sayre of  Sayre Smiles is the host of this week's Fun Monday event. For the topic, Sayre is asking us to tell about our favorite body part. In considering my answer, I thought about my aging anatomy. I like most of the parts of my body and no particular part stands out specifically. Other people mention parts of my physique in an enviable way... my long fingers, my long legs, my big blue eyes, and my posterior which fortunately is not fat. Other than the parts that do not function properly (like my presbyopic eyes and my aching back) , overall I like how the old bod is put together. So dear Sayre. I hope that this is not cheating, but the part that I like best is my brain.

What brings me to this conclusion? My brain allows me to compose this post in a variety of ways. Deep in the inner recesses of the gray matter, my brain is producing thoughts, ideas, and words to include in the post. My brain also allows me to formulate the ideas and words into sentences and relatively coherent paragraphs. My brain even lead me to the decision to highlight this body part in today's post.

My brain tells me how to put one foot in front of the other to amble through my home on this fine Monday morning. My brain permits me to glance out the window and enjoy the beauty of my neighborhood. My brain encourages me to enjoy the brisk fall day. However, my brain reminds me that this is actually still summer in northwest Indiana even though the old brain is interpreting the messages from the neurons about the status of the temperature.

My brain allows me to reminisce about my oldest son's toddlerhood comment about his brain. (Our almost two year-old often would come up with quite complex thoughts.) His amazed and adoring parents would ask, "How did you know that?" He would respond, "because I have a big smart." His amused parents then would ask, "Where is your big smart?" Our young genius would regale his parents with this comment, "in my brain."

Thus, my favorite body part is my brain. Strangely, my brain is probably my least favorite part as well. In my brain, I obsess over a variety of fears such as "Did I leave the burners on , "Is the garage door open?", or "Is the Panini  maker plugged in?" I ponder over the possibility of bringing home bedbugs from motels and serving Salmonella or E. coli contaminated food to my loved ones. I agonize over conversations concerned that I may have hurt someone's feelings. Furthermore, my dyslexic brain does not know my right from my left leaving me directionally challenged. Although my deficient thinking has these inadequacies, overall I appreciate the miraculous organ that allows me to love and enjoy my life.

Here is a picture of my brain. Well you know, it is inside the gray head. 
(The brain that allows me to love and adore my grandchildren.)

I am looking forward to reading other Fun Monday posts. Thank you Sayre for keeping the Monday tradition alive.

It is all about the Benjamins - Fun Monday

Fun Monday is here again. This week, our artistic Gattina of Writer's Cramps, is the host. Gattina has asked to see our wallets and our currency. My wallet is a little worn, but I like the whimsical pattern and the utilitarian features. On the inside are several card pockets for my various identification cards, credit cards, and store benefit cards, plus two pockets for paper money. On the opposite outside of the wallet is a zippered coin purse. You may have noticed that $100 bills are missing from the picture. I really do not have any of that denomination, but I would gladly accept any and all Benjamins.