Well Deserved!

When the summer holidays rolled around, my sister kicked back and read books. And slept. A lot. Me? I read books. I biked in the afternoons, waking as many of my friends as I possibly could, and showing my finger to the sun-god who beat mercilessly upon my tanned body. I had a big blue drum full of, well, 'stuff.' I pulled out my big blue drum. I made a clock out of ice-cream sticks. I built a doll house. I signed up for typing classes. I renewed my basketball coaching. I cut and cut and cut paper. And glued it all together. I went to my dad's college library and borrowed as many books (these were not story books, nope!) as he would permit me to. I finished up all the math exercises for the next class. And in all of it, I looked happily forward to the day when school would reopen and I could add a whole bunch of other things such as sports days and acting and exams and homework and interesting class work and friends and festivals and so on.

My big blue drum? It was pure treasure. It had everything I needed to amuse myself while the world slept on, wilting in the heat. Mum never allowed me much money to buy stuff so I did what I could. Collected the shiny tops of the Nutramul tins. Put away every empty box I possibly could. Stole any gift wrapping that found itself in the house. Calcium sandoz boxes, with the detachable nose. Everything that was not trashed, or considered 'precious' by the household went into my box, through the year. Waiting in anticipation for summer when it would snake out and serve as amusement.

My big blue drum is still full. A little too full now, what with the plethora of opportunities that is open to us today, in 2011, that too for a super lucky gal like me who wants for nothing except some extra time to pay attention to all the things in her head. Reaching closure is the big problem. Waking up early or sleeping late is clearly not the solution, because, you know, I need a LOT of sleep else am super unproductive.

Looking at me going nuts the husband said about ten days ago 'I am going to take your life under my control, examine its contents, and make sure you are more efficient and Getting It Done' I paraphrase, of course, but this scares the crap out of me. I never liked people opening out the black lid and looking in (my mum felt obliged to, periodically, as I stood by, waiting to catch things she would throw out, so I could surreptitiously put them back in, later). I know, I need to sort through and organise and prioritize. I know they mean well and do mean to help. But Its So Scary!

Anyway born out of that fear, I decided to do a couple of things this week. First, I focussed on finishing the unfinished tasks, and fast. This was clearly stressing me out! Second, I prioritized properly and made lists (WooHoo! Lists!) and struck stuff off. A few more sensible actions and at the end of last week, I heaved a sigh of satisfaction. I had had a productive week! Earned my pay! Felt sorted! Yes! Then, this week, the streak continued. Except that I have now signed on for more things, feeling all sorted and with it....I might just have to buy a new drum!