I wasn’t always a procrastinator. I’ve never liked having things hanging over my head, and I can’t enjoy myself when a task or project is looming. I was always the girl who had her homework done before she went out to play with her friends; the kid who did her chores before watching TV (not saying I had a good attitude about it–check with my mom–but I did them!). In college I never pulled an all-nighter. Nope, I made it through four years getting plenty of sleep, unless I was, er, partying. Ahem! But that subject is for an entirely different column!
So why am I sitting here, staring at a blank screen and repeatedly hitting replay on that old classic, “Under Pressure,” by Queen? There are plenty of things I could be doing while I wait for inspiration to strike: the laundry is mildewing in the washer; the Roomba is bleating from the living room to be recharged; and, at my feet, the cats circle anxiously, reminding me that dinner time is nigh and mommy needs to get up off her rear and produce some food, NOW.
As an adult I’ve somehow accumulated more responsibilities (funny how that happens), and my track record for getting things done is not what is once was. That paint can that decorates my kitchen floor? It’s been a design feature for a couple of months now, waiting ’til I lay my hands on the screwdriver, pry the lid off and paint over the various cracks that my husband repaired around the holidays…in 2010.
Also in the kitchen is a spare dryer. What? You don’t keep an unplugged, major appliance in your kitchen? Well, maybe I am starting a trend. This dates to early in the summer when our washer died and we had to replace both it and the perfectly good dryer in order to get a new set that could stack in our teeny-tiny laundry room. One of these days I will get the camera card out of the laptop (dead), take some photos of the dryer and put it on Craigslist. In the meantime, I’m finding it a very handy repository for my purse, car keys and other miscellaneous objects.
Ah yes, the laptop. It gathers dust, jammed behind the defunct printer — which needs an ink cartridge — and is covered with spare cables, an extra mouse and an extension cord. Nothing like an unplugged and unused appliance in every room, I say!
Surprisingly, I’m well ahead of the game in some aspects. I already have my Christmas cards purchased, for example. Ha! I bet you did not see that one coming. They are tucked safely away…wait…where did I put them? Seriously, where the heck are they? For the love of Pete, don’t tell me I LOST THE CHRISTMAS CARDS WITH PHOTOS OF THE KIDS THAT WILL BE TOTALLY OUT OF DATE BY NEXT YEAR! Heaven help me, I’m off to tear the house apart. I will start by looking on top, inside and all around that unplugged dryer, and I will get to those other things vying for my attention…later.
Mary Becelia lives with her family in southern Stafford County.
