Monday 22 August 2016

Microblog Mondays: Tangible and Intangible Accomplishments



Summer is winding down! As a teacher who is paid for 12 months of the year and can afford to not work extra in the summer (this is by no means true of all teachers) I have an extra helping of unstructured time. So, what did I do with it?! Some of it I spent doing not much (or fun activities: I'll write about some of those in an AJ-centred entry) but I feel like I must hold myself accountable as well. A lot of projects get put off during the rest of the year, when we are both working full time and being parents to AJ. Two months sounds like a great opportunity to get caught up, to feel like I'm "on top of life" again.

On this theme, I started the summer with a To-Do list prominently on the fridge, and even posted it on Facebook, too.


A few weeks later, not doing too badly I think:


Some of the jobs are/were mainly Mr. Turtle's, I should point out. I can put together IKEA furniture but it always is a bit wonky when I do, so I leave that to him. He's also doing the anchoring and baby proofing. We took the first step toward consolidating our bank accounts together, but Mr. Turtle has to do the last steps. We are actually both still working on the office clean up, but I was so excited that we even got started that I wiped it off the list early.  What else: I'm not sure I can take all the bottles to the depot on my own, so I'm procrastinating that till we both can go, and neither of us want to. Running the oven cleaning cycle only involves pushing a few buttons, but it makes the house smelly and I'm afraid of fire and won't do it when I'm alone. Plus we have to wait for cool weather. Photo organizing is just as intimidating today as it was June 30, so I have done nothing there. We have done a pretty good job on the yard. We never got around to "landscaping," but at least it's not totally overgrown. Visitors nod thoughtfully and say it has potential, which is what it's had for the last six years.

And then of course there are other  things that weren't on the list that I did. The freezer is getting well stocked up with frozen lunches, including a giant pot of butternut squash and ginger soup cooking on the stove today. I have new eyeglasses! I went, or am going to, two work-related professional conferences, which feels great and is getting me excited about the new school year. We spent a lot of time with family. Not so much with friends; I have to address my social apathy/avoidance at some point.

These are some of the "tangible accomplishments" alluded to in the title. They are the things I believe I should be doing with my time.  They are the most visible to other people (sometimes even to me). They aren't always the things I feel I need to do. I call this other category "intangible accomplishments."

My intangible accomplishments this summer:

All the entries on this blog. I guess a blog entry is sort of tangible, in that it's visible and people read it. But it doesn't make an obvious difference in the progression of everyday life. Still, I'm driven to write in a way I'm not driven to do a lot of other things that appear superficially more important or urgent.  I want the documentation of that feeling or experience to exist. I want validation that goes beyond the ephemeral pleasure of having a clean house for 10 minutes or clean laundry for 5.

Following/reading other blogs. I enjoy following people's stories, and sometimes, philosophical musings driven by their experiences. So much of this drama is invisible in everyday interactions and relationships because people hide it beneath their facade. But it's so interesting.  (You would have to know and closely interact with me for at least a year to see a glimmer of what I share on torthúil. This is probably true of many other bloggers as well). 

Reading books. No novels. I don't have any interest in fiction lately.  I don't want to escape; I want to go down deep. Although I can't say exactly where I'm going with my summer (soon to be fall) reading. I'm exploring a sense of powerful uneasiness; I'm trying to figure out what it's about and where, if anywhere, it lines up with the some of the political battles currently being fought. I've read (or am currently re-reading) three very interesting books this summer.  Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel. JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, and finally Sebastien Haffner's Defying Hitler. The one thing that draws me to each of these writers is that they all have a strong sense of self, and they struggled (successfully, more or less) with a dysfunctional culture. I'd like to write more about these books, but I don't know what shape yet that writing will take. I'm still note-taking, comparing, contrasting, turning over ideas at 1am. Sometimes I get the laundry folded too. I don't know how I'll work in the infertility angle. But I'm creative that way. :-)

Oh, yes, speaking of fertility. If ever there was work that was grueling and intangible. Trying to conceive has been a major focus this summer. After my previous discouraging non-cycle, the current one is at least a little more promising. I had a positive OPK. And fertile mucus! Not at the same time though, that would make too much sense. About 6 days apart. It's possible that I had a second LH surge, of course, but I ran out of OPKs before I could test for it. Anyway. Two week waits are so much fun, because I have no idea how long they are actually going to be, although I can make some guesses. I'm afraid I can't call hours of Googling symptoms and bodily functions any kind of accomplishment at all. But I'll call maintaining some form of mental and emotional balance through this "is or isn't it possible to conceive again" time an intangible accomplishment.

In summary, what I've learned this summer is that I need to work on both the tangibles and the intangibles, and that they both take effort, though with tangible accomplishments the result of the effort is a lot more visible. And sometimes the biggest effort is to get started at all.

Next entry will be AJ-focused. Promise.

22 comments:

  1. Kudos to you for erasing so much on your To Do list. I find when I get the gumption to do something similar on our fridge, I actually get some things accomplished. Thanks for reminding me. :)

    Oh, and I agree - getting started is sometimes the toughest. Look forward to reading about your fun summer activities!

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    1. Thanks. It's easy to only focus on what's left to do. But it helps to have it visible.

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  2. Wow, you really did accomplish a lot this summer! I like the big-ticket-item to-do list on the fridge door. And, um, so jealous of the 12-month thing! I am a 10-month employee and paid that way, and while I am able to not work in the summer I have yet to financially plan well so that I don't feel strapped by this point and dependent. :) I'm glad to hear that you have had a good looking cycle...that's a beautiful intangible. I loved what you said about blogs being still just a glimpse of a life, even though it can be a really personal glimpse. So much to love here!

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    1. Thanks! I think technically I'm paid for 10 months and they hold part of my salary back for the summer....but in any case I'm lucky to have the financial and job security that comes with my contract. We will be a bit tighter budget wise in September because Mr Turtle is working part time and working unpaid the rest of the time for his practicum. Yes, this cycle has encouraged me to be a bit more hopeful, although it's still wishing on a star.

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  3. Quite a lot done! Kudos to you. I don't put mu lists on the fridge nut I do put them up. I may, however have tp start adding expiration datesm ;-)

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    1. I like the idea of an expiry date! I guilt myself far too much about things I have no intention of doing. They should just expire after a while.

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  4. Well done with the to do list! I chucked my to do list in my f*ck it bucket (I have an actual f*ck it bucket) and haven't looked at it in months!

    Yay for a good looking cycle and best of luck this two week wait!

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    1. A f*ckit bucket sounds like a great counterpart to a to do list. I like it. Thanks for the good wishes, same back.

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  5. You've accomplished a lot this summer! And yay about the positive OPKs. That's definitely good news.

    It's hard to motivate yourself to do tasks that require either a lot of mental energy or time. Rewards help, but other times it's just a matter of giving yourself a mental push. So you should be proud of all you've done.

    Fingers crossed for the 2 week wait!

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    1. Thanks! I am glad for all the things I got to. Mental push is right. Or often accepting they will get find a little arcs time, rather than all at once.

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  6. I like how you separated the accomplishments in tangible and intangible ways. TTC is a frustrating thing as OPK and CM are hard to gauge when they don't line up. I laughed out loud at the "potential" comment of your yard. :D

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    1. Yeah, I wish I enjoyed working in the yard more, but we only seem to get motivated to work on it when it gets so bad as to be unbearable. But at least it's ok now. As for the cycle, the one thing I'm not doing is BBT and it might have provided some clearer info. There's only so much crazy I can deal with though: all the data gets very confusing to interpret.

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  7. I've challenged myself to finish 41 tasks that I have been procrastinating on. Can't say that I've been able to cross off many items on my to-do list yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Kudos to you!

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement; I'll send it back! 41 is a lot!!

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  8. You accomplished a lot in a relatively short amount of time. Sending good thoughts for the start of school.

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    1. Thanks! Nice to have the feedback! I tend to focus on what isn't done, so it's important to take stock.

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  9. I just finished reading Hillbilly Elegy and reviewed it on my blog... I'd be interested to hear what you thought about it!

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  10. Sounds to me like you've had a busy summer. And that includes the intangibles, which are very important to our lives. Well done! I hope you feel proud of yourself.

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    1. Thank you for the kind comment! yes, I do feel good about it. Always wish I could (magically?) do more, but thanks for the perspective.

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  11. That's a lot you accomplished this summer. It's always so satisfying crossing off (or wiping off) those things to do. Thank you for the motivation :)

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    1. Thanks!! And you're welcome. Wooh, I motivated someone!

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