Chocolate and Other Important Thoughts

Of course, this morning's thoughts are rising to the surface of my consciousness through my first cup of coffee. I should be a commercial: "Brought to you by _______ (name of major brand of coffee here!), the stuff my blog is made of." So first things first. Chocolate. What does that bring to mind? Valentine's Day? A cup of it on a cold, snowy, Winter’s Day? A "thank-you", an "I'm sorry", or an "I love you"? For me it's all of those. It's a reward to myself for a job well done, a break in my day, or the part of some decadent dessert I'm concocting for a special event. Does chocolate go with anything better than such an occasion? I'm reminded of one of my favorite chocolate desserts, a no-bake, peanut butter, chocolate oatmeal cookie. Those were a part of my childhood, and one taste takes me back to the simpler, easy days when there was nothing else but that moment when I would pause and savor the first bite of awesomeness from that particular deliciousness. I'll be putting the recipe into my blog in that corner later. It's an easy recipe – try it and create some memories. Onward. It is quiet this morning, but I've got lots to do today. The Gambaby is going to be here after school tomorrow, so anything I need to get done needs to happen today. He's never a bother; I just like paying attention to him and hanging out with him when he's here, so I try not to schedule anything else when he's around. There will come a day when he doesn't want to be around Gam-ma, so I take full advantage of the time I have with him while he still enjoys it too. Things to do today. Well, the more I sip my coffee, the longer the list seems to get. Scheduling a doctor appointment, eBay listings, putting away the tree and holiday decorations, clearing shelves in the Diva Den, and somewhere in there, figuring out what's for dinner. Hubbin has been handling the afternoon and evening meals, and while I appreciate the help, it's something I feel I should be doing, especially since he is doing everything else. There. I've said it, or rather, shown it. My wifely guilt; that word, 'should,' has finally reared its ugly head. I'll save that one for another blog, but it's most always there, lurking, ready to pounce. This morning I was thinking about how I sideline myself. I'll start out with the best intentions to get something accomplished, only to find myself going in a totally different direction and not crossing anything off on my list. But today I'm not going to beat myself up for it. I've realized that even though something might not be on my current list, it IS on a list and by getting it out of the way, it frees me up for other projects. An example, hmm, eBay listings. I've got to take pictures, but I've also got to find a box for items that I already created a listing for, so they are out of the way in order for me to take photos. Done, but see? That wasn't on my list, and it meant I had to go through the size box that the items would fit in, so I had to move those items from somewhere else too. See? But yes, I did finally take the pictures. So, sidelining. How does one stay true to task? The very act of getting organized has me stumped. Perhaps taking a day to get organized? And what does that mean? And in the meantime, I have daily tasks that have to happen-dishes, laundry, etc., etc., etc. Is the very act of trying to get organized, a sideline? So off I go.