Day of Delay

On my urgent to-do list today were two tasks: write at least one marketing article and finish the paperwork for my mom's estate. So naturally, at 8:30 this morning I was in Walgreens shopping for neon pink nail polish. By 9:15 I had written an introduction; by 10:00 I had listed all property, real and personal on the paperwork, and gathered statements for bank accounts. At 10:30 I decided it was tremendously important that I thoroughly clean my kitchen, which didn't take too long because it wasn't very dirty. At 10:50 I called my brother to see if he had some information I couldn't find about my mother's accounts. I left a message and determined myself stalled on that front until I heard back from him. I couldn't muster up the energy to write (yet another) article about windows and doors, so I looked at the clock: only 11! Hmm, Law and Order comes on at 11, I thought. I couldn't find it. So I started watching something about drug busts. The TV has been on the same channel ever since.

I am a horrible procrastinator with certain tasks, those above being among them. When I was teaching, my house would be immaculate during finals week only because I hated to grade essays but felt guilty if I wasn't doing something productive instead. So I pulled out furniture, dusted the high shelves, deep-cleaned the bathrooms, wiped down the baseboard, purged closets -- well, you get the idea. Anything not to have to grade essays! Of course, the essays had to be dealt with sooner or later, just as my articles will have to be written and the estate work will have to be completed. Today wasn't the day to do it. My air conditioner is better than it has been the past few summers, but when the heat index is 112 degrees (as it was today), it can't keep up. The temperature in my house is starting to drop now that the sun is setting, but it's still around 85 degrees inside and it was worse earlier. That wasn't my excuse for procrastinating early on. Later, though, I felt kind of miserable and hot, and there was really no escaping it.

Tomorrow is going to have to be my get-it-done day. I've been working a lot lately and I don't have much wiggle room for delay. Still, everyone needs a day to relax and I used mine up today. It was fun to take a break from my responsibilities, but it will feel good to have everything finished too.