Why Wait?

Why wait – I guess because I can. There’s an old adage – “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” That about sums it up. I am a chronic procrastinator. My mind has never worked in small, measured increments. Of course, this makes things difficult when I’m trying to impress upon my students to do their assignments a little at a time instead of trying to cram everything in at the last minute. But, who am I to talk?

I am a crammer. I know what has to be done. I mull things over in my mind for days, weeks, sometimes months. I have been both blessed and cursed with the ability to put big projects off and then complete them in a flurry of frenzied activity. Funny thing is, I always manage to pull these things off flawlessly.

I read somewhere that procrastination is the mark of the perfectionist. Me? Perfectionist? If you’ve ever seen my house, or my desk, it’s hard to fathom. But my organized clutter is actually the stamp of the perfectionist. I blame it on a third-grade friend. I was a huge fan of Nadia Comaneci at the time. Remember her? Perfect 10’s in every event? See, this friend had given me a poster of Nadia on beam in her signature pose – the caption: “Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.”  It’s a phrase that still resonates with me today. If I can’t complete a task perfectly, it won’t get done. Things must be done “just so,” and if I haven’t the time to do it the way it “must” be done – it doesn’t get done.

And so it goes with my schoolwork. For as long as I can remember, I have never completed assignments little by little. I always wait for a time when I can concentrate my full, uninterrupted attention to the task. Set aside time each day to do it? BWAAAHAHAHAHAA! No – I must be able to sit and devote my full energies on it from start to finish. This approach has always worked well for me. My grades have always been stellar. As I write, I have three 15-credit courses sitting on a shelf. Yet, here I sit – blogging.

 Hi, my name is Lisa, and I’m a chronic procrastinator. Do they have a twelve step for my condition? If they do, the meeting is probably tomorrow.

Yes... I Like to Bake

      I am no domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination – any of my friends who have been to my house on an “off” day can attest to that.  I hate cleaning. I hate laundry.  And I hate cooking. I am not a good cook – I have come to terms with that. But baking – oh, how I LOVE to bake.

      I don’t really like sweets, though. I just like the process. There’s artistry to it. Now, I’m no Betty Crocker. I use recipes – even read the instructions on the box.  But when I bake from scratch, that is where I become truly inspired. I change things up. I add my own flair. And then, there is always evaluation and revision. Luckily HWHMMLWL is a “baked goods” junkie. Though he is reluctant to disparage the goodies I bestow upon him, I do manage to coax some constructive critique from him and adjust accordingly the next time.

At the Orchard

Fall is a wonderful time for allowing my inner bakologist to shine. Just recently, I had my first foray into baking apple pie. HWHMMLWL loves Macouns, so we spent a day in late September picking them straight off the tree in an orchard upstate. Ah, what a beautiful day it was…

Majestic Mountains

After apple picking, we meandered through the mountainous landscape and found our way to Poet’s Park. 

A Park for Poets

I love hiking trails – especially in the fall – and the expanse of the property afforded us hours of quality time together. The inspiration of that excursion was poured into the pies it yielded.

  I found a highly-touted recipe online (great resource) and, not content to use a “ready-made” piecrust, I made THAT from scratch too.  This homemade crust also became my very first lattice crust ever.  I must say, as easy as it seems, making an apple pie from scratch was a LOT of work! First, there was the peeling. Then, there was the chopping. And mixing the piecrust by hand was brutal at best. “Why not get a stand mixer?” asks HWHMMLWL...

Guess the Secret Ingredient

Because there’s something satisfying about expending every ounce of your energy to mix those ingredients into a flaky, melt in your mouth crust that a Kitchen Aid robs from you. And when you put all that energy into what you create, the ones who you are baking for can taste the love. 

To Blog or Not to Blog?

So often my friends will tell me I should write, so I've oft considered blogging. But what to write about? Who cares what I have to say? Do I write of work - the trials and tribulations of a teacher of teens? Do I write of romance - as en femme d'uncertain age - I'm still clueless. Do I write of Disney - there are so many out there who seem to be doing it better than I ever could. Or do I mix it all up into random scribblings as the thoughts occur? Yes. It seems the latter would be best - at least in the beginning.

I begin this day looking forward to a Disney cruise I have booked for 277 days from now. He Who Has Made My Life Worth Living (HWHMMLWL) will be joining She of a Thousand Drawings (SoaTD) and myself. It's a new ship - the Dream will only have been sailing for 8 months by the time we board. I look forward to spa days and coffee on the verandah. Ahhhhhhhh... the verandah! Current webcam pictures from the shipyard confirm that the verandah for the room I chose (when only basic deck plans were available) is extended and HUGE. It is likely that future bookings for these rooms will command higher rates than we will have paid :o) You've got to love the little surprises life throws your way.

Oh life's little surprises - one must be sure to show gratitude when they are discovered. They make the days so sweet. And it seems, the more you acknowledge them, the more will come your way...

I learned a new word last weekend: schadenfreude. I had NEVER heard it before. I looked it up online. It fit perfectly with one of the little surprises I had discovered just a few days before. When Halloween is over and the fright remains... Ah - "Better you than me."

Was this random enough? - I could go on...

I blog, therefore I am.