Re-evaluating Priorities

Last week, Irene heard my cry for help and helped me get organized. She put together a calender with my "TO DO" items, and without it I truly think N's birthday party on Sunday would have been a hot ghetto mess. True, some things did get pushed aside and moved around and just altogether left by the wayside- hey, life happens- but I've been following about 80% of the schedule.

It feels good to have a plan (now watch the Universe laugh at me and throw a bunch of wrenches my way... but whatever, throw your wrenches. I have shit to accomplish...).

These are the items that, try as I might, just won't go away on their own and therefore I need to just take care of them already:

1- Thesis edits, scheduled for Sept. 18 thru the 21st. So please refrain from inviting me ANYWHERE during this time. We all know how easily I am distracted by shiny objects.

2- Settle remainder of debts, scheduled for the end of this month. I got rid of a bunch of them in the spring, but there is still some more damage to repair. *sigh*

3- New Budget, scheduled for the second week of September, because my tax refund had me acting like my last name was Hilton or Trump or Jolie-Pitt. I need to remember that it's Penzo, and that none of us can afford to front like we're big pimpin'!

4- Get to the gym, which isn't on the schedule but needs to be because N and I agree that I look about three months pregnant right now. Plus, last week I started taking the stairs everyday at work and now my knee is fucked up. I know it's because I'm a lazy cow who is terribly out of shape and I need to rectify that post haste.

5- Finding a new school for K, which might be hard because she's going to the 8th grade and school starts in like two weeks, but still, I have to try, because her school makes my head hurt. Besides, I hate that she has to travel to and from THAT area of BK by herself; I'd prefer that she was closer to home, especially now that I don't have a nanny.

These things I abandoned because, in the grand scheme of things, it's just filler helping me to procrastinate:

1- Netflix; as soon as I find that Iron Giant DVD I'm pausing that mo-fo for like 3 months, until I get myself under control. I've found myself watching shit just to watch it, even stuff I've already seen! I'm even considering cancelling my account altogether...

2- Blogging on weekends/reading other blogs everyday. I've had to cut back and I know some of you have noticed. I apologize, but I have to be more productive with my time, and that means that I will have to go a few days without reading other sites for a couple of days, and writing less, too.

3- Magazine subscriptions... I had to let The New Yorker and Wired and Marie Claire go because frankly, I wasn't reading them and they were taking over my life. I had a stack of magazines from last year that I hadn't even cracked open! I decided to just stick with EW, TONY, Martha, and other random ones that I need to read for freelance writing purposes.

4- Getting a license. Who was *I* kidding? That BMW was only a passing fancy, and now that I'm over it, so is my desire to learn to drive. So I will not waste another second looking up affordable driving schools in BK. I will instead continue my hunt for the perfect, affordable folding bicycle.

5- Meetup groups; I sign up for them and then never go to any of the events! On Tuesday I had to make a hard decision and remove myself from three groups that I really just lost interest in, and only stayed on with the ones that will help me A) make contacts in the literary/film world and B) meet like-minded professionals in my age group.

Getting my shit together is seriously soooo long overdue. It feels so liberating to finally have a handle on my obligations that I can't believe it took me this friggin long to do it!!

*smooches...trying to not add anything new to my list*
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and no, nowhere on my list does it say "Meet & Marry Mr. Right" because even if he does exist, which I truly doubt, I'm way too busy to even notice him.