Undone...

 There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task. --- William James

First, I feel the love! Thanks for the comments and notes! I have missed you all terribly. And, while I still have a few grades to run (read: 140 assignments), I need a break and have decided to write a little note.

One of my passions is collecting homemaking guides from various centuries. I have them from Mrs. Jefferson's guide to managing Monticello to the "Side Tracked Home Execs" Pam and Peggy. I just love 'em all. There is so much to learn from them about women, men, children, values, goals, gender roles, and social norms. They are just mah-vo-lous... So, my night-night book as been Daryl Hoole's The Art of Homemaking. While the time in which it was written comes through in some of her topics, "Moms should do the light work while Daddy does the hard", there have been some valuable ideas in the book. (Okay, so I fell off the bed laughing over what Mom and Dads should do... "Really?" I snorted. And started to call the Mister in, but he was snoring in the Man Chair, so I let it ride...)

Anyhow...

One whole chapter is on the power of finishing. Yeppers. Finishing. Anything. Baking a cake. Cleaning a stove. Writing a letter. Grading papers, wait, that was me...

All of which got me to thinking about how easy peasy it is to get sidetracked. Seriously sidetracked in my case... I love to start. Anything... A gallon of ice cream. A new shawl. A book. A diet... But I am pretty stinky at finishing most things... unless I just so love it that we go steady until we are finished.... like the ice cream...

This is my first whole summer home in more than five years and I am only taking on three literature classes for the summer. (I love them...much more fun and I don't cry at night after grading essays all day....) . What, I thought, would it be like to spend my summer finishing projects? The rules for myself are easy.

1. I must finish what I have the materials to do first. This means everything must already be here so I don't have to go shopping for it. I know myself well enough to know that if I enter the hardware store I am a lost soul. I love love love the hardware store and always leave with a carload, a light wallet, and a big smile on my face. Did I mention that I grew up working in my father's hardware store? I think it is genetic...

2. Each project must be documentable. I must be able to see the progress. This will eliminate planning for a future project. Handyman magazine comes every month and it gets me in a lot of trouble... so no planning for the summer.

3. Each project must be something I can finish alone, mostly. After all, this is my goal and no one else's. I have no right to draft unwilling souls into my cunning plan.There are a few things that will require the Mister, but most are things I can do alone with Ruby the tractor, Belle the chain saw, or my tool chest. Yes, I have my own. With a lock.

4. I have to record each project when it is finished here. This means that I am accountable and that you can cheer or jeer as you wish. Or, maybe you will want to join in??

5. Projects cannot interfer with the daily operation of the farm. I still must weed, plant, make soap, weave, and all the other things I have to do on the table for the farm to earn some income.

6. Should I live to, er I meant to write, finish all the aforesaid projects where the materials are present and accounted for, I am to start those that require purchases. These must be prioritized and then completed following the above criteria.

7. Knitting, weaving, and spinning count in unfinished projects. So does cross stitch.. and sewing... and books... but only at night when I cannot work elsewhere outside. (This rule gives me heartburn and I am thinking of negotiating with myself. I'll let you know if I can compromise...)

And that is it. Finish it. See if it makes me feel lighter mentally by the end of the summer. Wanna join me?

Now, I have to go FINISH my grading. It has a deadline... sigh....