Spring Break, Attempt #1

I think we all go into vacation with sets of hopes, goals, and idealism. I sometimes avoid voicing them, because I know the goals can be overly optimistic compared to the available time. Will I start and finish that novel I've always wanted to write (but have no notes or outlines written down for)? Will I repaint everything in my house and clean out my whole basement? Will I create a series of miniatures inspired by some of my Pinterest boards? Will I test out that new camera I bought? Will I convince the archivist to let me print her negatives? Will I get my trailer's plumbing and roof repaired? How about updating that website?

Today, I had to think about whether or not a goal list would be helpful or depressing. Goals are like that. Helpful and depressing.

One goal I am working on is to check the Internet less, specifically those pesky social networking sites (you know who you are!). They seem so "helpful" at first glance: the opportunity to connect, to see the latest news, giggle at some funny links. But mostly it's all the same. And mostly, it sends me to the same places. And somehow, it takes hours. This goal is about reclaiming time.

Since we decided to purchase cable, the next goal is also about reclaiming time. Stupid television. I think you can deduce what that goal is.

Oh, other goals. I have moved so much within the last year (states, renting to owning, houses, banks, computers), that a lot of mental chaos is tied up in having things in many places. For example, I used to know all my passwords by heart (and they were all different). But each time I've made a significant move across the country, I was required to open a new bank account. And I didn't close the old ones. So when I hit 5, I lost my ability to remember any kind of password at all. Probably the accumulation of email accounts hasn't helped. So one goal this week is to close some bank accounts. Yay.

I had hoped to start a writing project today, or get some calls made, but no luck. Getting my passwords back in order on my website (as well as downloading the whole site and recreating missing template files) has taken up some time. After my last major re-design, I apparently decided to leave some duplicate files on my server, so now I can't tell which are the real ones and which are the copies. I am happy enough with the current design, but that makes me want to rebuild it from scratch. Time consuming busy work!! But in finally getting back into my website, I can see where I've let it stagnate. It looks like I haven't made work in a while. But I have! Really! I think...

OK, even this blog post is a time suck. Until tomorrow.