Fierce in Seattle: Git ‘er done

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a blogumn by Kelli Bielema

I want to be lazy. Lay on the couch in fat pants watching reality TV eating Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos for an entire day kind of lazy. I know I can do it. For about 3 hours anyway. After that, I at least will change the channel or move onto a pint of Haagen Dazs Caramel Cone ice cream. Wash it all down with a Diet Cherry Coke and maybe move to an upright chair. Thing is, I have too much to do all the time. And it’s my own fault as I generally am too much of a yes man. It’s not that I’m coerced into doing things I don’t want to, it’s more that I want to do everything and it all happens right around the same time.

My to-do list. Err, pile.

This weekend I not only needed to complete my blog assignment, I was meeting a girlfriend for brunch, coordinating another friend’s wedding (including the wedding, the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner), taking the mutt to the dog park, and giving her a bath, doing laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, mowing the lawn, giving myself a pedicure (or at least taking off the month-old chipping polish), working on my new blog site, reviewing logistical plans for Seattle Humane Society’s Walk for the Animals, continuing writing the script for a video project, creating an annual plan for a friend with a new puppy, grocery shopping, payng bills, and spending time with my boyfriend other than by catching Zs together.

So far I’ve completed about 3 of these tasks, and really can’t be too sure the rest of them will be done—mostly because I’m multi-tasking this blog writing whilst the Travel Channel is showing a program about ice cream. The cutest old dude is making waffle cones from scratch. And I know that there’s currently some of that Haagen Dazs in the freezer. And yes, this is part of the reason I can’t complete everything on my list. But who am I kidding? There’s often too much of a list that I don’t even make one. It’s not a great method, but my chores are in Post-It form, in the Notes on my iPhone, or in the form of telling assorted people “oh, remind me to not forget to do that thing….”

There are books to finish reading, recipes to experiment with, Groupons to redeem, magazines to peruse, tomato plants that I forgot to water…I don’t know if it’s ambition or the realization that I am fulfilling the true definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results every time. I seem to think I can do it all, when in reality, I just can’t. I need to give myself more of a break and indulge in doing less without the guilt. And to really focus on what I want to do, what drives and excites me. I’m going to begin to make more of an effort to carefully take on less than I can chew and take time to stop and smell the Cheetos.