time and time again

I have just read that today was 14 seconds shorter than yesterday. I have wasted a bit of today.

Sometimes work has to wait because there is something else more interesting, more valuable, more important to do. That might include resting, or sitting on the step enjoying the view. That time is not wasted.

But today I had a few patches where I really did just let time slip by, wasted. It was one of those days when I might have rung Jan and said "Shall I put the kettle on?". We would have put the world to rights over our bone china teacups and then happily got back to our work again. Or I might have called George, to tempt him with pikelets and a few laughs over a cup of tea.

I started the day so well, got so much achieved. Then I fizzed. I blame the heat. Everything became an effort. Each step had to be a deliberate one. One foot in front of the other. Tomorrow I must do today's shopping for food. Friday I must clean my house, I have special guests for a pizza dinner. Somehow I have to figure out how much table three people and large pizzas need. I might have to move some paints for the night, but that takes effort. I think we will eat outside (adds citronella candles to the shopping list).

I am not beating myself up for wasting some precious time today, just noticing that I have. Time that I can never have again. If we (the collective "we") remembered that more often would we be happier, less rushed, less angry? Would we treasure our friends, our family, our special moments a little more?

Oh! I have just remembered how I started the day. I got up and did a heap of ironing. Proof that I am ill? No, just enjoying using a brand new, very fancy, German iron after two years of making do with one that hardly heats enough to function. I bought it on Saturday, with a new hair drier too. Watercolours deserve the very best... (the new hairdrier is for me, the old one for the watercolours, really!)

The iron was all the fault of my little friend. We were sneakily ironing dry his shirt that we had got dirty for the third time in a few hours, and that time he insisted on ironing it dry himself. To my shame I found that he is better at ironing than I am. It got me thinking... and spending.

I am now the proud owner of an iron with TWO steam controls. The things that give me a buzz these days never cease to amaze me!

It is too hot to wear synthetic now, I shall be crisp and fresh in cotton and linen, beautifully ironed, of course! And tomorrow, if I see time slipping by, I shall simply remember that there are still 24 hours in a day...



Tania, will you remind me about time management again please?