Why It's Good To Be Evie...

It's Friday, which is good, but it's the middle of winter and Saturday is going to be a chore day...which is less good. But the carrot to go with that stick is that if we do a good job on our chores on Saturday we can spend all day Sunday watching the Bears play (with the preceding 6 hour pregame show to whet our appetites), with the clear conscience of people who have achieved something first.

That's the funny thing about weather...it's a great excuse for malaise. It's too hot to contemplate doing anything in August and it's too cold in January. Once I overcome my own psychology, it's immensely satisfying to get something done during those days. I feel like I got some free off-season achievement. Anything accomplished outdoors when it's not 50 to 80 degrees feels like a bonus. It's like finding a "buy one, get one free" coupon on the soy milk carton.

Part of the legacy of my memory problem is that I tend to think that things have always been the way they are at this moment. If I'm happy, it's hard to imagine being unhappy. If I'm productive, I feel like I must be a productivity machine. But when I'm mired in sloth, it's hard to remember how satisfying it is to accomplish little things. So I force myself to start, knowing that the momentum will keep me going.

And then I tell Lori, "That was a great idea. Write that down, so I'll remember to do it again." Sometimes I imagine what the card file would look like if she actually wrote down everything I asked her to write down.

"The soap is in the second drawer in the right hand cabinet in the bathroom."

"Sex improves your outlook on life."

"We keep snack food in a drawer now. If it appears that there are no chips, look there before going to the store."

"I have rescue drugs available for the aftereffects of seizures. Use them. That's what they're for."

"The voice mail can be accessed thusly:..."

"Vacations are fun."

"There are more books in the shed. Look there before going to Barnes and Noble."

"Watch the Netflix movies, then send them back."

I'm not exactly sure how we would organize a card system like that, or when it would occur to me to actually look at them. And really, I sort of enjoy that moment of discovery. I couple of weeks ago, when we went for a mini-vacation, I kept thinking, "This is SUCH a great idea! We should do this more!" Like that's a great revelation.

So, that's it. I'm not particularly profound or insightful today, I won't be discovering cold fusion (...again. I didn't discover it yesterday either). I'm just excited about a weekend off to spend doing little things with Lori-Fred and watching the Bears.

Write that down, willya? :-)

Ev