Time

Admitting to Addictions

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typing on computer keyboard while wearing handcuffsHey, Gretchen and Liz! Thanks for another helpful podcast which I’m going to shamelessly borrow from. I know, I know—I do this all the time. But when you hear stuff that makes you say, “That’s so totally me,” well, you have to use it, right?

Anyway, those of you who follow the podcast will know that Liz admitted about a year ago that she had been addicted to this game called Candy Crush. I’m not sure what you do with it; I can proudly say that I have never spent one minute playing any kind of computer/video/phone game.

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Post-Party Analysis

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pile of utensils, ingredients, and bowls on a cluttered kitchen counterAlthough I’ve temporarily discontinued my posting on the “Intentional Hospitality” blog I’m still cooking away. Last night I provided the desserts and punches for my church’s Christmas banquet. This turned out to be yet another one of those “I-thought-I-was-going-to-have-an-easy-time-of-it-but-I-was-wrong” episodes in my life. I had made my famous orange-almond biscotti before the Cherry Creek Chorale’s concert over a week ago with the intention of putting them together into tree shapes held together by frosting, but I just ran out of steam and time, so I ended up putting the baked biscotti into the freezer with the intention of building the trees for this party.

 I kept thinking, ‘I have the biscotti made, so all I have to do is make the cranberry tarts and the chocolate peppermint crunch cookies. I’ll do that Sunday afternoon and still have time to clean up the kitchen.’ What was I smokin’? I worked like a dog all afternoon just to get everything made and still ran out of time for making the frosting for those blasted biscotti. Some very helpful people who came early pitched in, and one woman suggested that we could stack the biscotti plain. I wish I had a picture of the beautiful platter she made. People were saying, “You’re doing Jenga!” It was great.

Well, all was well in the end. I could have done a lot more prep on Saturday and saved myself having a nervous breakdown Sunday. But the important thing is that everything was on the tables, ready to go, and that people had a good time. I’ve now gotten through my two big parties for December, but there’s more to come on the family front. My sister- and brother-in-law get here Friday, and we’ll have many get-togethers during the week they’re here. So I’ll have lots of opportunities to either a) procrastinate or b) be proactive (pro-acticate?).

If the items mentioned above sound intriguing, I do have posted recipes for three of them. Here are the links:

​For the biscotti trees: “A Beautiful Celebratory Dessert”

For the cranberry tarts and pink egg nog: “Second Time Is the Charm!”

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I Must Stop Saying, “But First . . . “

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man counting to 1 on his fingersA terrible, terrible habit of mine. I’ll be all ready to get started on an actual task, something that needs to be done, and then I’ll say to myself, “But first let me check my e-mail. But first let me see what so-and-so is saying on that website I like. But first let me have a snack.” Whatever. Half an hour, forty-five minutes, an hour can go by. 

So earlier this afternoon I was all set to sit down at the keyboard and go over my music for the Cherry Creek Chorale concert next week. (Got your tickets yet? Get them here. Read my fascinating commentaries here.)

And since I had my phone with me to I could listen to the practice music files loaded onto it, I thought, ‘But first let me . . . ‘ and then I thought, ‘No. I have to quit doing that.’ It’s almost as if I’m afraid to just go ahead and get going.

Ever happen to you? How do you deal with it?

Did I Build a Structure?

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2 workmen building a foundation

I wrote last week about the fact that structure, properly used, can set us free to do what we really want to do. Knowing the intricacies of a musical composition so well that you’ve built muscle memory means that when you actually get up to perform you can focus on the performance. Your structure is in place; you can now build on that.

So, this past weekend I was once again in charge of the retreat breakfast for my wonderful, wonderful chorale.  I would say there were at least 75 people there. It ain’t quite the same as running a Presidential campaign, but still!

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Structure Can Set Us Free.

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Silhoette with a clock brainIf we use it correctly, that is.

So I’m continuing to gain wisdom, both practical and spiritual, from my wonderful Bible study group. A couple of weeks ago I was a little puzzled by the fact that the teaching leader’s phone kept chiming as she worked her way through our discussion of the study questions.  Why on earth doesn’t she turn that off? I wondered. She’d just reach over, touch the screen, and continue. I thought she was getting text messages or something. Couldn’t they wait?

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But Do Your Work Well.

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toy man shoveling up moneySo the titles of yesterday’s and today’s posts fit together:  Calm down, Martha! But do your work well.

A couple of ideas culled from a recently-heard sermon at my church on work: Avoid working simply for a paycheck (“working for the weekend”–as the little guy in the picture seems to be doing) or valuing yourself solely by your work and how well you do it.  Instead, do your work for God’s glory and the good of mankind.  A pretty high bar!

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How to Stave Off an Anxiety Attack.

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Tiny kitten wide eyed and yowling comicallyAs I sit here writing this post it’s almost 11:00 AM on Thursday Aug. 18.  On Saturday, two days from now, I’m in charge of the food for the Cherry Creek Chorale‘s annual picnic which will involve at least 80 people.  (Follow the link for info about our upcoming concert season; posts will be starting up next week over on my “Behind the Music” page about some of the pieces we’ll be performing.)  At least this year we’re not hosting the event at our house; for the past two years we’ve schlepped tables and chairs from our church and set them up in our back yard and then schlepped them all back.  While we’ve always totally enjoyed the event itself, we’re very grateful not to have to be responsible for all that setup this year.

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Three Wise Sayings on the Use of Time

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clock and gears

More inspiration from my dear friend Nancy’s father, Gil Johnson, quoted at his funeral:

“Never let a day go by without learning something new.””No experience is a failure if you learn from it.”

“What you do today is important, because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.”

I don’t think I can add much to these statements.  That last one, in particular, is a real shove in the right direction.  May I add a quotation from my own book on this subject?

“Time is even more unforgiving than money, because sometimes you can get your money back after you spend it, but that never, ever happens with time.”

There is no elevator to success . . .

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 . . . you have to take the stairs!

This anonymous proverb embodies the rather timeworn idea that there are no shortcuts to achieving a goal; you have to get there step by step.  We all know that isn’t true 100% of the time; once in a great while there’s a so-called “overnight” success.  (Including, I guess, viral videos.)

I’ve been thinking for some time that there seems to be a paradox about what produces achievement.  The boring, repetitive actions, followed consistently day after day, tend to produce great results, while the dramatic actions often produce . . . nothing much.

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