Procrastination, Thy Name is Eclectic

The gallon of semi-gloss sits idle and unopened in the corner, awaiting the rush of air that signals the oncoming invasion of balsa wood stir-stick, paintbrush and roller. I know the walls won't paint themselves, but with a sigh, I sit at the computer desk anyway.

Why? What compells me to ignore real, tangible tasks in favor of my imaginary friends? If you know the answer, please tell Mr. Eclectic. I'm far too busy reading and commenting on your blogs to pay attention, but he'll fill me in later. ;)

Kidding aside though, I think perhaps I must take a break. Not so much from this space, because let's be honest... I don't spend much time here anyway. Your blogs are SOOOO much more fascninating to me! Which is why I begin to think I have to scale back. Pace myself. Repossess my own real-life space. Re-invest in the people, things and projects that I've been putting off in favor of keeping up with the ever-growing list in my blogroll.

I'll check in now and then, and I'm sure you'll see me around in comments. Just maybe not as often. I really have become a slacker, enough so it's starting to impact my view of myself, so it's time to make a change. You're my favorite indulgence, all of you, and as addictions go it could be much worse, I know. Still, enough is enough. Even when it's good.

Don'tchoo wishyure schedule was hhhhhot like mine?!

Last weekend, our daughter played in a soccer tournament. It was the second weekend of the tournament in Snohomish, WA which is 2 hours or so from here.

But the big news is that Wednesday I was in Portland, OR. I had SO much fun!! I hung out with friends, almost got to witness karaoke history in the making, saw an entire bamboo forest pillaged and tucked neatly into an evening bag, wore arm skins for the first time ever, found a new cycling partner, and just generally drank myself silly in the company of people who make me laugh so hard it ought to be criminal. I don't have pictures though because my camera is still dead, and I'm too technologically backward to download photos from my phone. Sorry. The event was photo-worthy, and perhaps some of the others will post photos they took. I hope so: then I can swipe them off Flickr and y'know, not give credit. ;)

Then, Thursday I almost got to hang out with OTHER friends who are bloggers before I left Portland, but then didn't. Damn impulsiveness anyway! And damn cell phones that are powered off. And damn too little time for all the fun that needs to be had. :(

BUT: I did get to meet sweet Traci because she lives in a town on the road back home, and she joined me at a coffee shop where we giggled and talked for an hour like school chums. Seriously, it was delightful! :)

And then, I was home again 10 minutes shy of 24 hours since I had left the day before. Sweet!

Today, I went to work, and tomorrow? Back to Snohomish in the rain for the final tournament weekend. I wonder just how many miles I can put on my car in one week. This week would have been a record, so now you can just add "globetrotter" to your mental picture of me. And if that's a euphemism for something, I'm quite sure I don't want to know what it is.

Weekend Report by the numbers

• Number of soccer tournaments in Snohomish in the rain: 1. Number of games played in the rain: 2. Total number of hours driven in the rain: approximately 5. Score at the end of regulation time in the first game: 3 - 3. Number of scoreless overtime periods: 2. Number of goals shot by our team in the shoot-out: 5; number of goals shot by the other team in the shoot-out: 4. Number of incredibly happy girls on our team: 14.
• Number of birthdays celebrated: 1. Margaritas consumed: 10. Glasses of wine consumed: unknown. Pieces of homemade blueberry pie eaten: 10. Homemade rhubarb coffee cakes consumed: 1. (editor's note: Not my birthday, and there were 6 adults at the party, so it wasn't just me doing all that consuming. I'm just sayin.)
• Segments of fence painted in the back yard after returning home: 3. Number of children painting: 2. Hours spent: nearly 2. Number of times parents were asked whether children could be done painting: 0, after parents explained that requests to stop before the agreed-upon number of segments were finished would be treated as requests to not be allowed to participate in after-school sports for the final week of school.
• Number of mountains to be climbed at the end of July: 1 -- Mt. Rainier. Number of backpacks pulled down from the attic: 2. Pounds of training weight loaded in my backpack: 25. Number of training hikes this weekend: 0. No comment from the margaritas.

And how was your weekend?