Productive Week

In those instances when I'm productive, I often wonder why I’m not productive more often. I always feel so good about myself when I’m accomplished something. And yet…more often than not, I’m not so very productive because the laziness is so much easier to embrace, even with the self-loathing that comes with it.

Productivity sort of gives me a high that I do so enjoy and yet when I’m being unproductive, I forget about that high and roll into a ball of sloth.

So yes, it’s been a productive week.

How, you ask? Well, don’t get your hopes up too high and think that I might have taken up jogging and repainted every closet in my house. Oh no, nothing that ambitious.

But you see, when you start at the very bottom of the scale of productivity, it isn’t hard for the smallest things to feel like big victories.

What I did this week was pay off my Kohl’s credit card. That $60 I spent on t-shirts a few weeks ago was really hanging over my head.

I also purchased Cedar Point tickets on line. My mom and I are taking Alyssa and a friend to the amusement park next week. I went ahead and paid for parking at the same time I got the tickets. So efficient! Olivia gets to spend the day at home with Tom. At five and half, she’s not quite ready for an amusement park. She’d be exhausted and ready to come home before we’d spend two hours there. Besides all that, she’s short.

Ohh and the best of my productivity is that I signed Alyssa up for gymnastics classes for the year. Sure, I only paid the sign-up fee and the first month’s tuition but she’s signed up and can’t stand that classes won’t start for another three weeks.

Did I mention that Alyssa had major Olympic fever? She puts on a gymnastic suit every single morning and doesn’t change out of it until I make her put on pajamas each night. She doesn’t just enjoy watching gymnastics though, she’s found the fun of diving, swimming and even volleyball. I love that she’s so into it.

So that’s it, you’re thinking? It took you all week to do those few things and you’re calling it a productive week?

Yes, yes I am. See the benefit of normally being as active as a slug? You do a few things over the span of a few days and suddenly you’re productive.

Speaking of productive, Tom…now he’s gotten a lot done this week. He’s picked tomatoes, peppers, onions and chopped those very things and made them into salsa. He then canned that salsa to be enjoyed this winter. Though we’re not waiting until the first snowfall to sample his works. Oh no, many chips swimming in salsa have been eaten this week. Can I add that to my productivity list? No? Bummer.

Tom has also picked beans, snapped those beans and then canned those beans. Oh, that was such a production.

I took the girls to bed earlier than usual last night just to get them out of earshot of his vicious irritation with the bean canning process. It wasn’t pretty.

He’s also picked cucumbers and zucchini which we’ve shared with several aunts and uncles around the area. We’re drowning in zucchini over here.

But we’re being productive. And no, I’m not keeping score because he’d win and that would make me want to go lay down and recuperate from the disappointment of not keeping up with him. So instead, I’ll do things my way and marvel at how he does things his way. And in the end, we’re both as productive as we need to be to feel good about ourselves.