man does not live by spreadsheets alone

But some women do! Excel runs my life. (Delicious and Gmail energetically vie for the title.) My spreadsheets cover groceries, meal plan, to-do-this-week, work hours, class grades, mailing lists, price comparisons, clothing inventories, Things I Froze This Summer, budget, booklists, and exercise routines.

Yep. Excel is the shizzle.

Recently, in a resolving time of year, I sat down and thought about how I could make better use of my time. I typically accomplish what I need to, but in a somewhat slapdash fashion. Everything gets done . . . but just barely. I'd like to change that pattern.

Historically, the more structure I have imposed upon my life, the more productive I have become. Is it that way for anyone else? I just can't retain tasks or keep track of time in my head; when I try, the bathroom floor goes neglected, my cell phone runs out of battery, and I scramble to get dinner on the table because I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer. I need a schedule, a timer, and definite boundaries. I need somebody to tell me "do this." Even if that somebody is only an Excel spreadsheet. :)

So here's the plan. I made a spreadsheet with several tabs, namely . . .

1) Master list for the week. One column for each day. The top six cells of each column are separated by a heavy line from the bottom section. That smaller top section is reserved for such Weekly Tasks as working out on Monday, sending my students their assignments on Wednesday,* and ironing on Saturday. Then the rest of the column is for once-and-done things like "make a chiropractor's appointment" or "grade British Lit essays" or "go to the library."

2) Meal plan. A grid seven across and fifty-two down. I love planning meals. It takes time at first but saves a lot later. It allows me to strategically plan for leftovers, make sure I'm not doing a complicated dish on a day that I will be out of the house until 5:30, and avoid serving chicken five days in a row. :) I can adjust my plan to fit grocery store sales or what I have in the freezer.Plus, if I look at this spreadsheet at the beginning of the week, I can schedule stuff like "thaw salmon" or "make potato salad ahead of time." (Perhaps you are able to remember these things without a reminder but I AM NOT.)

3) Grocery list. Closely linked to the meal plan of course; I've got columns for different stores, from Weis to Savemart to Target.

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My hopes for this plan are trifold. First I want to make sure that important things like, ah, cleaning our house don't fall through the cracks. Second, I want to add more "authoritative" structure to my days so I'm not as tempted to fritter away precious time: since The List (and not just my passing thought) says I must do x and y, I will probably do it. Third, I want to have a place to write down ideas. If I think on Monday "oh, I should repot the thyme and oregano" but don't have time to do it immediately, I'll forget. So now I want to discipline myself to write that idea into a column, so eventually, it will get done.

I'm trying to be realistic about this new endeavor. But it seems like a good approach for now. I have measured out my life in Excel spreadsheets . . . and I like it.

*Yes, I have forgotten to do this before.

{image credit: Terry Madeley}

the deep thunder of its want

None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other hope in Heav’n or earth or sea,
None other hiding place from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee!

My faith burns low, my hope burns low;
Only my heart’s desire cries out in me
By the deep thunder of its want and woe,
Cries out to Thee.

Lord, Thou art Life, though I be dead;
Love’s fire Thou art, however cold I be:
Nor Heav’n have I, nor place to lay my head,
Nor home, but Thee.

-Christina Rossetti

Weekend linkage

Sonnets: hidey hidey hidey ho.

I neeeed to make kale chips.

For Valentine's Day, I planned to braise short ribs and buy a bottle of cabernet to go with them. As you wish.

I used to want to work in a bookstore. Maybe live in one too?

Daddy always called me his palomita.* Now I have the right cocktail.

I have decided that I wish to resurrect 1950's fashion.

Why we care about blog comments.

We have this IKEA desk . . . ideas for future tweaking! The whole site is great, actually.

Aww.

Despite Monday's post, I'll admit that on some cranky days, I really do feel like this . . .

I'm not a girl to demand flowers. They just wilt after a while and are so ruddy expensive. But a big bouquet of these would be most acceptable.

Blog find of the week: The Dapper Kingdom. Chameleons with monocles!

*Why? Paloma Herrera. Once upon a time, you know, I was a ballerina.

with which we may eat, drink and be merry

Lindt Intense Orange. I will simply quote the Lindt website: "a unique combination of dark chocolate with delicate orange pieces and almond slivers." You know those chocolate oranges from Christmastime? Same flavor, but with almonds and dark chocolate, a little more grown-up.

Dark Chocolate Dreams from Peanut Butter and Company. To continue the theme of Combining Dark Chocolate With Other Tasty Things . . . pop open a jar, take a whiff, and I dare you to keep your spoon away. I'd like to try Mighty Maple next.

Terrachips Stripes and Blues. "Exotic vegetable chips," as the phrase goes, this one a mix of blue potatoes, sweet potatoes, and striped beets like unto archery targets. I wish Terrachips wouldn't use canola oil, but as a periodic treat, I heartily enjoy these. The blue potato, kabocha squash, and carrot mix is also great.

Celestial Seasonings' India Spice Chai. Though not typically a Celestial Seasonings fan, I find chai blend remarkably good. Strong hints of nutmeg and not too much clove (which is usually my quibble with chai teas).

Cascal Fermented Soda. All the fun of bubbly without the alcohol. Mind you, I don't object to alcohol. But sometimes one needs a beverage safe for one's younger siblings . . . or for oneself, if one plans on driving anywhere after dinner and has a rather low booze tolerance. (Me!!)

{image credit: camillestyles}

Well Written Wednesdays: the possibility of balance

"But what if it's a huge river," I asked him once-- "like the Congo, which is much broader than the reach of any vine?"

"This is simple," he said. "Such a river should not be crossed."

If only a river could go uncrossed and whatever lay on the other side could live as it pleased, unwitnessed and unchanged. But it didn't happen that way. The Portuguese peered through the trees and saw that the well-dressed, articulate Kongo did not buy or sell or transport their crops, but merely lived in place and ate what they had, like the beasts of the forest. In spite of poetry and beautiful clothes, such people were surely not fully human-- were primitive; that's a word the Portuguese must have used to salve their conscience for what was to come. Soon the priests were holding mass baptisms on shore and marching their converts onto ships bound for sugar plantations in Brazil, slaves to the higher god of commodity agriculture.

There is not justice in this world. Father, forgive me wherever you are, but this world has brought one vile abomination after another down on the heads of the gentle, and I'll not live to see the meek inherit anything. What there is in this world, I think, is a tendency for human errors to level themselves like water throughout their sphere of influence. That's pretty much the whole of what I can say, looking back. There's the possibility of balance. Unbearable burdens that the world somehow does bear with a certain grace.

-from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

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This book. It's been haunting my thoughts for weeks. Themes of guilt and forgiveness, pride and submission, wildness fighting order . . . a twisted Gospel sapped of life by hatred and a lifeless land given hope through love. Beautifully written and piercing in the depth of its characters, their struggles, and their conclusions. I borrowed it from the library but it's one worth buying.