Doing Things By Halves

Do you do things by halves.

Often , if I am fortunate I will get eighty percent done before I permit myself to get distracted, just stopping short of completion. Just look within my wardrobe and see the quantity of things finished to eighty percent.

Half finished bags I have started sewing, knitted scarves with the knitting needles still threaded thru, unsent postcards that are too ancient to post, a half assed filing system ( the stuff that should be filed is in a gigantic fat pile next to the telephone ). Look within my email account and see ten draft copies of letters I have been meaning to send ( one is dated back to last year ), and other numerous emails I've left unread with the plan to read and reply. If I do at last finish something, the pressure must come from an external source ( like a chairperson ( which I haven't got right now ), or an irrevocable cut-off point ). But even then, the journey to completion actually is not a pretty one. It's sorta like carrying a bitching kid up a particularly steep hill. Ultimately , all of the noise and distraction stops me from doing what I am supposed to be doing and I am compelled to hear her concerns. "You do not need to keep going?" I assert, "What do you need to do then?" "Eat". "Okay", I believe, "I'll let her have her way this time so she shuts up". I am going to the refrigerator and feed her. Then I am going back, prepared to begin the journey again. But she is still hungry. So I'm going back and forth to the fridge till I am sure food can't be a concern anymore. "You know you actually should clean the bathroom before you start again", she asserts. "You're completely right", I'm saying. "I've been putting that off forever". After finishing the lavatory, I feel a little bit beat.

I only manage to hold the kid another couple of steps up the hill before she asserts, "You truly ought to rest.

You will not get anything done in the state you are in now. Why don't you see what's on TV?" "But It's nearly 2pm" I'm saying, "I have to get to the top by 8pm". "You've got lots of time", she assures me. "Once you are rested, you'll be ready to get to the top much quicker". I do not actually believe her but I'm aware that I need to rest. So I put on television. "Oh, it's 'Oprah', great!" sixty minutes later : "Oh, 'Dr Phil's' on. He is so relevant." sixty minutes later : "It's 'Totally Wild'". This is where I put the cutoff point. "Look", I'm saying, "Totally Wild is uninteresting and tutorial, and the introduction music is driving me nuts". "You're right", announces the small girl, "we'd better get a start up the hill again".

Finally we are off once again, but I realize we are running terribly low on time. I am also extremely beat at about that point, but I'm compelled to keep going or risk not making it at all. At seven o'clock I start to run with the baby on my back. Now it's my turn to moan to her. It is a mad run and I am compelled to leave out certain jobs due to time restrictions, but I make it eventually, even though rushed and ten mins late. I have finished but I am actually not happy with the outcome.