In which I become organised

[katiefoolery]

I'm feeling weirdly organised these days and I think it has a lot to do with this:

I bought it ages ago and had to wait impatiently until the new year arrived so I could finally use it.  And it works.  Look at all those ticks, indicating completed items!  Well, squint your eyes in the general direction, at least.  I seem to work best when I write out my tasks for the day and tick them off with glee once they're done.  It gives me a sense of direction and, most importantly, it works.

The most significant items for today were up the top and are un-ticked in this photo.  They're ticked now.  Essentially, they mean that Postcards is finally at a point where it's ready to be sent out into the wide world.  At last.  Tomorrow's writing task reads: Submit Postcards.  The item under it should read: panic madly, but I've left that off in the hopes that I'll procrastinate and not do it if it's not written down.

One of my other tasks for today was to do some weeding and cleaning up of the porch area.  Despite my habit of killing plants simply by looking at them, I have this wildly ambitious plan to eventually have our garden looking spiffy and neat.  Luckily, I'm being sensible and taking it a step at a time.  I didn't take a before picture of the porch, so you'll just have to imagine the weeds and the accumulated leaves and grunge before looking at this after picture.

And since I was outside taking photos anyway, I thought I'd take some more of the front of our house.

Here, you can see the front corner of our house.  Items of interest include Pickle's favourite window, known in our house as "Cat TV".  She also likes to climb up the flyscreen here, which results in us yelling at her and her getting all sulky.

This is the rest of the house-front, where you can see my nicely cleaned-up porch, Bindi's bedroom window and our bedroom window.  Rivetting!  You can also see my Timothy's garage right at the back, to which he likes to escape from time to time.  Oh yes, and the rubbish bin.

How could I forget the rubbish bin?

It would seem to be time to think of some writing goals for tomorrow.  Once I've sent Postcards off and panicked about it, I should probably get to work on my Nunnery story.  It has been subjected to some rather helpful critiques over at the Ober.net messageboards.  This has been an incredibly productive experience, as many of the comments on the story have caused me to think more seriously about its structure.  I knew beforehand that the structure of the story was its weakest point and it has been helpful to have other readers point out why this is so.

All in all, I'm feeling very positive about this story and I'm looking forward to getting to grips with it.

Comments

[peachynat3.livejournal.com]

Organisers I great. I had so many of them when I was little... not that I ever really had anything important to do :P But I've just always liked the feeling of organisation. I really should buy one for uni, actually... I always end up writing on bits of paper that scatter my desk anyway. And I've always wondered why cats are so fascinated with looking out of windows. My cat had a favourite spot, and it happened to have a security/fly screen thing that loved to be scratched to shreds also :P

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how much it helps! I think my trouble in the past was that I thought I had so many things to do and I got exhausted just thinking about it. Now I can look at my handy list and feel much more confident about everything. :)

And what is with cats and flyscreens? Do they emit some sort of "scratch me!" message that's too high for human ears to hear?

[peachynat3.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you know what I just realised... your organiser looks identical to my wallet/purse! It even has the same stitching... It's the exact same blue! Where did you get it from? I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner :P

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I got it from the newsagents at Eastland. Now that you've mentioned it, I want a purse that matches it, too!

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

It is pretty and blue! I shall never doubt you again!

You're sending Postcards in? To whom?

*gets out champagne* No, this isn't premature, this is a She's sending something in!!!!! party.

See, we're having a party, you have no choice but to send it in, despite many panic attacks that may commence. Last time i sent something in (to a comp) I spent about five hours in the post office. The lady came over to me several times to ask if there was anything she could help with (it was a fairly dead day) and all i could tell her was "just one more read through, then i'll send it through... maybe i need to count it again... do you mind if i stare at the wall for a little bit?"

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I told you it was. How could you ever have doubted me? I'm devastated. ;)

Oh well, if we're having a party, I guess I'll have to do it or I'll look silly. I love your post office story, though. I used to do the same thing, although in the comfort of my own home. More often than not, I'd find a mistake when it was too late to do something about it. Maybe I should just have stared at the wall... :)

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

Funny in retrospect. I won't talk about the looks the post office lady gave me :S

and then after all that, when i went home i found hundreds of mistakes and actually rang the people up and ordered that they give me my piece back early. I don't think it was a healthy experience for any involved. :S

Staring at the wall is something i invite anyone to do. I think it's a great way to pass the time. Walls are such interesting things.... :P

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Ack, I completely forgot to respond to one of your questions. Sorry about that.

I'm submitting Postcards to this anthology (http://www.catsparks.net/agogpress/newanthology.htm). I submitted a story to the previous anthology in the series and was unsuccessful, but the person who's putting it together sent me a chocolate bilby to take away the sting of the rejection. Much as I enjoyed the bilby, I hope I get an acceptance letter this time. :)

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

Loverly house photos!
I love seeing into other peoples lives - I guess I'm a bit of a busybody :P

I'm glad all the comments for 'Nunnery' were helpful for you. I hope mine made sense... Tehe, I can be a little bit obscure when I write, it's so different to having a discussion.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. Even the most ordinary house can be interesting, simply because someone I know lives there.

And yes - a lot of comments on Nunnery were a great deal of help. They pointed out things I should have noticed myself, but didn't, due to the fact that I wrote it. I'm really looking forward to doing a final draft on it and sending it off. Ack.

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

OOO Blue! So pretty! and I second Rig, I'm so pleased you found our critiques useful... It's always so hard to know if you are helping!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I love it! I almost went with a pink one but I'd been buying too much that was pink, so I went for the lovely blue. It's pretty AND helpful. Just like all my critiquers. :D

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

*goes pink like other organiser*

Awww Bunne.... *grugs*

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! *cheers for you*

Organizers do work, if one remembers to look at them...unlike me.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - that's the most important part of it. Perhaps I should look at it now, before I start procrastinating too much.

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I have a Palm Pilot, and I have to say this: I looked at it today, and it says "All Tasks for Today Have Been Accomplished" or something like that. That's a good feeling. It also means I need to put in more tasks.

[talmina.livejournal.com]

maybe I should buy myself an organiser, I went and bought stuff to keep all my stories neat and organised yesterday and some cute notebooks to carry around with me, so maybe the next requirement is an organiser to keep me on track.

The absolute best of luck with Postcards!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Thank-you muchly, good Jess. I'll be sending it off any minute now. Indeed.

*panics where Turks can't see*

[naelany.livejournal.com]

yay for getting organized. I'm trying to set some stuff in order myself and have been chipping away at Quicken. I don't have an organizer anymore, really, but do use my calenders (wall and phone) diligently. Good luck with your endeavours ^_^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I shall keep that luck beside me when I send off my story. Ack!

The good thing about writing stuff down is that you don't have to remember it any more - you just have to remember to look at where you wrote it down...

[naelany.livejournal.com]

yeps, I know ^_^. That's why I use my calenders