I Got Vision....or OCD!
Ta-da! There it is, SME and Doug's home-away-from-home.When Z and I got home from work yesterday, L had the camper uncovered and jacked up, ready to remove the flat tire. By the time I had changed my clothes and started the laundry, L had the camper ready to move. We pulled it out of its winter storage spot, mowed that spot, and backed the camper closer to the garage. Now, it's all leveled, with the stabilizer jacks down, and ready to be popped up, and vacuumed, next Friday. The camper battery will be done charging today so L can hook it to the camper tomorrow.
L loaded the truck with recycling, and threw the old tire behind the recycling, where he can easily reach it. Tomorrow, he'll haul the recycling to the center, while the camper rim is fitted with a sturdy new tire. While L completed his chores, I decluttered the kitchen and finished the laundry. Not bad for an afternoon's work, eh?
One of my favorite quotes comes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: "I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals!" I LOVE IT when a plan comes together! We bought the land for our home a year before we moved here. I spent that year carefully planning where everything would fit onto our property, even the garage. The first thing I planned was where the sewer and water connections needed to be, so they could be dug in that fall. The following summer we had our driveway built, and the yard stabilized and sloped properly. The month before our house arrived, L and 2 of our friends built the shed. Once the shed was built, we started moving our non-essential possessions into it. While L was building the shed, I was busy meeting with the power company, planning where our power pole would go, and hiring an electrician to hook up the house when it arrived.
22 years later, I marvel at how well my planning paid off! It took 20 years to get the garage I had planned for, but I think this makes us appreciate it more. The picture of our camper, sidled up to the garage, brings another plan to fruition. Next weekend, we'll be running a cord under the garage door, to the camper. The cord will be totally out of the way, where nobody will be tripping over it. We will put one of the remotes, which operate the front garage lights, in the camper, so SME and Doug will have a well-lit journey to the house, if necessary. All of this is part of the master plan that I formulated 22 years ago!
After spending years researching TS and OCD, I'm certain that my zealous over-planning is an OCD trait. I'm NOT a spontaneous person. Everything I do must be carefully planned out. Once my plans are complete, I become TOTALLY frustrated, and angry, if my plans must be changed. Fortunately for me, this rarely happens. Where do I get this behavior? My Dad. I used to think that I LEARNED to carefully plan EVERYTHING from my Dad. Now I realize that I INHERITED this trait from him. Perfectionism can be a heavy burden to bear, but... sometimes it pays off!
Today, the 3 of us are tackling the remaining clutter in Z's room. THEN....we will eliminate the clutter in the den. The rest of the week will be spent catching up on the housework we're neglecting, stockpiling enough groceries to feed THREE teenagers, making beds, AND....anxiously awaiting the arrival of our family from Edmonton!
I leave you with the peaceful sunset photo L took last week.....
posted by tshsmom @ 7:10 AM
21 comments
21 Comments:
Or, as that guy from the A-Team used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together!"
Excellent! I know you're going to have a wonderful visit!
Hey, congrats on getting all those chores done and with an upbeat attitude at the end. Yay!
"I'm NOT a spontaneous person. Everything I do must be carefully planned out. Once my plans are complete, I become TOTALLY frustrated, and angry, if my plans must be changed. Fortunately for me, this rarely happens. Where do I get this behavior? My Dad. I used to think that I LEARNED to carefully plan EVERYTHING from my Dad. Now I realize that I INHERITED this trait from him. Perfectionism can be a heavy burden to bear, but... sometimes it pays off!"-----This is Tom. He gets it from his dad, too, though he is adopted. Must have been absorbed somehow. He does get the job done, and with good quality, too.
Makes life interesting. Can't think of any TV quotes except maybe Magnum P.I. - "Hi guys!"
Thanks WC! I know we will too!
Cherie, the downside to my behaviors, is that I won't do anything if I don't have the time to do it perfectly! Then things start to stack up on me and I become overwhelmed. :(
It's easy to stay upbeat when it's a labor of love!
Spontaneity is highly overrated. ;)
I love the sense of satisfaction that comes with having a plan pan out. Perhaps more so because it doesn't seem to happen all that often!
Tshsmom, halleluia, a point where we differ (just kidding, I'm not spontaneous either). What an incredible planner/deliverer you are! Your Dad must be proud.
You were on the same wave length as us yesterday and today. With our cookout tonight and M's family arriving tomorrow, we knew the house and yard had to be attended to, so yesterday and today we tackeled yard and house work, but boy what a sense of accomplishment! It was startling to walk into our bedroom tonight and it was completely decluttered and clean! Ditto for the rest of the house, oh and our back deck is gorgeous with all the new plants I put out there. Enough running on about my own OCD and how satisfying "clean" and "organized" is to me. Now you can enjoy your daughter and her family's visit without any pesky mental reminders of things that need to be done. You accomplished so much, feel satisfied and sit back and enjoy!
Sweet! And your trees are tall enough now that drivers won't be peepin' at us. I remember when they were just li'l stubs, cowering in fear of the mower... ;D
I think Dem'll eat any ol' ramen flavor, to answer your question
Good for you - lots of work done. It's a good feeling.
I am SO not spontaneous. I have to plan. I also have the perfectionism problem but have learned to let go of that a bit only because I have had to. I was driving myself crazy.
I hope that you all have a wonderful visit!!
That is so cool that you get to see them finally and you got your yard finished for them just in time. Just hope it doesnt rain while they are there. Yuckie. I hate rain when visiting. Esp up there. Well enjoy and I will catch you later. J has this week off so posting is a little sporadic. LOL... Oh by the way I got the first two books that Monica said is a must read. When I am done with them you are welcome to borrow them unless you want a set to keep. The third book wont be out till Jan of 08 though in paper back. Just let me know. I will send them to you if you want to borrow them when I am done. I know you put them on your Amazon list but I have them if you want to borrow them. I was going to suggest who ever borrows it just write your name on the inside of the cover where I know who has read it. LOL... I thought that was a cute idea. LOL.. OK Talk later. Gotta go for now. N.
Sonja, "Spontaneity is highly overrated." I agree!
Bridg, Dad has grudgingly acknowledged that I MIGHT know what I'm doing...now. My Mom has seen the similarity in us for years.
VV, I'm sure that we'll have to mow again this week, but right now it looks GREAT!
It was a relief to find my kitchen counter under the month's worth of papers that I haven't had time to read.
I really don't know why I'm decluttering. 10 minutes after they get here, all 3 kids will have their stuff strewn all over the house. I LOVE that everyone feels at home here!
SME, the trees are big enough that you can even pee out there if you want. ;)
Dad never mowed over any of the cedars. What's up with that?
Monica, that's so funny! I had to back off on the perfectionism for the same reason. I was creating way too much stress for myself.
Tweets, I don't care if it rains. We'll have fun anyway!
Send the books when you finish them. That'd be GREAT! I've got a box of stuff to send you one of these days. We found some toys and stuff that Z has outgrown. We thought the girls would enjoy the stuff.
Yeah, I'm OK with rain. Richard might go batty, but the kids and I won't mind it. :)
Wow, great work. I'm sure I'm obsessive about a lot of things. But it doesn't usually get great results like this.
I love the sunset picture.
SME, we'll just send him on a walk, or find a project in the garage. That's what's nice about the garage...we can work in the rain.
Squirl, this project took a looong time to come together.
L watches the sky every night for a good sunset. I'm usually in bed by then.
I'm not spontaneous but I can plan and execute really fast so it looks that way.
My wife wants one of those campers but the law says we can't keep it on our property which sucks.
Ok that sounds good. J wants to read them too but let me know if you get them off your Amazon list or if we finish them first I will send them as soon as we are done. Its thundering and lightening here today. The girls are watching Sesame Street right now to keep them from concentrating on the storm.
Hammer, I CAN think fast on my feet too, if the situation requires it. Some things I research to death!
That DOES suck! We have friends, in the Twin Cities, who can't put their car in their garage, because they have to keep their boat in the garage, where it can't be seen.
We thoroughly enjoy the freedoms we have, living in a small town!
Tweets, I'll keep you posted about the books. I've got a big stack that I haven't read yet.
All the nasty weather bypassed us and headed straight for you! :(
I love those tent-trailers. We used to have one and went everywhere in it. It's sort of like camping, but just not as "rough".
As far as OCD, you can probably pick out things that Z gets from you and things Z gets from L. They aren't good or bad - they just are. I know there are things that my son gets from me (stubborn, temper, auditory sensitivity). Either they are stronger in him (the auditory part limits him), or they just didn't have labels for everything when we were growing up. I think it's a bit of both.
That's too funny. I'm so not a perfectionist. In fact, quite the opposite. I just want to get it done, so I do it as fast as I can.
Junior on the other hand is. I don't know why, or who he got that from.
Well, glad you can appreciate it now, after all those years of work.
Silly! It's not OCD, it's CDO -- in alphabetical order like it's supposed to be! ;)
Notta, what we love about the camper is when it rains. We're up off the ground, and we have a table to play games on. We also take the camper on vacation. It saves us a fortune on meals and motels, plus we can take the dog with us.
When Z was first diagnosed, we discovered that TS is inherited. This was a revelation to us, as it explained a LOT of L's quirky behaviors....he has TS!
I don't have tics, but I've discovered a LOT of OCD behaviors in myself AND my immediate family.
ZS, fortunately, L works like you. He's all about just getting it DONE! This helps temper the meticulous way Z and I handle chores. ;)
LOL Courtney! Your "CDO" must work quite well for you, since Courtney comes before Dan alphabetically! ;)
Cool. It's great to achieve this much; you're gonna have a perfect holiday. Enjoy!
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