Torn...and a To-Do List

Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

~ Carl Sandburg

Always, I have more on my to-do list than I can possibly accomplish.
Always, I feel the pressure of balancing the responsibilities and obligations I have, knowing that I cannot satisfy them all to my own satisfaction.
Always, I long for more wisdom to discern what task should be moved up the priority list and what can be moved down - or eliminated altogether.

Even though this struggle is constant, I have felt it in a particularly strong way recently; and this is the form that it's taking.  "Winter is coming," I think to myself, "and there are a number of jobs that need to be done NOW.  They CAN'T be done later.  The grounds need to be 'tucked in' before winter, and I must somehow find the time to do this.  There will likely only be a few sunny, warm, really pleasant days left before the cold arrives for good, and I must take advantage of them to accomplish this work."

The other side of my brain kicks in, "But there is so much to do INSIDE the house!  Tobin's room MUST be organized, particularly the clothes that he needs for fall and winter.  Bringing out the storage boxes of larger clothes for him, plopping them in his room, and letting him rummage through them is not exactly the proper way to do things.  And besides that, the laundry is piling up, and the bathrooms need cleaned, and really, you could just start by doing the dishes.  Why are you even thinking about flowerbeds and mulch and bulbs and fertilizer?"

Another thought pops up:  "What about homeschooling?  Sure, the boys are doing fine; but are you really giving them enough time?  I know Josiah is doing more independent work this year, but how many 'Teacher Work Days' can you call without completely messing up their education?  :)  When spring comes, you'll have a new baby and it will be harder to focus on school then, so shouldn't you spend EXTRA time on it now?"

Torn.  I'm torn.  Which voice should I listen to?

I can't figure it all out; but for today, since the forecast is for a wonderful 72 degree day with bright sunshine (followed by rain on Wednesday and a chilly high of 52 degrees on Thursday), I believe I'll go with Option A and head outside.  The fresh air and sunshine will do us good, boosting our Vitamin D while we get some pre-winter things accomplished.  And besides, we can always consider this to be our Physical Education class...as well as our On-the-Job-Training (in case any of the boys wants to become a gardener or go into landscape design)...not to mention, Horticulture and Agriculture.  I do want my boys to have a well-rounded education, after all.  ;-)

Here is my to-do list for today, with some tasks being easy and quick and others being harder and longer (and since I obviously won't get all this done today, I'll refer back to it if we happen to have other sunny and warm days in which I decide to devote a chunk of time to outdoor work):
1. Bring boxes of kindling from woodshed to porch, to put under air hockey table.
2. Empty ashes.
3. Plant daffodil bulbs in front flowerbed.
4. Find the mulch pile!  Just kidding, sort of.  I know where it is alright, but I will have to hack away at the plants that have grown up around it before I'll be able to actually get any mulch from it.
5. Mulch the front flowerbed.
6. Possibly plant some roses from cuttings.  I know it's not the best time of year to do this, but what do I have to lose?
7. Prune the holly bushes, and weed that flowerbed.  Possibly plant some bulbs there.  Add more mulch.
8. Weed the blueberry flowerbed, and add more mulch to it.
9. Harvest the basil that is hanging on in the garden, and figure out something to do with it.  I'm thinking of, to keep things easy, simply chopping and freezing it in small portions, since I don't have the necessary ingredients on hand to make pesto.
10. Figure out what kind of fertilizing, if any, I should be doing for my fringe tree and magnolia trees; then do it.  Add more mulch around those trees.
11. Rake leaves!  I hope to get quite a few bags of leaves raked up, so we can use nature's free fertilizer/mulch in the garden next year.

 I just thought of another one; and truly, this one is the most important.  To make my list an even dozen, I'll add...
12. Have fun!  Take the time to laugh with my boys, throw leaves at them, watch them jump in a pile of crunchy yellow and gold, answer their questions:  in short, to be happy with them, and to make sure they know how deeply they are loved and how they rank higher - so much higher - than all the other projects on my list.

I'm not at all sure how far I'll get on my list today, but I'll begin at least.  While I work, I'm certain to be interrupted frequently; however, I'll try to keep in mind another bit of wisdom I read recently:

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away.

~ Charles Caleb Colton