Long Hollow

I had big plans for this weekend.

BIG plans.

Number one on the list: getting caught up on my sleep.

Next, I planned to get caught up on my book. It only took me a few days to fall short of my 1500 words/day writing goal. Mostly because my body refused to put up with only 5 hours of sleep a night after just three days, the only way I could fit in writing time.

Traitor.

I also needed to conquer the mountain of laundry and then, the mountain of paperwork on my desk (including bills.) Next, I had blog posts to read and write (I hoped to get ahead for this week), photos to dig out and scan for our church directory, tons of emails to read and answer, brownies to make for a Saturday night get-together with friends, and finally, Mass and an Eagle Scout ceremony to attend on Sunday. (I had hoped to somehow squeeze in a trip to my friend's ranch south of San Antonio, either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, but let that dream go early on.)

You've probably already guessed that I didn't get all of this done.

But I did do some of it, plus some I didn't have on any lists. I'm trying really hard to do a better job of focusing on the positive instead of the negative, so here's what I accomplished:

I slept a whole glorious eight hours two nights in a row (no alarm clock!)…watched Big Fish with Daniel and Tom (and cried again – love that movie!)…went for two wonderful, long walks…

…played ping-pong with Daniel…worked on my book (no comment on the number of words)…published two blog posts and read a few…demolished the mountains of laundry and paperwork…paid some bills…read some emails…made brownies.

Saturday night we spent several hours with friends in Wimberley…

…witnessed a glorious sunset…

…talked genealogy with Joe (it's so much fun to find other genealogy nuts!)…

…made it to Mass Sunday morning, and to bed Sunday night in time to get six hours of sleep before starting this new week.

Six is the magic number, I've discovered. As in "minimum amount I can have without turning into a brainless-zombie-witch."

We didn't make it to the Eagle Court of Honor – that's my biggest regret. This Boy Scout troop holds a special place in my heart, even though I don't really know the boys in it anymore. But I'm having to realize I can't do everything, can't be everywhere, and still make progress on my dream of writing this book…

…and when I look at my "Done" list, I see I actually accomplished quite a bit! The most important things, anyway…

So what did you accomplish this weekend? How do you prioritize your time?

I'm grateful for the time, wisdom, and opportunity to reconnect with friends from my past… for those who live close enough to see often…for Texas sunsets, guitars, bonfires, people who can sing…and ping-pong on autumn afternoons.