Wendy's Week

Good stuff:
- Got my tax stuff together. Sort of. I couldn't find the receipts from my conference fees from last year. Bad news. The good news is that I paid for them both with a check, so we have them on bank statements.
- Swam 3 times.
- Worked 21.5 hours. Not the 25 I planned, but it's something.
- Wrote 4,568 words.
- Did a little better on the house. I managed to keep things neated up, laundry under control, and the kitchen cleaned up.
- Met with friends in St Louis for dinner Thursday night. Eric had class, so I went alone, and got there and home without getting lost! (Why yes, that is a big deal!)
- Dad scheduled his shoulder surgery for a week later than he wanted. He's not happy, but it's darn near perfect for my schedule. It should be less traumatic than his back surgery was.

Not So Good Stuff:
- While I did work 21.5 hours, I'm dissatisfied with the number of hours I actually spent writing. I'm wondering if I need to get anal for a while and break down how many specific, task oriented hours. I had hoped that setting work hours would be enough. I'll try it again this week and see if I can do better without having to micromanage.
- Still no progress on the decluttering. On the plus side there, Eric hasn't heard anything about the job he interviewed for in Quantico, VA last week so moving won't be an issue anytime soon. Phew!
- My sinuses have been really junkie lately. I thought this recent cold snap would bring me some relief, but it seems to be worse.
- Had minor drama with Alex. He signed up for a computer programming class that teaches languages that physicists use for specialized programs and quickly found himself in WAY over his head. He called, completely stressed out, trying to decide whether to drop it. The trouble is that it's not offered again for 2 more years. In the end we all agreed that it's better for him to drop and work on his GPA even though it means another year in school. He's been so dead set on graduating with a physics degree, even though there isn't much he can do with a bachelors degree. His plan is to apply for nuke school in the Navy, but he won't have a shot without the minimum GPA, and even then it's competitive. It was a good time to remind him it's always good to have a back-up plan. Now he'll have time to come up with one. Or three. He is my kid. I did take the opportunity to fill Vicky in on the basics and remind her not to wait until her Junior year to come up with a back-up plan.
- Eric is talking about a kitchen remodel. To be honest, I'm not sure if this should be in the Good Stuff or Not So Good Stuff! There is a lot I'd change about my kitchen, but I'm not convinced that doing it while both kids are in college is the best time. At least he's not talking about doing the work himself. He's smart enough to factor professional labor into the cost.