My darling daughter...

I finally got up the nerve to share my blog with my daughter, Rachel. There was silence for a while as she read it, and then the first thing out of her mouth? - "How can you call yourself the world's worst procrastinator? I'm the world's worst!"

She's certainly right about that. Like mother, like daughter. Only worse.

(I can get away with saying that because I don't have my own mother chiming in with memories of how unbearable I was to live with at times.)

On a brighter note........it's my daughter's 22nd birthday today. Happy Birthday, honey!

Sadly, this is the first birthday I can remember that I wasn't able to celebrate with her. Even on her 21st birthday last year, she chose to have her first legal drink with me and her older brother before going out with friends.

This year Rachel advertised her birthday plans to friends through her Facebook page, and managed to pull together a group of about twelve to spend the evening bar hopping along Grand Avenue in St. Paul. I'm always behind the times when it comes to cultural trends - so no, I'm not on Facebook - and if I were, I'm not sure I would have been invited to be one of her "friends." (For the same reasons I probably shouldn't have shared my blog URL with her - what was I thinking!) But my sister Mary's daughter is Rachel's "friend" - and so my sister found out for me where her starting point for the evening was going to be.

"Mary," I said excitedly, "Don't you think Rachel would get a kick out of it if Daniel [my son] and I surprised her by showing up tonight?"

Now my sister Mary is a real sweetheart, and always has a smile on her face. The smile is there whether she's happy or upset, whether she agrees or disagrees. When you know her well you can figure out which are the true smiles and which are the nervous or half-hearted ones. Her response to my question? - definitely a nervous smile. I got the point.

So, I wisely decided it was best if I just stay out of the picture tonight. Rachel's birthday cheesecake will have to wait until tomorrow.

I guess my little girl is all grown up now. It's hard to let go.

By the way, can you believe someone as young looking as me could possibly have a 22-year-old daughter? (Sometimes a person has to fish for compliments. I'm not too proud. :-)


Woodbury Facial Soap ad, McCall's magazine, Sept 1951

Please don't hold your breath

In case you're wondering why I haven't written in a while, I've got a very good excuse:

"Procrastination,

Procrastin-a-a-tion ...

is makin' me late,

and keepin' you wa-a-a-a-a-iting..."

----------------------------------------------------

Too bad that procrastination isn't as exciting as anticipation. I'd be squirming all the time.

You're so vain, I'll bet you think this blog is about you...

Actually, he's really not vain at all. I can't imagine him watching himself gavotte while wearing a hat dipped below one eye and a scarf of apricot. I tend not to date men who like to gavotte. I'll happily leave those men for Carly Simon.

So...no, he's not vain. But he wouldn't be too far off track in thinking that this blog is about him. Let's just say that he was a major source of inspiration.

The "he" I'm referring to, by the way, is a recent ex-boyfriend. The same one who told me - "If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger."

Those words give away quite a bit about his character: This is a man who sets goals and follows through. He's determined, consistent and disciplined. There's not one lazy, procrastinating bone in his body.

Basically, he's everything that I am not. And I admire him for it. While we were dating, I think part of my motivation for wanting to get closer (besides the fact that he's so damn attractive) is that I was hoping that some of it would rub off.

Well, no such luck. I was, and still am, the world's worst procrastinator. I am capable of being incredibly determined and disciplined up to a point, especially if I get excited about something. But my excitement (and the discipline that went along with it) tends to fizzle out as soon as the goal starts to feel like work. I get bored easily, I think, and then I'm on to something new. That's not a very good habit, is it?

Okay...I think you should know something about me. I do have a tendency to exaggerate my flaws. For one thing, I am not the world's worst procrastinator. I am pleased to say that, even though I was in a bit of a panic the night before, I got my tax returns completed and in the mail by 11:30 a.m. on April 15. I had over twelve hours to spare! A true world's worst procrastinator would have been driving to the post office at five minutes to midnight...or filing an extension...or missing the deadline completely.

But I can do better. Not so long ago, I wanted to do better for the ex-boyfriend. (Sad, isn't it?) Now I just want to do it for me. And I want to make it fun.

I have some ideas in mind, but I'm still working them out. Bear with me, while I figure out the details. Stay posted!


This one's kind of fun. Mick and Carly together again. Take a look!