get the lead out - part X

I am on vacation next week. I can't wait.

The last time I made a Get the Lead Out posting, I was talking about getting my resume out there in November. October has plans of its own.

I'll admit something. Having such a large, long-ranging plan in my head has been challenging at times. When the next 10 steps ahead of you are revealed, it's hard to concentrate on what's right in front of you. It's easy to feel that the next step should be to call in reinforcements. Reinforcements aren't bad. Reinforcements don't mean you're weak. Please, reinforcements, come running.

The worry is manageable at this stage, when I stay focused on what is directly in front of me. I have a debt. It will be retired on November 20th, only if I stay disciplined. Ergo, discipline is necessary, along with hitting the Submit button on those transfers to my credit card. Meanwhile, there are few other options, and I'm working on them all. Today, for example, I got checks and a debit card ordered from my Colorado credit union. By next week, I'll be able to transfer my direct deposit and my auto pays and I'll be all set, thanks to Jeremy, the efficient credit union representative I've spoken with about a half dozen times since opening this account, more than I've ever spoken to a banker.

But like I said, October has plans of its own. In order to rent this place, the backyard needs to be lower maintenance. So here's what I want to do:
- Cut the azaleas down from the back wall, leaving the hostas and the sweetshrub
- Remove the dying shrubs from the back fence
- Fill in holes dug by the dog
- Remove the clothesline pole if possible
- Cut the honeysuckle from the vine
- Clean the gutters
- Pull weeds from the garden and seed with wildflowers
- Pull weeds from the blueberry patch
- Burn the burn pile for the last time
- Build a wall around the burn pile
- Fill with dirt and mulch (for a bird feeding station)
- Mulch the flowerbed against the back fence
- If time, plant something new against the back wall and mulch
- put a guard around the air conditioning unit
- cut down dead tree on side yard
- replace the dead tree with... something
- mulch the flowerbeds in the front yard too

My plans for help? Well, I have a 76 year old woman who's going to stay with me for a few days. I will have her weeding the flowerbeds in the front yard. The rest? I don't know. The thought of it all makes my head hurt a little. So I joined a fitness boot camp. I need someone to boost me up a little, help me manufacture some new energy for the plans.

I do this to myself all the time, I swear. So now, what I'm going to do is reel it back a little.

I have to cut down the azalea bushes. I have to cut down the azalea bushes.

I have to pay off my credit card, that's first. In the yard, I have to cut down the azalea bushes. That's first. If I don't get to the rest, I am going to take Mama Rose with me to Blue Ridge, Georgia, and we're going to ride the Blue Ridge Scenic railway and take in the fall colors. I'd love to be taking my parents with us. Maybe next time, mom and dad. The list is long, I know. I may not finish it the week of my vacation. I will finish it.

-- Laura