LONG Overdue!

I have been thinking lately about things that need to be done YESTERDAY. It's an interesting phenomenon. We went to our mechanic the other day for a full oil change / lube service, and when done, he commented that we needed new brakes. I asked when we needed to get them. He replied, "Yesterday." Needless to say, since we just had our inspection earlier in the month, this came as a surprise. We left our van at his shop and picked it up the next day.

In late Spring, when our daughter Kissa came home from college, she brought my truck back with her with tags that had expired MONTHS previously. Our son StarGazer was the one who noticed this fact. We took it in, and had it inspected, then registered it. Last night, our youngest child ZeldaPrincess was  pulled over in her car (previously belonging to Kissa) because we had failed to notice that IT'S tags had expired months ago!!! She now has about a $40 fine to pay! THEN she still has to get it inspected and registered.

This made me think about all the things that should have been done "yesterday." Our roof still needs to be replaced. We got a bid on it, which we turned in to our insurance agent. A $6,000.00 bid. Our insurance will cover all but $1,000 of that, but we don't know if they will cut a $5,000 check to the person who placed the bid, or made to us, so we can buy the supplies ourselves and save labor costs. We just know that it needed to be done before today....

My "lawn" also sits ready for me. We have been on the go lately with different family occasions, doctor appointments and the craziness of getting everything set up for school to begin, so i haven't been able to mow my "lawn" for a couple for weeks. I use the term "lawn" loosely because there is very little actual grass anywhere in sight. It is a former alfalfa farm / cornfield / barnyard, so it hasn't been the kindest place for delicate little blades of grass. We get some very pretty colors in the spring, though, with all the various weeds and other plants that pop up. As soon as I have both time and money for gasoline, I will mow it. It will take me a bit of time, though, because I need to have my mower tuned up.

LadyBug is also waiting for approval for her Disability application. Several months ago she called to see when she could expect a decision. They told her they needed some info, so it would be a couple of weeks. She has called several times since then, including last week. They told her it would be a couple of weeks. This was a process which, by law I believe, is supposed to take no more than 120 days. We passed that deadline quite some time ago. She will call again either today or sometime next week. I expect one typical answer: It will be a couple of weeks. If they approve it, it will pay retro-actively all the way back to November of last year. If they deny it, we can appeal, re-appeal, and re-re-appeal, etc. No big deal. I'm sure that will only take a couple of weeks.

We now find ourselves in the place where we are needing to get the truck inspected again. Before that can happen, I have to replace a tail-light assembly. I hope I know how to do that, but we bought one on eBay at 25% of the cost at the local Automotive Supply store. It should hopefully be here before next week is out, or ZeldaPrincess will be walking everywhere. Kissa already is. StarGazer and SkiTl, our two sons, are living and working in a town in the northern part of our state. SkiTl has been waiting for his taxes to be finished for months now. We just got them the other day (the accountant had filed for an extension). Now he hopes he can get that money so he can pay what he still owes from the previous year's "Return."

I also just started the school year, and have been scrambling to find enough students to continue eating and driving and such. This is always a bit of a struggle, but this year we reached a point where if I couldn't find at least three or more students at both the high school and the college, I would not be able to afford to continue teaching! So I have been doing some recruiting this week that would have been much simpler if it could have been done BEFORE the school year started. Unfortunately, for the college that is not possible. For next year at the high school, I will make sure to do some more advertising for the class that always has enrollment issues!

I have been meaning as well to go see a massage therapist. The tension in my neck and shoulders has reached the point where it is affecting my VOICE! I had never thought about it before, but I am sure that this tension is at least one of the main contributing factors to my voice problems. I even have a couple of former students that are licensed massage therapists, but that has to wait until some of the other things get done yesterday. Like getting a haircut. I also have some former students who have licenses for that, but there is just never enough time to get it done!

And. of course, I need to rewrite my book, finish rebuilding my bike, and get back to losing the last five pounds I need to reach my goal. But those things are all on back burners until other things get done. Like cleaning up around the house, doing dishes, cooking dinner, sorting and changing laundry, getting rid of SkiTl's dog, or even THINKING about installing bookshelves in my room, Shampooing the carpet, replacing the carpet, painting the walls, scrubbing the shower door, replacing the kitchen faucet, ripping out the deck and putting in a stone patio, and painting the shed.

And none of that takes into consideration the poems I still want to write, the music I still need to finish, or any of the other things that I have planned for years but never completed.

It all reminds me of a poem I wrote as a senior in high school, titled,
"Skydive."

When troubles build and threaten
To collapse upon my chest,
When all the worries of the world
Are trite cliches, at best,
When hoping counts for nothing,
And wishing follows suit,
In find that I can never have
A working parachute!

Whew! I tell you, it's a good thing time doesn't move in reverse! Because if Yesterday came after today, with all the things that need to be done Yesterday, when Yesterday comes, Tomorrow would be SO busy!