Ferry naps

I had an appointment in Kitty Hawk today, so I rode the 9 AM ferry, spent a good part of the day on the northern end of the Outer Banks, and then rode the 5 PM ferry home. On the 9 AM ride, I covered myself with my coat and took a short nap. I love naps on the ferry, because I feel like even though I am sleeping, I am still making some sort of progress (since the car is getting somewhere, even though I'm not actively driving it). I guess that's why I like sleeping in a car when someone else is driving it, too.

I did not take a nap on the ferry on the way home, because I was nearly at the end of the book I was reading and wanted to finish it, so I did that instead. I was home for an hour - just enough time to eat some dinner and print the agendas - and then I headed back out, to the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association meeting. I'm serving as the secretary (again) temporarily. Well, theoretically it's temporary. After I told Rudy I could take notes for the winter meetings while the current secretary was traveling off the island, said current secretary sent out a note saying she was resigning that post. So now OCBA needs a secretary (again)...and since I'm "filling in", just "for now", I suspect it will end up being me (again). I don't mind - it's a good way to keep up with some of what is happening on the island, specifically in terms of county politics/policies, business activities, and NPS updates.

Anyway, it has been a long day and I'm tired. (Probably should have taken a nap on that second ferry ride, too. Instead, I'll go take a long (i.e. overnight) "nap" in my bed!)

Sleep well, wherever you are...

1 fine day

Earlier today, it was 1:11 on 1/11/11.

Yep, that's all I've got to blog about today. If I hadn't had to take Connor to daycare this morning, I wouldn't even have managed to step outside, so I have no idea what might be happening on the island (other than the fact that it is COLD and windy). I worked 12 hours yesterday and 12.5 today and am really needing to keep reminding myself that I like my job. Really, I do. I am ready for all the beginning of the year, "let's start a whole bunch of new projects" craziness to settle down, though! Guess it's job security, so I'll take it.

Hope you're not overwhelmed with the beginning of a new year, wherever you are...

Amiable

We went to Gaffer's last night, for dinner and also to watch the Green Bay - Philadelphia game. We were cheering for Green Bay, as were several other people there. There were also several people cheering for Philly. Most of these people were sitting side by side at the bar, amiably drinking together regardless of which team they liked. I liked that. It was a simple thing, but with so much negativity and division in the world these days, it was nice to see people decide to just get along and enjoy each other's company, even though they disagreed on something.

Broken

Sometimes, it is the interior, which becomes visible only when the exterior is broken, which is the most lovely.

Weird weather

This morning it was sunny but windy. Then the wind dropped (it was still sunny). I happened to drive by Silver Lake during this calm period and it was slick as glass and really pretty with the sunlight reflecting off the water. A couple of hours later, I looked up and out the windows and it was snowing! (Nothing stuck, but there were definitely flurries for about 10 or 15 minutes.) Now, it's freezing cold and windy again, but there's no precipitation at the moment. I'm not quite sure what to expect next.

It just struck me that the weather is a kind of metaphor for life. We try to analyze its patterns, predict its future, and sometimes wish we could control it. But, like weather, life is stubbornly unpredictable, the future is not promised to anyone, and we have far less control than we like to think we have. None of this is necessarily bad. As Seinfeld might say, it is what it is.

Organizing...and I love visitors!

I'm a really good organizer. I don't mean that in a bragging way, it's just that I work as a Project Manager, and when you do something for 40+ hours a week for 14+ years, you almost can't help but get really good at it. So I'm good at organizing things. I manage all sorts of stuff in my life via spreadsheet - keeping track of everything from charitable giving, to projects I want to do on the house, to the next family vacation. I even have an amortization table for my mortgage, and I've been known to use spreadsheets to compare the attributes of different brands of a big ticket item I'm planning to purchase, to help me choose which to buy. (Okay, so I'm a bit of a spreadsheet geek, I admit it.) Anyway, I am really good at applying my organization skills to the "big" things, like vacations and taxes and big purchases. But I often fall down on the job in terms of organizing the "little" things, like drawers (desk and kitchen), countertops (mine often goes missing, covered under what I fondly call "the detritus of life"), and wrapping paper.

Wait, did she say wrapping paper? Yes, wrapping paper. When you live on an island, you don't take for granted that the next time you need to give a gift you'll be able to run out to WalMart and buy a really cute gift bag. So you keep and reuse things like gift bags, ribbons, and tissue and wrapping paper. At least I do. I even have one of those cute organizer bags (of course!) to keep it all in. But the thing about those organizer bags is they don't actually organize the wrapping paper for you...if you just shove it in there, it's nearly as bad a mess as if you didn't have an organizer bag in the first place. (It's slightly better because at least the mess is all contained within one area.)

Anyway, I really wish I had taken a "before" picture of my wrapping paper organizer bag, but you will just have to believe me...it was a wreck. (My family, who needed to use said wrapping paper while here for the holidays, can attest.)

So today, I spent a while organizing my wrapping paper organizer. And now, it's marvelous! Everything is in its place (something which makes me inordinately happy), and the interior sections of the bag are even labeled. I thought about posting an "after" picture here on the blog, but without a "before" it's not really worth it.

Something unexpected happened while I was organizing. I discovered that I have tissue paper. LOTS of tissue paper. Now the reason this is unexpected is when my sister asked me for tissue paper while wrapping gifts recently, I said "this is all I have" and referenced three measly, previously used, wrinkled almost beyond belief, torn sheets which were in the organizing bag, near the top. I was so wrong. I have many, many sheets of tissue paper. Most of them are used, but I actually even found several brand new totally flat ones too. It's amazing what you'll find when you organize. There might be something really great under all that clutter!

I have a friend who started a blog this year to track one of her resolutions, which is to throw away something (or multiple somethings) every day. I bet, as she clears things out, she'll find some nice surprises, and probably learn some great lessons along the way, too.

So why the sudden need to organize my wrapping paper bag? Well, I have guests coming to visit this weekend, and whenever people will be staying in my house, I get all motivated to tidy up (especially, to find the aforementioned missing kitchen counter). Often, that motivation spills over into organizing things that the guests are unlikely to see, just because I get "in the zone" in terms of my energy - I want to put it all toward tidying, organizing, neatening things up around here.

So that's why I love visitors! Left to my own devices, I would probably have really- well-organized "big" things, most likely on a spreadsheet on my laptop. But I might not be able to find the laptop itself under the general clutter. (Okay, it's not that bad, really. There's plenty of clutter on the desk where the laptop sits...but not on top of the laptop. Just to the left. And the right. Oh, and yeah, behind it, too. Guess I need to work on the desk next!)

Updated ferry schedule

Just a quick FYI in case you are planning a trip to the island - there have been some changes in the mainland ferry schedules. You can get the details here.