When I first started working a paycheck kind of job, at 16, the first thing I did with my first paycheck was to buy
White hightop sneakers. Sneakers were for gym class only in our house, so getting some knock-off Reeboks for 15 bucks just cause they were CUTE was awesome. Edit…not sure Reebok was even around at that point. But white, soft, aerobic-style high-tops…you know what I mean, right?
A new book.
A 6-pack of coke and a 3-pack of crackerjack.
The last were to be consumed while reading the second, while wearing the first.
I have rarely felt such satisfaction from a paycheck since.
I had to think about this for a while, because I really like being All Set, but groceries and laundry and cleaning supplies don’t impress me that way. I think my favorite thing is clothes for the upcoming season. Jeans and sweaters and warm socks for winter? Nothing happier. Last week my daughter and I were at Sam’s Club and they had just put out the toddler fleecie, footie pajamas for winter. I bought her three pairs all at once and felt soooooo happy about it.
By Sunday night: House dusted, floors swept and mopped, trash and recycling taken out, litterbox scooped and cleaned, dishes done and put away, all bills scheduled for payment, laundry done, folded and put away including linens and towels. Dog and cat food stocked up, human groceries in the fridge – we all have sufficient food for the week. Lawn mowed, car washed & detailed. All niggling errands have been run.
I couldn’t tell you the last time I was “all set.” I consider myself accomplished if I’m half-set, instead of having to chip away at all that through the week.
Getting “stacked up.” I have a set of routines that I do first thing every morning, which are a combination of meditations and stretches. It can take up to an hour, but when I’m done I feel really ready to take on the world. If I miss doing it I feel a bit down and raggedy.
Funnily enough, I’m more apt to fail at this on weekends. I figure that I have the whole day, so what’s the rush? I end up not doing more than one or two of the routines.
Cooking for an SCA event: ingredients all bought, recipes all researched and redacted, sekanjabin all bottled, knives all packed and coffins all blind-baked.
A new piece of leather, a new block of beeswax, awls all sharpened and needles all threaded.
A clean piece of brass, a new blade in the jeweller’s saw and my hammers and punches all laid out.
Fermenter all cleaned and filled with steriliser and bits, grains all weighed out, yeast a-proofing and pots all ready to brew.
On a long car trip, I like the feeling as I pull out of the gas station with a full car, an empty bladder and a nice snack.
At home, when I finally get all the ironing done. I tend to let it pile up. So once I get it out of the way, I enjoy taking down the board and putting it and the iron away.
Once a year, usually in late June/early July, I would buy five tons of grass hay and help move and stack it in the barn. Hot, sweaty, dusty work, but I just loved walking there afterwards, smelling that wonderful smell, knowing my “kids” would have plenty to eat for another 12 months, no matter how cold the winter got. What a great feeling.
Now: Sunday evening with the laundry done, groceries bought and put away, dinner cooking, clean sheets on the bed, freshly showered, a glass of wine and a book. Not quite as good as a barn full of hay, but close.
The main floor of the house being tidy. No scraps of paper on the floor. No dishes on the counter. Just a world of possibilities for what you can do when everything is where it belongs.
