I woke up early and laid in bed for a while thinking. No surprise there. Then I heard a familiar sound I haven’t heard in a while. Tiny claws scraping in the ceiling above our bed. Something scurrying from here to there right above my freaking head. I know it’s a mouse (or mice) as we’ve had this issue before and solved the problem from the inside.

That is to say we found a way to access the space they were dwelling without tearing a hole in the ceiling or walls. However, that did not take care of whatever access point they used to get in the house in the first place. So I suppose it makes sense now that the temps have dropped again outside and there’s a fresh issue of snow on the ground that we would have new visitors.

Add it to the pile of stuff that needs attention. Yup, you know the one. But there’s no way that’s important enough to usurp the current priorities. Today’s top dog and the star of this shit show just happens to be my long-standing (or leaning ) stack of opened, partially opened, and unopened mail.

That’s right. I’m writing about snail mail. If that’s not interesting to you, you can click elsewhere now because it is what I’m all about right now.

I could NOT lay in the bed listening to the scurrying sound so I got up and shortly thereafter made my way to my office. I knew what was waiting for me there and my goal was to tackle, at the very least, step 1 of what’s probably a 4 or 5 or 6 step process. Let me break it down so I can get clarity on just how many steps are involved.

Step 1: Sort through the pile and separate items to be kept in distinct piles (to be filed, needs action/attention, Z’s mail, tax documents, etc). Toss envelopes and recyclable items in that bin. Toss plastic wrappers. Shred sensitive documents that don’t need to be kept).

Step 2: Put all items needing action in a folder and prioritize what needs to be taken care of immediately and what can wait.

Step 3: Make sure Z gets her mail and talk about her action items.

Step 4: Further Sort and file the “to be filed” items in the appropriate folders in my filing system.

Wow. I think that’s it. That’s not so bad right? It’s just paper after all. However, historically I agonize over all that because I truly just don’t want to face the filing and also the action items. I know I’m an adult (really I do) but I hate being reminded that my car hasn’t been serviced in forever and that my ex hasn’t paid his half of the kids’ medical bills in like 7 years and that we’re behind schedule getting Z set up for school next year. What else?

Oh yeah. My legal name changed recently so it’s also a nice reminder that there are about a zillion accounts and agencies that need to be notified and updated and yada-yada, woof-woof. At least with the timing, my 2019 taxes will be a clean cut.

Speaking of taxes, I did NOT add that as a step but taking care of the mail is major prerequisite to doing taxes. I have to sort through my pile to find the 4 or 5 necessary documents. I’m happy to report that as part of what I did this morning, that’s done.

That’s right. Step 1 has been complete and now I’m ready to move on to step 2 (or ignore it in perpetuity as is my MO). Actually I did put all the immediate action items in a folder as well as all the tax stuff so I’m ahead of the game. It’s all a matter of perspective you know?

I truly am going to ignore both of those folders for the rest of the weekend though. I’ve barely seen my sweetie all week and we have plans to spend lots of QT together this weekend. Some of it also revolves around adulting— working on a household budget and prioritizing things that need taken care of for the household). But we do also have plans to take a drive in the car for a day trip.

That’s kind of necessary for me to keep my sanity as I’ve been in isolation at the house for a week or more and haven’t been able to do any meetups with people or go to public places (besides the grocery store).

Not sure how this little day-trip will play out but I’m hopeful. I remind Jim, the secret to success is managing expectations. We’ll see.

My hour is almost up and other people in the house are for sure awake now. I’m gonna go get on about my Saturday.

Staying Frosty,

~Miss SugarCookie

PS. Today’s featured image is a before and after shot of my office floor. Yes, it really looked like that and was not staged for dramatic effect. Yes, it’s all good now. The cats were no help, by the way.