The Visible Woman...November 5, 2003

I did the budget today. I'm inclined to just get it reasonably right. [Ed. note: What we do is save receipts in some file folders in the kitchen. There is paper and pen there for cash transactions. Then I look through the checkbook and the online credit card statements and pull it together into a few sheets of Excel spreadsheets and come up with a budget vs. actual spending on everything from eating out to grooming the dog. This helps us compare what we spend to our income.] Sometimes I accidentally include business expenses or my Dad's expenses. Sometimes I forget things or they aren't written down. Forrest wants more precision and he thoought he'd put receipts in I didn't find. (I also overlooked a credit card entry for one.) To make things worse I tried to pay *ONE* bill and managed to pay one subtotal and send back one sheet of a two page bill with two totals (long story) thinking it was a copy. That pissed me off. I like accuracy in things like this.

I just didn't feel that precise today. I felt that I was at loose ends. Sitting in my messy office with a pile of crumpled receipts will do that. Or trying to decipher the filing system upstairs where I haven't worked for a while. Ah, well, it will all get worked out. I will do better. I'll get control of it.

You don't really get extra credit for precision in this life for most things. I'm usually the one that wants to do things in a certain way. To the penny. Line things up. Not dog-ear the corners. Oh, you couldn't tell that from loooking at this office. But that's what I'd like. Everything smoothed-out in neat folders and properly labelled and in alphabetical order.

Fireworks painting "Some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the event." Shakespeare, Hamlet	splitting hairs Some days you just want to take things easy but precision is required. I did the budget today. I'm inclined to just get it reasonably right. [Ed. note: What we do is save receipts in some file folders in the kitchen. There is paper and pen there for cash transactions. Then I look through the checkbook and the online credit card statements and pull it together into a few sheets of Excel spreadsheets and come up with a budget vs. actual spending on everything from eating out to grooming the dog. This helps us compare what we spend to our income.] Sometimes I accidentally include business expenses or my Dad's expenses. Sometimes I forget things or they aren't written down. Forrest wants more precision and he thoought he'd put receipts in I didn't find. (I also overlooked a credit card entry for one.) To make things worse I tried to pay ONE bill and managed to pay one subtotal and send back one sheet of a two page bill with two totals (long story) thinking it was a copy. That pissed me off. I like accuracy in things like this. I just didn't feel that precise today. I felt that I was at loose ends. Sitting in my messy office with a pile of crumpled receipts will do that. Or trying to decipher the filing system upstairs where I haven't worked for a while. Ah, well, it will all get worked out. I will do better. I'll get control of it. You don't really get extra credit for precision in this life for most things. I'm usually the one that wants to do things in a certain way. To the penny. Line things up. Not dog-ear the corners. Oh, you couldn't tell that from loooking at this office. But that's what I'd like. Everything smoothed-out in neat folders and properly labelled and in alphabetical order.
JUST TYPING There is pleasure in precision. Accuracy to the cent. Pinning down. Atomic time. And every last event. There is pleasure, too, in letting go. To the cosmic winds. The pennies in the cushions. And the cobwebs in your head.
		Food Diary. *breakfast* bowl of Total and 2% milk with a teaspoon of sugar *lunch* two bowls of spinach and greens and green onions with thousand island dressing and some raisins and nuts 2 small slices hard salami *snacks* plate of nachos with jalapenos and green onions *dinner* cottage cheese (a lot, but lowfat) and salsa four slices turkey bacon a banana a mini Snickers bar Today I didn't - drink alcohol
		Time flies.... I didn't spring out of bed this morning and then it took a while to get my motor running. I washed up some stuff from last night. I wasn't going to water aerobics as per usual on Wednesday because Dad wasn't going I had tennis yesterday and tonight and I need to lift weights. It was after 8:30 before I got away to the gym. Before eleven I was home, though, discussing remodeling decisions with FFP. We decide against a jacuzzi. He doesn't won't white tile on the bathroom floor but will go for gray which is my favorite color. I got a shower and organized things, made reservations, did our personal calendar and budget. I played tennis from 6:30 until a little after 8. At home we tried to figure out what a mess I'd made of paying the yard man. (It is more complicated than it sounds...he does stuff at our house, my dad's and our building.) We had dinner. We watched Law and Order. I tried to read but I dozed some.

		Reading. riParis in Mind ed. by Jennifer Lee in the gym. Daybook, The Journal of an Artist by Anne Truitt.
		do something
		Exercise thrity-three minutes on the bike my leg, back, biceps exercises ten minutes on the bike tennis for over an hour (lost 6-2, 6-0)
	. .	107/59 76 Mood is not quite as good as yesterday. I don't like to do things poorly and I'm not on top of our finances. I used to be, ages ago, in control of the bill-paying and filing. It's probably a much better system now but that doesn't mean I can figure it out.
	It's a Tangled Web we weave...these days of our lives.	One year ago "As I exit the plane, the flight attendant says, "I hope you enjoyed your sleep!" Two years ago "They are very accommodating. Yeah. That's why I shop with these folks." An Interesting Link I'm thinking of sending, as my holiday card, a piece wherein I do a 'who is' on googlism.com for everyone I am sending the piece to and summarize the results.	e