To do list

I've enjoyed this first week of Christmas break; oh, how I've enjoyed it. Staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. and sleeping in until 10 or so, watching lots of Netflix and Hulu and HBOgo, attending parties and such -- all of these things have been great. But the siren song of real life and responsibilities and goals has begun to wail in the corner of my consciousness. In recognition of that siren's song, here is my to-do list before I go back to school on the 5th.  I've learned that a to-do list means nothing without a good understanding of the time frame it'll take me to complete each goal, so I'm including those estimates here.

1.  Finish taking down decorations and store in the bonus room. (I have a good start to this at least - I predict 2 hours will finish it.)

2.  Finish my December Daily album. (I'm on day 11 now, so I'll need to work on it quite a bit more. Let's plan on 4 more sessions of 2 hours each just to be on the safe side.) (Update 1/3 - I'm on day 16 now. I 'might' be able to finish tomorrow afternoon; it's possible at least.)

3.  Organize closet and clean large guest room. Right now, it's a bit out of control where I rearranged all of my closets. When I got tired and didn't know where to put something, I put it in that room. As a result, the bed is covered in clothes a la 14 year old girls everywhere. Not a problem unless I have a guest who doesn't want to sleep in the tiny guest room, oh, and unless I want to live like an actual grown-up. (I estimate 2 hours and a bottle of wine will be needed to do this.) (Update 1/3 - I've started, but it's a much larger task than I anticipated.)

4. Clean/organize my desk space in my studio. I'm doing that tonight, actually. (It's probably a 2 hour job.) It's just gotten out of control from all of the various projects I've started and abandoned the past six weeks. Creativity is messy, you know.  Are you sensing a theme here?

5. Grade the 50 hero essays I've been avoiding for two months. (Realistically, this will take me at least 2 sessions of 3-4 hours each. At least I should be able to multi-task and watch/listen to tv at the same time.) I am the world's worst procrastinator and have totally done this to myself. That doesn't make it any easier though. Oh, how I dread this... (Update 1/3 - I've graded 8 of them. Unfortunately, this means my first couple of days back to school will be quite stressful.)

6.  Return items to Ross and Macy's. (Let's allot an hour for this task.) (Update 1/3 - not happening this week - I'll try again next weekend.)

7.  Set my goals and make plans for the coming year including choosing my One Little Word. For more on OLW, see what Ali Edwards has to say about the topic; it's her brainchild. (I predict this task will take 2 hours.)

8.  Sign up for an online class in something I want to try creatively - maybe urban sketching or hand lettering or something like that. (An hour should do it to register for this item.)

9.  Finish the rough draft of my novel. I'm at 47,000 words, but I think the final product will be around 60,000 words. (If I'm really on my game, I could probably finish that in 3 sessions of 2-3 hours each.) (Update 1/3 - unrealistic goal - I'm reassessing for the end of January.)

10.  Take/do a yoga class on Roku. I found a channel that has yoga options, and I'd like to try one. (A half hour should do it for that.) (Update 1/3 - still planning to do this tomorrow before heading back to work on Monday.)

As you can tell, I've got a lot on my to-do list to accomplish in the next 8 days. I might not accomplish everything, but it's good to aim high, right? If you have time off this week, what's on your list to do?