My best laid plans always go astray

Daily Prompt: Comfort Zone

by michelle w. on March 15, 2013

What are you more comfortable with — routine and planning, or laissez-faire spontaneity? 

The best laid plans always seem to get waylaid so I’ve learned the hard way to make tentative plans, but I’m a planner who likes spontaneity. Maybe it’s my sign, I was born on the cusp of cancer and leo, or maybe it’s my introverted extroverted personality, but there are some things that I feel like you have to plan while there are other things that require you to be spontaneous.

For example, Mr. Rockstar is not a planner. He is definitely a laissea-faire kind of person. He is so laid back that he makes laid back look intense. Whereas, I am an intense kind of person who needs to make plans when it comes to certain things. I like order. I like plans, even if they are tentative. I like to know what’s going on, when, and where, and how. Tonight we’re going out for a friend’s birthday party. I needed to wash and dry at least a couple of loads of clothes this week, needed to at least wash my jeans I wanted to wear, and since our dryer still isn’t fixed it means I need to go to either the laundromat or someone’s house to dry them. Hopefully, we’re getting the dryer fixed tomorrow, but I told him 2 weeks ago to call his dad and get the number from the guy who can get the parts half price and will fix it himself for about the price we’d have paid for the parts. Has he called the guy yet? NO. Should I have called the guy myself? Probably, but he’s the one who gets the paycheck and takes care of our finances…So what happens if the guy is busy or already has plans? Once again, another week will go by and my our dryer will still not be fixed. And I guess I’m about to wash my our jeans (our washer works just fine) and put them on a hanger and hang them on the shower curtain rod so they’ll be dry in time for me us to get ready this evening.

Now on the other hand, I’m a spontaneous person in some areas. If I get the urge to have breakfast for dinner then that’s what we have. Or the urge to create will hit me and I’ll write or take photos or scrapbook or art journal or whatever I feel like doing. My desk is filled with creative clutter, but I know where everything is. However, I like for my kitchen to be completely organized. If I had the space in my closet I would have everything completely organized, even color coordinated, but my closet is too small, and I have my clothes spread out between that closet and another one. (Frustrating to say the least.) Last night Mr. Rockstar was talking about rearranging our bedroom so there’s more space and if I weren’t afraid that I’d pull something or over do it I’d have already rearranged it. Instead of just talking about it. The urge to go in there and do it anyway is a bit overwhelming.

Now, as I write this post I’ve made a pot of coffee, and am on my third cup. I’ve already cleaned most of the kitchen, and yet I’m still in pj’s and it’s one o’clock in the afternoon. I’ve already checked my email, and FB, and researched appropriate photos and quotes for this post, as well as read 95% of the posts related to today’s prompt. I’ve already put that load of jeans in the washer and now I’m just waiting on them to finish so I can put them on hangers. The world is such a great place. I was watching something on television the other day and was reminded of when people actually had to hand wash everything, when people didn’t have running water much less washers and dryers. So don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for all that I have, but I really want my our friggin’ dryer fixed.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at him over it. We couldn’t afford to buy the parts, we had to fix the car (half the time he uses it to go to work) and without the car I we wouldn’t have transportation. And the weekend before that it was something else, but I don’t remember now. And the other day he tells me that the reason the headlights looked so dim Tuesday night when we were coming home from visiting his dad was because the headlight, yes that same damn headlight, has gone out and we need a new bulb for it. So every time we get something fixed and make plans to fix something else, then something else breaks. It’s a never ending cycle and we can’t make plans to fix things when something else comes up that takes priority over it. (Like me going back to the dentist and having the tooth pulled because having a root canal is too expensive and they don’t really work half the time–been there done that already.)

Well, enough about all of that. I’m a firm believer in having a plan B, not just one plan, because plans often go up on smoke sometimes. But I also believe in being able to embrace spontaneity. (Great now the washer is making a funky noise…Guess I better make plans to get that fixed as well, OH JOY!). I’m going to embrace spontaneity and kick the washer and then go spike my coffee or maybe vice versa.

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