Pursuing the Mundane

Well, I didn't get back to the blogging Friday evening. Note to self: don't set expectation of writing at night.

My day on Friday was a bit hectic. Here is what I recall 4 days later:

Set hard deadline date for Sock Hop pattern #3.
Begin testing pattern idea for Sock Hop #3. Choose lace pattern for body of sock.
Announce deadline date with teasers on Sock Hop board at Circles' forum.
Arrange for test knitter to knit from my instructions blind.

Conversation with Nanney Kennedy at Sea Colors re: next showcase at Circles. (perhaps 2/10) and planning of other future collaborations.

Outreach to Margaret Wilson re: next Circles Travel Circle to Mostly Merino. (maybe lambing season this time?)

Finalize date and details of Travel Circle to Grafton Fibers.
Post finalized information on forum, which includes writing post, adding to calendar, making sure post "sticks" to top of board for ease of finding. (Now need to update web site.)
Choose date for 2nd Annual Circles Book Fair and post on forum with calendar attachment.
Post on forum about Circles vending at NETA SPA Knit and Spin.
Update "Current Event Schedule" "sticky" post on Event board of forum. (need to make same update to web site and set up posts to roll out on web site's news blog.)

Teach children's knitting class at daughter's school. (they signed up 12 girls between 6 & 9 year olds! absolute chaos.)
Pick up daughter's friend at school in Quincy - her mother is out of town - for weekly play date at Circles. (end up in rush hour traffic on 93S and get lost in Quincy.)
Arrive at Circles at 6, cover shop floor until 8 and get dinner for the girls.
Go home and crash.

I'm sure there were a few other things - phone calls, emails, oversight activities. They are escaping me now. My short term goal is to get some events on the Circles calendar a few months out, then prepare a e-newsletter and some reminder emails that can be scheduled for sending ahead of time. Hopefully, this will buy me some space to focus on the share application. We'll see how that goes.

Monday and Tuesdays should be my days off. But yesterday I spent some time working on the administration of the forum. I've been relentlessly assaulted by spammers trying to register. I have the system set up so that all new registrations have to be approved. Still, it was up to about 40 per day that I was having to check out and reject. A niggling, tedious thing. Also, there were some glitches in the appearance of the forum. A menu that was to stretch across the entire screen was wrapping, taking up precious vertical space and the logo with sheep photo was not showing at the top. I'm new to the world of forums and html, so I'm slow figuring these things out. I knew that I needed to upgrade the forum software, but the instructions were daunting. After downloading it and procrastinating the process, I accidently learned that my service provider has a tool for doing the upgrade for you! Yee haw! Saved. It then took me several hours to figure out how to fix the other problems. In the end, I triumphed. (I used to be a programmer, but that we 20 years ago in very different language and applications. I have to dig deep into my brain's muscle memory to get into gear. This kind of absorbed, quiet problem solving work, though, is actually relaxing and some of the least uncomfortable for me to do. I can get so focused on the riddle that I almost don't feel all the sensations in my body. It only works for so long. Then I crash. But, I did accomplish what I set out to do.)

Security on the forum seems to be improved. No spammers today. The logo/photo are at the top and the menu stretches across the screen. Check. That feels good. Now on to the sock pattern - (finalized the instructions for the toe last night), the events and the marketing email prep....

No matter the grandiosity of anyone's vision, the work ends up being about the mundane. Getting your hands to do the all little bits which you hope add up to the big picture in your head. The trick is to maintain both perspectives simultaneously and to progress on both fronts. They require such different parts of the brain. Even the physical pace of the two are different. It can be difficult to transition from one mode to the other on a regular basis. I find it inefficient to do it too often, but I need to work on that. One thing that helps is knitting. My hands are working and my mind can wander. If I push my self to complete tasks all day and don't leave enough energy to knit, I am much more challenged to keep the longer-range perspective active. So, as I write this week, I'll be trying to pinpoint the level of activity that I can maintain and where to stop and make time for knitting and reflection and re-grouping for the next day.

Until tomorrow...