weapons of massdistraction

Lately I’ve been working hard to transform stress into progress. Despite a few minor panic attacks I’ve made some headway.

Five major milestones:

• My car loan was officially paid off two weeks ago. Now I’ve just got to keep that old Mazda running but it is mine, all mine.
• I submitted my McKnight Fellowship for Photography application, with just 10 minutes to spare. But hey, it was in on time! The lovely Elli Rader helped me narrow down my photo selection. Sadly I didn’t spend as much time writing the “Fellowship Plan” as I should have done, but I put it out there. Odds are slim to none that I’ll end up with the $25,000 award but at least I tried.
• A spring snowstorm got between me and my accountant last week, but I’ve rescheduled and will be having my taxes prepared this week. Not certain I’ll have my refund in time for my trip to LA but that sure would be lovely.
• While sorting through financial ephemera I came across a letter from my insurance company. Something about needing to confirm I actually have a home security system to continue receiving a discount. Pain in the ass but I re-sent the certificate and other pertinent info. I also found a medical bill (from just a couple of months ago) that already made its way to a collection agency. Called them up to pay it off from my health savings account and now they’ll be leaving me alone.
• Spots were already filling up fast for summer camp but I’ve got the boy registered. Phew.

This weekend I’ve allowed myself some downtime. A friend came through with free tickets for me, and a guest, for Minnesota Public Radio’s Wits, featuring the fabulous Patton Oswalt Friday night. It was a lovely time and most of the Twin Cities twitterverse was present, and tweeting. Saturday I remembered Geraldine Ferraro, did some cleaning, and spent most of the day reading Tana French’s page turner “Faithful Place” - by far the strongest of her novels (and I greatly enjoyed the first two of the Dublin Murder Squad books). Saturday night we entertained a few guests. We made cream cheese wontons, played UNO at my son’s urging and, for whatever reason, let my friends freak out our cat Freddy. Now this Sunday morning has come and gone in the blink of an eye and the lad and I are content to remain at home for the balance of the day. Monday morning will come soon enough and, with it, an end to Spring break and a return to the normalcy of routine.