Gang Aft Aglay and other Voices I Hear in My Head

Old kitchens have many layers. 

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men

gang aft aglay. 

                            “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns

A good translation of the title of today’s post would be, go often astray. Maybe you’ve heard the quote before, as I have, as the “best laid plans.”  Either way, it’s in my head today, with a strong Scottish burr, because that darn kitchen put a bit of a wrench in my plans. 

And now, it’s 5 p.m., and I have not written a word today. 

Last night, we filled the truck with construction debris. I have more cabinets to dismantle, so we needed to go to the landfill when it opened this morning at 7:30 a.m. Then we had to load yard waste; then I needed a shower and breakfast.  Holy, moly, one thing after another, but the good news is that most of the demolition is done.  The bad news is I think I’m going to have to take the ceiling down and put a new one in.  

But, I don’t have to do that in the mornings.  I can do that in the afternoons, taking a writing break when my back gets too sore.  

And, to my credit, I’m sitting down to write now, so there’s that.  There was a time in my life where if I’d missed some goal at a set time I would get so down on myself that I would throw my hands in the air and not do anything:  all or nothing syndrome.  

Now, even if I miss goals, I look for ways that I can make progress on whatever I’m working towards.  There’s another useful slogan for this: progress not perfection.  

I’ll close with some Southern wisdom: Tomorrow is another day (Scarlett O’Hara). 

Old kitchens have so many layers. 

I hope you meet your goals today even if you don’t meet them in exactly the way you wanted to.