The "not-to-do" list

I've been pretty worthless over the past two days.

A typical schedule consists of waking up at 10:00, puttering around house, cleaning, groceries, surfing Internet for forever, a phone call or two to friends, a lazy walk with Dan, watching re-runs of The Real Housewives of New Jersey or some other inane show that I don't even like, a half-hearted work out, mauling chips and homemade salsa, stay up way too late with Dan, obsess over which project to start next, get to bed by 2:00, repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Tomorrow is Dan and my anniversary (more on that soon! We had such a great early getaway to a B and B last week.) I'm officially allowed to relax. After Wednesday though, the party is over...

Thursday is the day I need to start on all the projects I've been swearing I would work on this summer. Here is what is on the agenda:

Wake up. Make my breakfast. Get to work painting my office.

Now, it should be that simple. Wake up and get to work.

Unfortunately, I am easily distracted, and there are only about a bazillion distractions out there.

Jeffrey Yamaguchi, author of the amazing book 52 Projects, says that the best way to get through any project is to make a NOT-to-do list (his was very funny!). These are things I will NOT do when I'm supposed to be painting my office:

Do not blog hop.
Do not drool over office accessories, like this stylish rug from 'Lil Welsh Rarebit
Do not go on www.thisyounghouse.com.
Do not spend forever on hair after shower.
Do not give a myself a manicure.
Do not tweeze eyebrows and contemplate starting to get them waxed.
Do not Google salons for eyebrow waxing prices.
Do not search out cute sundresses on Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft
Do not turn on t.v.
Do not pop in 27 Dresses.
Do not decide to organize my closet.
Do not unload dishwasher.
Do not suddenly get a hankering for a gourmet deli sandwich and drive to Carytown to go to Coppola's and then stop by World of Mirth to window shop.
Do not stalk out people on facebook.
Do not search for new people to "friend" on facebook.
Do not get on blogger.
Do not edit old posts.
Do NOT BLOG HOP.
Do not go on Etsy and search for cute prints for bedroom.
Do not apply sunless tanner.
Do not fuss over streaks from said sunless tanner.
Do not swiffer the floors (even though they reallllly need to be cleaned! Oh, how about just the bedroom?)
Do not take out the trash.
Do not start nagging Dan to take out the trash and get into a tiff about house work.
Do not take a nap.
Do not go on iTunes and try to find new music.
Do not shimmy to Beyonce's "Single Ladies"
Do not go on www.cnn.com.
Do not discuss Iran situation with Dan and double check my pronunciation of "Ahmadinejad"
Do NOT NOT NOT blog hop!!
Do not go on "rate my space" on HGTV.
Do not go work out.
Do not phone a friend.
Do not pass "go".
Do not endlessly obsess over the paint color for the office.
Do not stop to read all journals and scrapbooks being stored in office when you start cleaning it out.
Do not stop at the pictures of my family at Christmas and my Scottish terrier nosing into her stocking.
Do not suddenly decide to Google types of dogs that would best fit lifestyle.
Do not take the quiz "Which dog is right for you?"
Do not take a quick peek at my blog to see if someone left a comment.
Do not stay on my own blog to re-read my posts and check out my own pictures. Weirdo. :)
DO NOT PERUSE OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS. DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE!
Do not read books from library.
Do not watch HGTV and cooking network.
Do not start talking to Dan for hours when he gets in from work (although, a small break couldn't hurt, right?).
Do not get talked into blowing off project by Dan and instead watch him kick ass at answering Jeopardy questions faster than the contestants.


Lastly, do not write a post for your blog (sadly, too late).

What's life without a few fun distractions? :)