Blah. Blah Blah Blah Blah BLAH!

Yeah, yeah. All you self-righteous punks are wondering why I can't get creative with my titles. I'll inform you that a black hole has formed in the middle of my living room. It has attracted a motely pile of laundry, including about fifty single socks without a pair, a long string of dental floss, a fork, a dinner plate, a highlighter, assorted pieces of paper with important and not so important doodles scribbled on them, two thick and overly-priced textbooks, the eight random novels I am reading instead, and along with absorbing all of this redundant clutter, the massive pile absorbs all of my creativity and desire.

I haven't thought a thought worth thinking in over forty-seven days.

I made the horrible mistake of going on strike for a week. This means that I did the very bare minimum required of me, which meant fulfilling my obligations to others while giving the illusion that I was fulfilling my obligations to myself. I wore t-shirts from the bottom of the laundry bin, laid on the couch all day while Issac had free-reign of all of my possessions (including body parts, such as my nostrils and eyelids), I fell asleep at eight pm, and I did not wash a single dish or pick up a broom. A S-T-R-I-K-E. It felt so good. (Except for the whole living-in-squalor hoping-nobody-comes-to-visit-me part).

Too bad the day came where I had to clean all of it. I'm still not done, and I feel like a total slob. I stopped working so hard and let the world fall to pieces around me. I'm inclined to do this from time to time. To just let go. It is, I think, a survival technique. It's a way of taking a vacation without going anywhere. As a single mom, I give myself a break (although I seriously doubt other single moms do this.) Whether it's a strength or weakness, I'm not sure yet. Sometimes it seems like I'm just not strong enough to do what needs to be done. Other times it seems like I'm smart enough to know when to give myself a break. I guess, inherently, I'm a wimp. In other words, I need lots of "breaks." Some people call this laziness. Look at it how you will, sometimes my procrastination and avoidance poses more serious problems than a messy house.

"A stitch in time saves nine" has proved to be, for me, the most powerful proverb. It sort of speaks to me. I think we all have our own proverbs, the ones that seem to be pointing a finger at us and saying, "if only you'd listen..blah blah blah." We hear it, and we know there's something to it, and we vow to remember that proverb next time. But do we? Nooooo. My proverb addresses my major personality flaw: I like to escape, to avoid problems. If I ignore it, maybe it will magically disappear. More often than not, when it comes to the little details of life, like paying a bill or fixing a car or getting an oil change or scheduling a dentist appointment or going through all the steps to track down the child support I so desperately need, I'll pleasantly ignore it. At times, I'll even go to great measures to avoid it, such as purposefully not answering the telephone or checking the mail. Sometimes when I check the mail I'll leave the letter I don't want to open in the mailbox so I can pretend I didn't see it. I know, I know, very mature and responsible of me.

What is your personal proverb? Which adage speaks to you, revealing your personal weakness, your character flaw? Is there a saying that challenges you to be a better person, that contains real simple advice for you to live a better life?