Good intentions can take another direction

Did you know that if a two-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi falls off a car trunk the cap will pop off and the contents will cover at least half the driveway with frozen pop before hiding the container behind the front wheel of the car? Neither did I until last week.
This occurred after I had baked a perfect batch of cookies. I sent half of them to my quasi-grandson, Nathaniel, in place of the afghan I had intended to make for his birthday. I ran out of yarn and now I can’t find the right color to finish it. I also sent a toy and a shirt that I hope fits him.
I had meant to take the remainder of the cookies to carving class but walked off and left them on the stove instead. Luckily, Flo brought cookies so we didn’t whittle away to nothing. Now the rest of the cookies are torturing my diabetic husband. I’ll have to find someone to share them with. Any takers?
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then I’m on the paving crew. I really do mean well but much of the time my good intentions fall flat. I make all kinds of grand plans and even if I complete the project at hand it rarely turns out the way I had envisioned.
My flower beds are prime examples of this. I plant things intending to have great swaths of color with varying plant heights and forms. What happens is that the flora has other ideas. They either refuse to grow or insist on growing either taller or shorter than their tags say. It is probably because they can’t read. The following year they invariably pop up somewhere else entirely.
We have a plethora of Christmas ornaments that we have made throughout the years. Only ... we don’t have room for a tree big enough to handle all those decorations. In the process of remodeling, we have moved things here and there and even though I have found the boxes with the Christmas stuff I still haven’t excavated space for a tree.
The nativity set has been set up. My husband was concerned because a shepherd and one of the wise men arrived at the crèche before Joseph and Mary. The holy family was unpacked the next day and was joined by a pair of pigs we found at a craft fair one year.
I had intended to carve a new nativity set for my daughter this year. Unfortunately I’m still working on the mummy I started before Halloween. Maybe next year ... after I finish that afghan and the mummy.
I have found that most people make plans. Most people have had their plans fall flat more than once. The difference between success and failure is that success entails getting up again and again, no matter how often one fails.
To that end, I have plans; oh, do I have plans! If past experience is any indication most of those plans will fizzle or otherwise evaporate faster than the Pepsi in the driveway.
My plans include finding a place to put the Christmas tree. This won’t be easy. The only free space is in the kitchen and somehow I am certain that nobody wants pine needles in their food. Wait, I could tell people that the pine needles are really rosemary ... hmmm.
I usually wait until the last minute to buy a tree as the prices go down on Christmas Eve. This tendency has backfired more than once. One year I pried a frozen tree off a pile because it was the only tree to be found. We have ended up with a Charlie Brown tree more than once. No matter the shape or condition of the tree it is decorated with as many handmade ornaments as possible.
I have great intentions to have the perfect holiday. I have great intentions to someday have a pretty lawn and impeccable flower beds. I have great intentions to do any number of good things. Like I said, I am on the paving crew of good intentions. Along the way, life happens. Pop spills, cookies get left behind. Pigs join the nativity. None of it is a disaster. What matters is that we keep on trying.[[In-content Ad]]