A while back, I started this little trip planning app for me: Unscrambled. With my dad diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, I was heading to Dallas a lot. I’d always forget something. This was for me in two ways: it solved one of my own problems, and I needed to practice ReactJS. I built it with Webpack. Or started to. I let it go when I got stuck. I wanted to deal with it in React Meet-ups, but not all Meet-ups are equal (the Dallas ReactJS group is stellar). I was also chicken as a junior developer to ask the well seasoned (“Hi. *picks nose* My name is Katy and I like kitties and doggies and sunshine and coding and I maked dis app will you look at it I also eat paste.”). I felt naked and naive, and not in the sexy ingenue portrayed by a dewy French actor sort of way.

Then my stepsister died.

Then my dad died.

I did not want to stop or abandon the project, but I could not concentrate. I can now. Of course, I still miss them, but now I think “Oh, they’d love this” when I design or build. I’m good. I’m sad; I miss them, but I am good.

What was not good was the app. I also wanted to try the Create React App tool so I could avoid the builds. If I let too much time go, I just forget the process: npm do this, cd into this npm do that to build then cd out to save to GitHub. Schtaaahp. I build an app with Webpack and Perk framework before (Critter Sitter) and was happy with it. I just have a simpler app to build. I have no backend. I have a set list of places I stay in Dallas and my packing list is set. Could I build a component to add to my packing list? Sure. But by now, I have that list down. It’s checking it off that matters. Should I want to add a component called AddItem, I will deal with it later.

Version 1 was not even complete when I opted to move it over. I have been following Wes Bos’s React for Beginners (aka Notorious RFB), coding along, then practicing my own in parallel: Teacher show, Katy copy, Katy do her own. It works for me. Next thing I know, it’s late. I’m still excited, but I’m fading physically. I should have gone to bed, but—no—I was going to move it all over when my brain and body were cooked. (Jeenyiss) My old format is not in the same style as Create React App. Of course, it isn’t. I should have taken the time to move one at a time. It’d be like starting over, but the components are already thought out and built. But no. I moved everything over. Not one thing was horrible, but there were many little things that need changing: paths, ES6, …
I am using this:
class SteveBuscemiIsMyMan extends React.Component {render: function(){yada yada yada}}
export default SteveBuscemiIsMyMan;
when before I had this:
export default React.createClass({render: function(){yada yada yada})}

Which brings us to this entertainment center that I use as a bookshelfstoragething. When I got it, I move all my things into and on to it in a day. I didn’t take the time to have a little crowding in order to put the books in the order I want them to and the craft boxes and bags where I want them to be and the knickknacks where they should be. I have had this mess for a long time. I now do a section at a time when I have the time, but looking back, I should have taken the time to slow down and just do it piecemeal.

What I did last night was similar: I over React-ed. Over re-React-ed, really, but that sounds too much like ovary acted.

I went to bed frustrated and tweeted about it. My frustration, however, was with me. I’ve posted enough about being an adult with ADHD. I won’t go into it, but this is sort of typical. The good news is that I can sit back and plan. Before I went to bed, I started over (again) and did not let my excitement get in the way. I slowed down. I read more (I read before but in the OHMYGODIAMSOEXCITEDTODOTHIS mindset). I moved one component over at a time and dealt with the styling. I’m not done, but I have a plan. I feel guilty tweeting that I found this frustrating. I was not clear. I was the one who was frustrating as well as frustrated. Create React App is a good thing. It’s easy. It’s there for me. It still expects me to calm t.f. down before I start though. They never mention that in the README file.