A Time For Everything

I feel like there's not enough time in a day...

I have things I *need* to do and things I *want* to do and things I *don't want* to do and I am at war.

When I feel overwhelmed, I rely more heavily than ever on my trusty TO DO list. I just have to make sure it's as complete as I can make it, and I have to ensure that if there are due dates, which there are for many things, that I keep them in mind as I pick and choose what to get done.

No matter how many things I have to do, I never fail to take down time to read. Of course, I have to be careful, because it's so easy to sink into the reading abyss and I have SOOOO may fics in my to-be-read folder that sound fantastic.

Several years ago, I was president of my writing group and of the band booster for about six months. That was a challenging six months, but I was also super productive because I prioritized every day the things that had to be completed that day or the next. And day by day I got things done and made it through. Of course, I hadn't discovered BBC Sherlock fan fic at the time, so it might have been much harder with all that ficcy goodness tantalizing me from the Internet.

How about you...how do you handle an overabundance of things to do?

My February is going to be rather crazy and so I'll have to balance my busyness with enough down time to keep me sane.



I have work of course. The first week of February is always a bit hectic due to a certain client of ours. Their membership year ends on the 31st of January and so there are tasks and phone calls that come in a flurry because of it.

In addition, my writing group puts on a contest, one of two, and I'm a co-coordinator. I was sole coordinator last year, so at least I have some help, but the next three weeks will see contest activity ramp up significantly.

My proofing business is in full swing, so gotta make time for that....

 I have a couple of personal projects on the books.

Gotta make time for enough sleep, eating right, and exercise to keep me on an even keel throughout...

Oh, and Sonshine will be home for ten days or so!

So how's that for a jam-packed month??

I'm tired already.

It's Friday again, which should be a good thing, right? Mostly it is, but this time of year with a high schooler in football, cheer, drill team, or marching band means crazy busy.

You all know which kid is mine--the marching band boy. Not only does the band have to practice and perform at football games, but they have to practice and participate in contests. October is contest month. But it starts early since the school district added its own.

So tomorrow, Marching Band Boy and I, along with the band director and approximately 20 other students (not the whole band) will be going to The Battle of the Bands. It was supposed to have been an all day thing, but we've been given a reprieve. We don't have to stay ALL day.


October 6 is pre-UIL, the 8th is another district contest, and the 20th is actual UIL. Throw in weekly football games and Cowboy Stadium events and, well, you can see it's a busy month. If you have more than one child in extra-curricular activities, bless your heart. I'm lucky I only have the one.

On top of all that, there's just REAL LIFE: work, housekeeping, family, sleeping.

I'm pretty tuckered right now, but I'm going to keep on keeping on. This is a special time in my son's life and I'm lucky and happy to be a part of it, despite the crazy.

I had something else to posit about, but tired as I am I've forgotten what it was...something about blogging or writing or I don't even know...

 On another note, this past Wednesday was official weigh-in day. I achieved my goal of 2lbs. in 2wks., exceeded it even. In addition to that, I reached another milestone--getting under the 150lb. mark. The official number was 149.7. So the next two-week cycle begins!


Big weekend plans??? What are YOU going to be up to?

First of all, happy new year. It's finally here. Last year was a vast improvement over the one before and I hope the trend continues. Hubby and I have already looked at our finances, both business and personal and made adjustments. We've also made a plan for getting out of debt. Let's hope 2012 is conducive to furthering that plan without too much struggle.

As I've already mentioned in the last week or two, diet and exercise are on the agenda. I'm getting older, no getting around that. I need to start taking care of myself. That's not a resolution, just a fact of life and a real necessity. I'm out of shape and have little stamina and even less strength.

I had to work Friday and Saturday night at our fireworks store. DD and I drove home at 12:30 Sunday morning. I had to. There was no way I could handle sleeping on a deflating air mattress a second night unless absolutely necessary. Thanks goodness it wasn't. Sleeping arrangements and apparatus will be addressed between now and July.

Sunday I did a few chores and relaxed. DD was gone and I had the house to myself ALL day. What a lovely treat. I was hoping to have the house to myself most of Monday as well, but that didn't work out. The men arrived home in the early afternoon, so there was a bit of chaos while we unloaded and put away. Then Sonshine was off to a friend's house for a while. The rest of us hung out and watched Bones all afternoon.

Today, we are back to work and back to some semblance of normal. Except . . . I have a couple of pressing events over the course of the next few weeks and one (a stressful one) just got added. Yeah, sure I could have said no, but I felt like I needed to do it if I could.

So . . . new event and first up: opening the concession stand Friday afternoon alone. The band director has to teach until 3:30PM--report time at the stadium is 2PM. She asked if I could go and open it. This includes inventory, something I'm notoriously bad at--except I think a lot of it has to do with her stressing me out. I may have to start cooking. That's okay, I think. I can get the grills going, throw on a few burgers and hotdogs. Maybe even get the cheese steak started.

I agreed with the request that I be able to leave early because . . . event #2 . . . I have about 10 people showing up at my house early Saturday morning for a writers group board transition meeting.

Event #3: Band Booster board and regular meetings on the 12th. Which means I have to mail out reminders late this week or Monday next at the latest and get prepped next week. Grrr...

Event #4: Our first chapter meeting of the year on the 21st, with me presiding as president. Oh joy.

I think life will normalize sometime after that. I hate being this busy. Thank goodness I have a lot of time available at my job to work on all these things.

I have a picture of the finished, but only just, Redneck Gingerbread House to share soon.

So, how's your 2012 shaping up?

...my super-dee-duper busy lead in to Christmas. I didn't think it was going to be this busy, but when I finally started assessing all the things I have to do...well, I won't bore you with my list of things to do between now and the 24th, but suffice it to say, I'm going to be plum tuckered out.

And it's not starting off well because I worked Cowboys Stadium last night and I wasn't home until 12:40 or in bed until 1AM. So today I'm sleepy and achy. :( I did walk this morning, though I was achy, but that was precisely the reason I went. Work through the aches, as it were.

I think next time I go in for my annual, I'm going to ask the doctor about a referral to get my arthritis officially diagnosed. Good gravy, for price I'm paying for my health care and the fact that I'm not getting any younger, I ought to start taking advantage of having it.

And since I do have so many things on my plate, I need to go make a list and get started, sooo...

Happy Monday, Y'All.