Posted on 8 Comments

What is a girl to do?

Be warned. I just re-read this post, and I seem to have written a book tonight. If you’d like to just skip ahead to the next blog in your reader, one that is more full of photographs than pesky prose, you may be excused icon_wink-flickr-7-4

Still here? Aw, thanks. Now on with the post:

I woke up this morning a little dizzy – just like I went to bed the night before. I looked out the window and saw Monday. And rain. I skipped my shower out of disinterest in the task, headed to the basement with a load of laundry, and then deposited myself in the kitchen to prepare lunches for some growing boys. Turning on my computer I saw Barbara‘s away message on IM was about “rainy days and Mondays” and I had to nod to myself in agreement. “Blah” just about summed it up.

By the time I got one child on the bus, and the other driven to preschool, I was starting to think about the upcoming events this week that will require my attention. This is approximately where the “blah” feeling started to change. I began to get those first little inklings of panic – those indications that I may be headed for a complete stress-related freak-out. Nevermind that a freak-out wouldn’t exactly be justified. Yet. The idea that things were going to be busy, and I hadn’t taken the time to write it all down somewhere useful, was enough to make me feel like I was about to buried under something heavy.

It makes sense, then, that my next course of action should have been to sit down with a pen and paper, and write down all of those little things that I would need to remember. And when I finished with that, I would update my Google Calendar so I couldn’t possibly forget. Yes, that would have made perfect sense.

New pendant

Instead, I took the ostrich approach. I buried my head in the sand, and made pendants.

The problem, friends, is not merely that I took a few hours to make pendants, because that would still have been a relatively insignificant detour. No, the problem is that I felt the need to completely finish the pendants, photograph them, and put them up for sale. And this took the better part of the day. By the time I was putting the finishing touches on the last Etsy listing of the day, that panicky feeling was getting worse.

It was also supper time by then, and I should take a moment to thank the wonderful people at Rival for inventing the Crock Pot. On a day like today, where I would normally have resorted to frozen crispy chicken strips and french fries for supper amid the groans of my long-suffering husband, I instead served Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken. A real meal.

New pendant

Supper has been over for three hours now. The children are asleep. I still have not made that to-do list, and the grouchy, stressed-out feeling is lingering. I know that as soon as I commit to paper those items that I must remember, they will stop plaguing me. So why do I hesitate? Why, indeed. You know what? I’m going to just spill it here. Heck, if you’re still reading this, it’s obvious you’re not easily bored, and that you’ll read just about anything, so why not torture you further with my stream-of-consciousness brain dump?

So. This week:

  • Tuesday is my 13th anniversary. I should probably get Neil a card…
  • I need to reschedule a school-related meeting that was planned for a morning next week so that Neil can make it to. And I need to find someone to watch Eamonn when we go.
  • I need to get my tax information together and find an accountant.  Ugh.
  • Eamonn and I need to make play dough for him to bring in to school on Wednesday.
  • I signed up to read a book to Eamonn’s class on Thursday. I need to pick the book and get over my fear of four-year-olds.
  • Aidan’s class is putting on a concert Thursday night, and apparently the boy needs a white shirt and black pants (how did I not know about this sooner??)
  • Eamonn’s birthday is Friday and I have to make/buy him some gifts.
  • I also have to make him cupcakes for school.
  • And a cake for later at home.
  • And I should probably plan to have family over to celebrate that evening.
  • Today he started listing names of school friends he expects to party with. Uh oh. I’m dropping the ball big time on birthday parties this year…

Ok, there may be more, but those are the big ones. I thought that would make me feel better, but it doesn’t really. I thought if I looked at it, I would realize that it wasn’t really that bad. Unfortunately, I still think it may be that badConfused Maybe I’ll just write the rest of this day off and start fresh tomorrow.

Or, maybe I’ll just curl up with a new book for a while… You may remember me mentioning Amanda Soule’s blog, Soule Mama? She’s one of those bloggers that affects me in one of two ways, depending on my mood:

  • When I’m feeling good about myself as a mother and optimistic about my ability to juggle work and play, I read her posts and think, “Gee, maybe the boys and I should learn to embroider together. Maybe we should go collect pine cones, explore the Great Swamp, or finger paint. Maybe I should turn off the TV.”
  • Other times, when I’m extremely busy, or the kids and I have been butting heads, I come away feeling depressed and thinking, “Man, I am such a slacker mom. My kids are going to grow up to be so screwed up.”

I prefer to be in the former frame of mind, of course. And it’s a lot easier to be in that serene place when the children are sleeping peacefully and not screaming at each other, or talking back to me. So perhaps Amanda’s new book is good nighttime reading, over a cup of Organic Mint Melange Tea. Perhaps it will spark some creative ideas to take with me into the next day. When the kids bounce out of bed in the morning I can greet them with a Pop Tart and a smile, and say “I have a great idea for something we can do together later!” (I’m guessing Amanda Soule doesn’t feed her kids Pop Tarts for breakfast, but I think I can live with that icon_biggrin-flickr-9-2)

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Posted on 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “What is a girl to do?

  1. Ok that was great fun to read!

    Please be brightened by the fact that you got your rump out of bed on a rainy day and did the productive, even if it was a detour.

    Me…Oh well…errrmmm…I think I finally fully opened my eyes after 10:30. Some rainy days are just worth trying to sleep through!

    (I loved reading your husbands blog…I am sending my spouse his way, because he will L O V E! it.)

    1. I don’t think I can remember the last time I slept until 10:30. Before I had kids, I felt that to sleep past 9:00 would be to waste the morning. Now that I have kids, I feel that to sleep past 9:00 would be a treat. Heck, it’s a treat to sleep past 8:00 😀

      Glad you enjoyed Neil’s blog. He’s not as chatty as me, but he can be awfully amusing! And informative, if you like reading sci-fi/fantasy.

  2. Ha, loved that post! I could use a pop tart for breakfast today, for it’s another rainy one by me, too. I completely support your decision to neglect your chores and make pendants. Sometimes you just have to, or you’d never make the time to be creative, you know? Think of it as a mental health day 🙂

    See what Robyn has been blogging about: CraftBoston 2008

    1. Raining again today here, too. But it’s also 62 degrees. What’s up with that?? I have big plans for today – making play dough, shopping for black pants, getting caught up on email, maybe even shipping a few orders… But at the moment, I’m unshowered (still) and wearing the same black sweats I’ve worn for the last four days.

      What makes this better than yesterday is that I have every intention of actually taking that much-needed shower, and putting on something nice to wear. If I can’t manage to shave my legs for my anniversary, then I have to feel kind of sorry for my poor husband, LOL!

      I Just have to finish my cup of tea. And do a little bit of blog reading 🙂

  3. I enjoyed your entry today. I am also a procratonator, but am usually not productive while I put off the inevitable. Instead, I read blogs about other moms who procrastinate so I don’t feel quite so alone.

    While reading your To-Do list, I really didn’t get stressed out until I read that your son needs a white shirt and black pants for this week. Girl, put that task at the top of your list! Do you know how hard it is to find a white shirt and back pants when you need them? Not to mention, the CORRECT SIZE? Ask me how I know!

    Ok, I hope I have not completely freaked you out. Just offering a little advice from someone who has been to 6 stores in one day, looking for black pants and a white shirt, when all they had were shorts and swim suits.

    Keep us posted on your progress!

    1. Haha, I can identify about reading blog of other people who are slacking off in the same way I am. Heh.

      I have to say, I’m not completely freaked-out by the black pants thing. I figure if I can’t find them, I can always take a pair of his existing pants and stick them in a dye bath. I actually have black dye around here somewhere. They never said he needed a dressy shirt and pants, so if I send him in a nice white knit shirt, and a pair of dyed black jeans, he should be fine.

      Of course, it would be a lot easier just to buy them, so here’s hoping I find some 😀

  4. ahhh Lisa, sounds like you had a day yesterday. Sometimes you just need to have them though. I would dearly love some rain here because we are so below our average rainfall right now it isn’t funny. Tell Eammon Yom Haletetz sammeach. (Happy birthday) from another 4-4 baby (who isn’t such a baby these days)

    now off to work for both of us. I MUST get my taxes done and out today.

    See what Kathi has been blogging about: Look out world!!

  5. […] I don’t even want to think about what my to-do list looks like at this […]

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