Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Getting my freak off

If you could only see how many "drafts" I've started of blog posts. I'm really in a writers slump. Not so much because I don't know what to say but that I don't know how to say it.

So I'll ramble at you. Frivolous stuff, nothing deep.


There are precisely 6 full weeks left of summer and I'm doing the freak out. Don't know what I'm talking about?

Did you ever have someone offer to watch your kids? You have 2.5 hours to do absolutely nothing or absolutely everything and you were so, so very excited; thrilled to have the free time for just you and get so much done you were wanting to do for the last five years and then you drop the kids off and ......? What on earth do I do? Where do I start? Why would I work for my precious 2.5 hours when I only get 2.5 hours a year alone and oh help!! Now I only have 2. 15 hours!!

THIS is the panic I feel right now. I only have six weeks to get my house painted, organized top-to-bottom, my children growing and behaving beautifully, oh! and of course had a full summer of play time and fun, school planned, tutor lessons planned, and good grief! I only have six weeks left!

So starting right now, at this very moment, I'm going to stop the freak out.

Stop.

Right now I'm resolving to continue enjoying my summer while fulfilling a few simple goals that will help me to ease into the school year.

I cannot paint the whole house. But I can finish Eli's room. I started with a smudge of too-orange-yellow. I'll go get the color fixed and paint his room up next week. I can do that.

And I will go pick blueberries. I'll take my kiddos and we'll fill our buckets if only once and we will have picked berries to freeze and dry.

I will work on my lesson plans a chunk at a time. I'll get done what I can and aim to have 12 weeks finished before school starts.

I will keep my toes polished pretty-the-way I like 'em, and take my time doing it.

I'll keep my garden up and the weeds down.

I'll begin to sort through the basement. This is a big one. Where will I store the toys that aren't being played with that I just can't sell ?(Thomas & such) I will grow my goodwill pile and keep driving over there b/c I'm not having a garage sale. No.

And I'll see my friends, take a surprise-for-my-husband's-birthday trip. I'll chat on the phone with my sisters and friends and I'll breathe while I do it all because the world won't fall down if I don't get it done.

Yes, I'm a little neurotic. But I would love to be a bit more settled at the end of this summer in this new-to-us house than I was at the start.

Whew!

Blogging is therapeutic. Know it? Reading your blogs is therapy for me too. Thanks, friends.


4 comments:

Hazel M. Wheeler said...

Isn't it funny (and not funny ha-ha, but funny curious) how we set up little deadlines for ourselves, and then sweat them? Will my kitchen implode if I don't get it painted soon? Hasn't yet.

We 'busy' ourselves into little pools of melted butter, chasing our tails like the tigers that Sambo tricked.

Good that you are cutting yourself some slack, prioritizing and knowing how much is not too much or too little but "just right".

xoxohz

April D said...

sounds like a sensible plan--and i can OH SO relate to the 2.5 hours and oh my what DO i DO????? dilemma. :)

you're not alone in the summer's-ending-HELP! craziness, if that makes you feel better too. i need to set some sensible goals for myself rather than just letting life happen.
the urgent IS tyrannous.

may God help you number your days!
~april

Connie said...

I am so inspired to do the same! Just breathe and keep pressing on. One of my friends encouraged me to make a master list and just be concerned with doing the next thing. That has centered me tremendously. I have it all out of my head on paper and all I need to be concerned with is the next thing. You can do it! I'm praying for you! Thanks for all your sweet comments on my blog, it so encourages me!

Brandy @ Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood said...

I TOTALLY know what this feels like!!!! LOL!!

I had a similar experience that I blogged about here: Improving My Vision: Many are the Plans... Thanks for sharing!