SOMWaD: If I'm Gaining An Hour Why Do I Feel Like I Am Losing Time?
We've just hit November and yet I feel like time is starting run
out on me. The holiday season is sort of upon us (depends on where you
look and how you feel) and I'm beginning to have that pseudo panic attack of
not enough time and money to get everything done. How can this be when
it's only the 5th day of the month? And the wee hours of it to boot? I look at a calendar and realize that in just
8 short weeks it will be the last day of 2016!
Believe it or not,
I had been asleep. I get up early and I go to bed early, but I woke up
and realized that the laundry I had put in the washer needed to go to the
dryer. So I got up and did that and all of a sudden my brain kicked into
panic gear. There's so much to do! When are you going to find the time to
get it done?
I need to be up
and out of here before 9 so that I can get the kid to church to help out with a
volunteer program and I need to be there at 10 for a choir rehearsal.
Friends are coming over in the afternoon. Sunday morning is church
and the afternoon I need to get some office work done...that I probably should
have done Saturday afternoon or evening. The work week is crazy as
I have a major sales meeting which will take up most of my waking hours
Monday-Wednesday, which leaves Thursday to play catch up. Meanwhile, the
kid only has 2-1/2 days of school and I have something special planned for the
family from Friday to Sunday. It's going to be fun and some much needed
downtime. However, it means I lose that time to do what I feel I NEED to go (or
should that be want to do?) Plus, it also means extra laundry!
Which leads us
into the week before Thanksgiving. Yes, you read that right. The
last full week before Thanksgiving. I was smart enough to already start
purchasing items for the holiday at the grocery store this Friday.
However, I'll need the last minute things. Have I found the time to get
the family photo with Santa, go to the outlet mall to purchase holiday presents
for my son? There's no way I'm doing those things AFTER Thanksgiving.
Have I even
thought about holiday presents? Other than my son, there aren't that many
gifts. Small family and no big spending. Which is a good thing
because there is never enough cash. (No matter where I work or how much I
make, there never seems to be enough. I'm sure I'm not the only one who
feels that.) I do make a family calendar that I give to my parents and my
in laws (as well as one for myself). I've been doing it for year and
everyone seems to like it. (Or they are all very good liars.) But
that takes time too.
There's cleaning
(for Thanksgiving and Christmas). There's extra music rehearsals for both
my son and I. There's decorating and card sending...Don't forget those
holiday bills. They are always more than I expect, even though I try to
be thrifty. (And again, thank goodness I have a small family to shop
for.) Plus, the car insurance is always due in December. (Perfect
timing...ok, is there ever really a good time for car insurance bills?
Especially when you live in NJ?)
And while I'm
panicking over all these things, let's not forget the "regular" stuff
that takes a hunk out of life: work (and how the commute will get crazier
as the holiday approach) and school (tests, quizzes and homework). Is it
any wonder that I'm not sleeping and instead sitting here in front of a glowing
computer screen trying to convince myself NOT to panic? It's only November
5th and the end of the year is spinning out of control in my mind.
I know, it's time
to start taking deep breathes. There WILL be time for everything.
And if there's not, so what? Will the world really come to an end
if I get holiday cards out late? Or if the house is not as neat and organized
as I would like to be? So what if we have to wait in line for an hour to
get the Santa photo; maybe it will give the family some time to talk and laugh?
Stuck in traffic? That means I should crank up the cd in the car and
practice the Christmas Cantata music.
There will NEVER
be enough time or money to accomplish all the crazy things that I want before
the calendar changes over from 2016 to 2017. (And just how did we get
there any way?) Maybe it's time for me to stop panicking over what I
can't control and just go back to bed and get some sleep.
Well...at least I
can try. (Because if you know me, you know that's probably NOT going to
happen.) Try to forget the laundry that is now dry in the dryer. (I can't
put it away now...the house is dark and the boys are asleep. I'm not
crazy enough to try to fold and put clothes away in dressers and closets in the
dark.) Try to relax (ha!) and get some of that much needed sleep that I
never seem to get enough of.
All of the crazy
end of the year panic IS out of my control. I can try to control it and
history has told me that I WILL get most of it accomplished. Perhaps I
can just settle for that.
Perhaps...
Girl now you are making ME stressed!
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