Plan of attack

Yesterday I worried that I won’t be strong enough to survive the stress which is sure to occur over the next year. After some deep reflection, fueled mostly by a glass of strawberry wild vines, I realized that there isn’t a darn thing I can do to change the situation - so why worry.

Experts say that in a drowning situation, the worse thing to do is to panic. Flapping your arms, kicking wildly and screaming bloody murder only makes matters worse, and you’ll sink faster than a rock! Instead ‘they’ insist that to increase your chances of making it out alive, you must remain calm. In doing so, your survival instincts kick in and guide your survival. So I'm taking their advice. Rather than let the tsunami of stress swallow me whole, I'm going to calmly go with the flow. But first I need a plan of attack.

Today, when I was heading out to do some errands, I noticed quite a few women outside running, cycling, or just quietly enjoying the crisp fall air. And as I rushed around trying to get stuff done before the stores close for one whole day (GASP! A day without shopping, the world is going to end!!!!), I began to think about those women. They can't be that different from me. They probably have demanding jobs, families and schedules. Yet each one of them was able to find the time to do something they enjoy. So, the first part of my plan is to make sure I get some sort of "me" time in every single day. Whether it's a long soak in the tub, an hour of mind-numbing t.v. watching or a trip to the gym, I'm going to insist on that time.

The second, yet more difficult part of my plan is to "let go". My usual standards of cleanliness will have to be lowered. The 5 second rule will no longer apply to my house. From now on, if a cookie falls on the ground I'm just going to push aside and hope that one of the dust bunnies living under the couch picks it up. Rather than having a designated laundry day, I'll be encouraging my children to follow the "sniff it to see if its still good" rule. Teacher's college is only a one year program, the house can't get that dirty?????

I'll also have to learn to let go in the school department. As some of you might remember, I like to work on essays and assignments for hours, days, even weeks. However, due to the time constraints posed in teacher's college, I'll have to learn to give it my best shot the first time around. Unless I can somehow get through the next year on a few hours of sleep....hey, that might just work.