Time for my annual "I'm holding on by a thread re: Summer Scheduling and planning" post. Mix in a dash of Too Many Work Tasks that I also can't seem to keep track of (why so many online programs that generate not only tasks, but also email reminders of the tasks, Work? GAH) and you've got one mama who drinks wine on Tuesday evenings. And maybe Wednesdays, too.
Bleh. For once, this year, I feel like the kids won't be "stuck" too many weeks at their daycare summercamp, and as far as I can tell, the weeks they will be going there, at least there are field trips and swimming planned. I appreciate the summer calendars they create in February. I hope they're accurate. (They're not.)
Anyway, here's the lineup:
May 25-29 Memorial Day Weekend. I suppose we'll go to Nanny's for MD Weekend as usual, though we haven't actually spoken with her or planned it yet. When we get back: KRK
Jun 1-5 Alex will be at Winshape. Kate, as of 5 minutes ago, is signed up for a 9-5 camp at her Gymnastics Academy.
Jun 8-12 Alex will still be at Winshape, and Kate wants to attend "American Girl camp" held at a Christian school near here. I'm not opposed to that, just need to figure out how to register for it (and ask them if it requires an actual AG doll or if a Target knock-off will suffice).
Jun 15-19 They are both signed up for an Art Camp at one of the county parks. Woo! I'm happy about that one. Something different, something together. They both love art. The theme is "The Case of the Stolen Statues" in the mornings, and they'll do clay handbuilding (not pottery wheels) in the afternoons.
Jun 22-26 Destin! Family vacation! Thank you, mom and dad!
Jun 29-Jul 3 Pensacola! Shawn and Lee get a week "off" from our parenting jobs. Thank you, mom and dad!
Jul 6-10 KRK I was considering another week at gymnastics, and letting Alex go there, too, but it would cost more than $500 and KRK is only around $375.
Jul 13-17 Alex goes to BSA camp in North Carolina. TOO FAR AWAY! Mama doesn't like. Kate I think will go to KRK that week.
Jul 20-24 Both to KRK
Jul 27-31 Both to the other grandma's in Savannah. In fact, since we couldn't send them there last year or the year before, I'm hoping she'll be up for keeping them through August 7. School starts after that, but KRK is closed, NATURALLY, the week of Aug 3-7. Argh.
I won't say I hate summer, but I do hate one thing: I hate being 40 years old but still having to delicately ration my/our vacation days. I wish American companies would be more generous with vacation time (and mine is, actually, pretty generous in comparison). Is that too much to ask?
Wednesday, March 25
Friday, March 13
3 Good Nights in the Bank!
Tuesday I put myself to bed at 9:45. Wednesday and Thursday nights, 10:00. I've been reading for about 15 minutes before I fall asleep, with Soundscapes playing on the the TV in the background.
Immediately Wednesday morning I felt better than I had both Monday and Tuesday. Psychological? Maybe. Still, I'll take it. The sleep and the good book! (Rysa Walker's Time's Edge.) It was enough to make me take a walk at lunch (that and the weather). I took walks Thursday and today, too. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when Kate suggested, after school, that she and I take a walk while Alex finished up his homework! My girl is picking up good habits! And I was feeling the afternoon slump so a walk was JUST the thing. Yay. It's another of those easy things: You can whine about it, wish it were different, or you could just DO IT.
All that to say: Stop complaining, self. Jeez. How often do I read things like
"We multiply what we magnify."
and
"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
and blah blah blah? I mean, I could seriously read all day about happiness and mindfulness and living with intention and all of that, and not get bored. I love it! I agree with it! And yet.
ANYWAY.
Sleep is it.
Immediately Wednesday morning I felt better than I had both Monday and Tuesday. Psychological? Maybe. Still, I'll take it. The sleep and the good book! (Rysa Walker's Time's Edge.) It was enough to make me take a walk at lunch (that and the weather). I took walks Thursday and today, too. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when Kate suggested, after school, that she and I take a walk while Alex finished up his homework! My girl is picking up good habits! And I was feeling the afternoon slump so a walk was JUST the thing. Yay. It's another of those easy things: You can whine about it, wish it were different, or you could just DO IT.
All that to say: Stop complaining, self. Jeez. How often do I read things like
"We multiply what we magnify."
and
"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
and blah blah blah? I mean, I could seriously read all day about happiness and mindfulness and living with intention and all of that, and not get bored. I love it! I agree with it! And yet.
ANYWAY.
Sleep is it.
Tuesday, March 10
Collection, part 2
Um.
This does not seem to be getting better. I know I said I'm too sleepy to appreciate work or love anyone, but here are a few notes:
4....there's not a lot of friendly chatter. Ever. I can even instigate with a, "How was your weekend? Did your garage door get fixed?" (a fact known only by the email stating she would arrive late due to a repair appointment). The answer comes swiftly, "I have to get it replaced... so, yeah, that's a bummer. The weather was nice, though. Kids and I were outside a lot."
The End. Start meeting.
No reciprocal niceties, is what I'm saying. Who does business like this? I get "efficiency" but... you can afford to have a quick chat and act interested in your teammates. Direct reports. Whatever.
5....Secretarial work. Many assignments of filling in Excel spreadsheets. I am NOWHERE job-described as the Marketing Admin. But I am surely being treated as such. I'm trying like hell to cooperate and be willing, and help her get the department where it needs to be in order to move forward with purpose (I'll give her that we're starting from a very rough and reactive "strategy"). However. Excel spreadsheets that must be filled in line by line, with info that one finds using Google, are jobs for an INTERN.
This does not seem to be getting better. I know I said I'm too sleepy to appreciate work or love anyone, but here are a few notes:
4....there's not a lot of friendly chatter. Ever. I can even instigate with a, "How was your weekend? Did your garage door get fixed?" (a fact known only by the email stating she would arrive late due to a repair appointment). The answer comes swiftly, "I have to get it replaced... so, yeah, that's a bummer. The weather was nice, though. Kids and I were outside a lot."
The End. Start meeting.
No reciprocal niceties, is what I'm saying. Who does business like this? I get "efficiency" but... you can afford to have a quick chat and act interested in your teammates. Direct reports. Whatever.
5....Secretarial work. Many assignments of filling in Excel spreadsheets. I am NOWHERE job-described as the Marketing Admin. But I am surely being treated as such. I'm trying like hell to cooperate and be willing, and help her get the department where it needs to be in order to move forward with purpose (I'll give her that we're starting from a very rough and reactive "strategy"). However. Excel spreadsheets that must be filled in line by line, with info that one finds using Google, are jobs for an INTERN.
Sleep, again
Besides my lack of a cardio habit, I think I'm not getting enough sleep every night. My typical weeknight's sleep is about 6 hours, which, according to all the Internet experts, isn't enough. I need at least one more hour. Shawn's laughing right now because he is sure I get plenty of sleep. On the couch, when I'm "supposed" to be watching our TV shows. But it doesn't count.
What I actually need is to give up sitting with Kate for 15 minutes -- 30-40 if I fall asleep -- while waiting for her to fall asleep. No duh, right? I'm embarrassed to say I really don't know how to make that transition. I tried enough times when she was 3, 4, 5... that I finally gave up trying. She's only little once, after all. My heart still tells me that's a truth, but my mind is wishing it could use the 9 o'clock hour instead of losing (most of) it. She needs to get to bed earlier, too, something that she is unlikely to accept.
I think it wouldn't be a big deal, except that it makes everything else a big deal. I know my lack of sleep affects my ability to perform well at work, for example. It makes me, for lack of a better word, grumpy when I'm here. I definitely have a hard time with focus. I flit from one thing to another aimlessly. And I have this low-level simmer of hating everything. Probably.... not healthy for body or spirit.
What I actually need is to give up sitting with Kate for 15 minutes -- 30-40 if I fall asleep -- while waiting for her to fall asleep. No duh, right? I'm embarrassed to say I really don't know how to make that transition. I tried enough times when she was 3, 4, 5... that I finally gave up trying. She's only little once, after all. My heart still tells me that's a truth, but my mind is wishing it could use the 9 o'clock hour instead of losing (most of) it. She needs to get to bed earlier, too, something that she is unlikely to accept.
I think it wouldn't be a big deal, except that it makes everything else a big deal. I know my lack of sleep affects my ability to perform well at work, for example. It makes me, for lack of a better word, grumpy when I'm here. I definitely have a hard time with focus. I flit from one thing to another aimlessly. And I have this low-level simmer of hating everything. Probably.... not healthy for body or spirit.
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