Sometimes, when I am stressed, it is better if I put it all out there. Write it down and look at it. It is as if I have a million little fishies of stress swimming around in my brain. I swing my net at them, trying to capture them all so I can look at them, analyze them, and try to decide what to do with them. Invariably, some of them swim away and I am left with only a few golden fishies in my net. Wondering what to do about the rest.
I am sure this is a good stress. That is the upside. This stress is related to our upcoming family vacation. I just cannot see enough of the pieces to put it in order or figure it out.
We do a lengthy summer vacation every other year. I should be used to the preparations by now. This year, though, it seems very overwhelming. This year I must fit in 15 to 20 hours of work before Friday when we leave. I have a very large womens activity planned for Wednesday night where we will be building 45 emergency cookers out of 5 gallon buckets and pipe. I must do all of the laundry and figure how to fit everything that we will all need for 3 weeks into suitcases. I must weed out and decide what to leave home, because the airline said I could NOT bring the kitchen sink as I had hoped.
On top of that, we have some friends who have kindly agreed to come and watch the house for us while we are gone. Great friends, who come from a very clean, very organized family. This leaves me very afraid of what my house looks like. Remember the window post? My little stress fishies are seeing that the pantry is dirty, that the rest of the windows need to be cleaned, that each kitchen cabinet needs to be cleaned out and organized, that we must leave fresh sheets on the beds and cookies on the kitchen counter.
At this point, seeing it all in print, I must remind myself of what is truly important. We are going on a long overdue vacation to see Grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles. We have the privilege of spending three weeks with our children, uninterrupted by things that usually capture our attention.
No matter what gets done, no matter how clean or dirty we leave the house, no matter if we pack everything we own, or have to purchase things there, we will be leaving.
So today, just 6 days before the start of our trip I will write. I will try to organize my worries. I will plan. And then, hopefully I will be able to pull together enough energy to get it all done before we leave!
I will really miss my kitchen sink.
I dream of napping
2 comments:
You know, I know what you're saying. I find that my brain gets frantic (or just shuts down) when I have too many things going on that mental list. And it's not until I start crossing things off the mental list and get down to a do-able amount of things that I can be ok. So--let the house be normal. I'm sure your friend is grateful to get out of her mom's house for a while. If your house is too messy for her she can 1)clean it up, 2)go back to her mom's, or 3) deal with it. I know you want to make a good impression, but what is the cost( to your family) of that good impression?
One time when Russ & I were going on a trip I was just convinced that I had to get a bunch of the triplets clothes labeled for an upcoming yardsale. It was so important that I get it done. So I worked and worked and ended up only getting 3 hrs of sleep before we left, and I was so exhausted and it really had a negative impact on our vacation. For what? For like $100. So not worth is.
So take a deep breath, prioritize a bit, and think of alligator time!!!! I can't wait! :)
You can do it! Remember it is all worth it! You will soon be on the beach! Time with family yay!
You know...you could accidentally let all the cats in the house. Then you wont have to worry about it being clean.
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