Last night we had dinner with our small group. We had a great time and stuffed ourselves with great food. We discussed our kids, our levels of holiday preparedness, guns, The Media, politics and a slew of other neutral topics. (Heh.) (But really.)
Despite my apparent attempts to mess up the whole event, it all worked out. (No joke, I missed emails and replies and texts and basically should not have been in charge of organizing the night. And don’t ask about the reservation I didn’t make, okay?)
We laughed about all my mistakes, because really, none of them were the end of the world. But they are par for the course these days. I told my mom last week that these last few weeks before my book launches feel very similar to the days when I was pregnant with the girls – and I’m hoping my brain function returns a whole lot quicker than it did after having babies!
Have you ever had that happen? Where you’re so stressed or overwhelmed or anxious or ALL OF THE ABOVE that your brain just starts shorting out?
This isn’t new for me. My first real job out of college was planning fundraising events for a non-profit. The morning of my first big event, I forgot to wash my hair. I rinsed it, but forgot the shampoo. And then, as I got ready for the night, I couldn’t figure out why no amount of hairspray or curling iron was working on my unusually oily hair!
So it’s no surprise that I’m forgetting things left and right now.
But, really, most of us are juggling too much – in any season, on any day. I thought about this a couple weeks ago when I thought about what one single hour in my day had looked like. It was so full and chaotic that it just made me laugh.
So I thought it would be fun to take a look at one hour of our lives. I’ll share mine but I want to hear yours, too. Tell me what an average hour in an average day – a messy, crazy, normal day – looks like for you.
In one hour on a Tuesday afternoon…
- My phone’s alarm went off to remind me to pick up my kids.
- I finished an email and started to close my computer.
- Then I saw a new Facebook message and replied on my phone as I got shoes.
- I got chicken out of the freezer and set it in the sink.
- I walked to the front door then went back to the kitchen to grab my Kindle.
- I picked up Adrienne from daycare, then we headed to the grocery store.
- I put Adrienne’s socks and shoes back on and put her in a grocery cart.
- Then I bought the ingredients I was missing for dinner. And a bottle of tea, because caffeine.
- After we piled back into the car, we sped to the library. I mean, within the legal speed limits, of course.
- I picked up a couple books and printed out a document.
- And left a couple quarters at the printer with hopes it counted as a Random Act of Christmas Kindness.
- We left there and headed to Annalyn’s school, where we lined up behind a dozen other parents. I lucked out this day and did NOT get stuck behind the guy who always smokes while we wait for our kids.
- While we waited, I gave Adrienne an applesauce pouch and turned on her Animal ABCs app on the Kindle. All the while having a short conference call.
- Then I added a couple things to my calendar, sent a Facebook message about scheduling a Christmas dinner and texted a potential babysitter.
- Finally we pulled up in front of the elementary school, where Adrienne squealed and hollered, “Sissy! Sissy! Hi, sis!” out her window.
And then we finally went home. When I thought back on the hour, I seriously just laughed. Because it was just a normal day – and no crazier or busier than any other person’s day. But when you write it all out like that, it’s just nuts!
