It appears I need to do a little bit of “catch-up” here. How does time manage to go by so quickly and unnoticed? It is a constant battle to stay current and focused or it all slides by like quicksilver.
On March 17th, I dropped my sister off at the Airporter bus stop at 4:30 a.m. for her trip to San Diego. She ended up being gone for the whole month but had a really nice time I think. She got to spend some time with her son and see some old friends. I was a bit envious. It has been many, many years since I have been back to San Diego and a beach vacation sure sounds nice about now.
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- My sister, on the plane – piloted by her son (my nephew)!
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- Lovely San Diego, California
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- What a beautiful place…
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- Ahhh, the beach…
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- My nephew – Sunset Cliffs.
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- We lived right above Sunset Cliffs when I was very small; I remember it only hazily…
Unfortunately, I have way too much to do to even consider a vacation at the present time. But that’s OK; I’ll have my chance before too long…
In the meantime, I have challenges. My shoulder muscles are in knots and I am beginning to experience a lot of pain. What does my life currently look like?
1. Well, my son isn’t going to school; will NOT go to school – is depressed and not dealing with things. WHAT TO DO – this is a heavy-duty, complex, overwhelming CHALLENGE and causing a load of stress and worry.
2. With this new client, I am having to adjust to a very large workload, and I am not used to having to work so hard – including the need to balance this with my other three clients’ needs and responsibilities as well. This situation is difficult; the books are in a huge mess and it’s hard to even see what needs to be done with such a chaotic situation. Plus I am having to drive to Marin County twice a week and leave my son here – who tends to sleep half the day unless I wake him up.
3. And the busier I get, the more I start to lose sight of my “real” goals, that of writing and drawing, reading, keeping my blog going; my desire to re-do my website, get back to my piano playing and teaching, clean out the garage, and get back into the habit of daily walking. I am feeling “unbalanced.”
4. With my sister gone, I now have the responsibility of taking care of everything on my own: all the house/home-caring duties, two cats to take care of, and making sure everything that needs doing is being done.
5. And on top of it all, this painful thing I have going on is requiring attention and multiple doctor appointments – and making everything I do that much harder. I am not sleeping well and am waking up very early in the morning due to pain. By mid-afternoon I feel exhausted.
SO – basically I am trying to singlehandedly raise a teenage boy, handle a business that has suddenly become much bigger than it was, draw and write (including picture books, a contemplated memoir – and my journal of course), and keep up with my blog; give piano lessons, sell enough Avon that they don’t close my account; I am reading about 3 books at a time, taking care of a house and two cats – and that is all I can think of at present – and now having to deal with this PAIN is just wiping me out.
A lot of these things are obviously not being done. My time is limited, as is my supply of energy. But I am doing the best I can and trying to just deal with it. Trying to de-stress enough to get rid of my “shoulder boulders.” The good thing is that with all this work my income has increased enough that I can afford to pay for my medical appointments. There’s always a silver lining, so they say.
I would rather be in San Diego. 🙂