I have five minutes

Often I wake up in the morning and as I’m stretching and convincing myself to get out of bed I think of what I’m going to write on this blog. Sometimes it’s an idea that I’ve had in mind for a while. Sometimes it’s a spur of the moment thought. Sometimes it’s a recap of something silly or frustrating or memorable around here.

Other days (like today) I wake up and can’t stop thinking about today’s to-do list. No matter how hard I try to shift my mind to creative or funny or thoughtful writing prompts, I can’t stop thinking about how I’m going to get those blog posts written for the carpet store before my conference call for the hospital project. Or if I’m going to have time to squeeze in a 2 miler between conference calls. Or if I’ll finally finish that event document my client has been anxious to review.

It’s not yet 7:30 and I’ve already answered a handful of emails. Packed two lunches. Eaten breakfast and seen the girls off to school. I’ve also optimistically dressed in running clothes. In five minutes the boy will be awake. We’ll snuggle for a few minutes and then I’ll read to him while he eats breakfast. We’ll walk to school this morning (because it’s RIDICULOUSLY warm for January) and then I’ll run (literally, run) home to get back in time for my first conference call. I’ll be on the phone for approx 2 hours. And then I’m hoping to grab 40 minutes for a short run & a shower. That will give me about 30 minutes to eat something for lunch before my afternoon calls begin. And somewhere in there I have a list of 14 tasks that need to be accomplished, ideally before 3:30 when all three kids are home and the nightly review of school days and homework begins.

And there’s laundry to be folded & put away. And there’s vacuuming that’s way overdue. And I’m ignoring the other chores – dusting, picking up the homework room, changing sheets & towels…

I have five minutes right now… well, actually I’m down to two… and I don’t have anything to write about other than how my brain is overflowing with task lists and appointments. I’m going to start a list of tasks in an attempt to not let anything slip through the cracks today. And since I always feel better when I can cross something off a list, I’ll put ‘write personal blog’ at the top of the list. I might need to add brush teeth too – not because I’ve forgotten, but because I’ll need the reassurance that I can cross at least one other thing off my list.