My eyes pop open at 5:26 this morning and the first thought in my head was, "How am I going to clean up that gigantic pile on my desk today?" Last night I stayed late to try and make sense of the mess, but ended up only shuffling the papers around my desk. I left with idea that although my desk was a mess, I would go home and return my kitchen to a state of order.
I ponder my work piles as I stumble into our master bathroom, stepping over (and a little on) a mound of dirty laundry. We've strategically placed it there to motivate us to keep at it. Before hopping into the shower I head to the living room to check the weather on my phone. I push aside the overflowing stack of mail before locating it. The folded laundry is still laying in and around the clothes basket, it hasn't quite found its way into the boys' drawers. And a half loaded dishwasher waiting for the breakfast and dinner dishes from the past two days. (My master “leave work to do more work” plan was unsuccessful.)
Since starting my writing challenge, my routine has been knocked on its side. Typically, after putting the kids to bed my day is done. I have just enough energy left to get in my comfies and call it quits. On a good day I push myself to straighten the living room before falling onto the couch for some mindless entertainment. But now, I drag myself over to my computer to create 'brilliant' works of art. It's not helping that each day I walk aimlessly up and down rows of students proctoring 'the test.' This new routine is causing my mental state to unravel a bit. Hours of reflecting and planning, without any time (or energy) to actually accomplish all that I have reflected and planned on – is wearing me down.
I ponder my work piles as I stumble into our master bathroom, stepping over (and a little on) a mound of dirty laundry. We've strategically placed it there to motivate us to keep at it. Before hopping into the shower I head to the living room to check the weather on my phone. I push aside the overflowing stack of mail before locating it. The folded laundry is still laying in and around the clothes basket, it hasn't quite found its way into the boys' drawers. And a half loaded dishwasher waiting for the breakfast and dinner dishes from the past two days. (My master “leave work to do more work” plan was unsuccessful.)
Since starting my writing challenge, my routine has been knocked on its side. Typically, after putting the kids to bed my day is done. I have just enough energy left to get in my comfies and call it quits. On a good day I push myself to straighten the living room before falling onto the couch for some mindless entertainment. But now, I drag myself over to my computer to create 'brilliant' works of art. It's not helping that each day I walk aimlessly up and down rows of students proctoring 'the test.' This new routine is causing my mental state to unravel a bit. Hours of reflecting and planning, without any time (or energy) to actually accomplish all that I have reflected and planned on – is wearing me down.
So today, instead of getting ready for work I stand in my bathroom writing on my phone. I have no great remedy for my crazy new routine, other than to embrace the sacrifice and enjoy my passion. The piles and stacks will soon be forgotten. The hours of writing and reading will be a part of me forever.
Part of the fun in this writing group is discovering that we are all living similar lives :) Laundry is certainly a common thread we all battle and the springtime routine in education can throw us all off our game a bit - thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meredith that this has been a great opportunity to look into the lives of those we spend so much time with! You still managed to say it with a calming tone, convincing me that all laundry will get done, all proctoring will be flawless, and all desks will eventually be cleared off.
ReplyDeleteUnraveling....that's the word you used this morning when I called you! You paint a good picture of the possible untidy nature of your abode, but an even clearer picture of the state of your inner abode. Glad you had time to take care of piles at work today! Me? I am sitting in my office, which is also where my over-flowing laundry baskets are (how can ONE person generate this much laundry??), and I have promised myself two things: write and get some laundry done!
ReplyDeleteI HATE PUTTING AWAY LAUNDRY! WOOF! I am also so impressed you can type that much on your phone, you must be a master texter! I have recently come to the conclusion that I could 'work' forever and still everything would not be done.
ReplyDeleteI live in a nice little one bedroom apartment... my washer and dryer are nicely stacked right next to the kitchen... there has been laundry on the island counter top since, well.... Sunday. It will stay there until I do more laundry on Sunday... maybe this Sunday I will put it away. Thank you for making me feel not alone in the "unraveling".
ReplyDeleteYes! Proctoring leaves lots of time for pondering and planning, with no time to get it done.
ReplyDelete