I didn’t get through my to-do list yesterday, I didn’t get to the gym, I didn’t go to the first meeting of the Master Chorale.
Basically, the to-do list was too long. No, scratch that. Because things can always be moved on to the next day, can’t they? I think it was stress. When I get stressed out, I get inflexible about the to-do list. Like, if I get all those sections cleaned up and sent off to the testers, and all the issues about product adjustments and questions settled, and all the phone calls made, and finally figure out the analytics, all will be well.
But the stress is not actually about the to-do list.
It is more about the exhausted phone call from #1 daughter, who is feeling overwhelmed by being on her own for the first time, and the miserable IMs from #2 daughter, who is trapped in a work setting very like “The Office,” and #1 son’s decision not to go to school this term, and #2 son’s Governor’s School application and #1 son’s job applications and my husband’s toothache and possibly also #1 daughter’s dog who spent the entire day bringing me her ball and barking at me to play fetch.
So, while it probably would have been calming for me to go to the gym and to rehearsal, I did not do those things, but rather stayed glued to the computer all day long, while other people’s (and dogs’) needs ebbed and flowed around me.
#2 son got the job at the ice cream parlor, and is very excited about it.
#1 son, having decided on his way out the door to the college not to go after all, got applications from outdoor gear stores. One of them was five pages of philosophical questions.
Really. “Albert Schwietzer said…. Do you agree or disagree, and why or why not? Use examples from your life.” “To change the world, you must live the change you want to see. How does this apply to work in a retail environment?”
I definitely think he should work there.
And I discussed all these questions with him while cleaning up the format of the comprehension questions for the reading passages of the subunits, and stuff like that.
And the scheme for doing the sleeves, which I detailed mercilessly yesterday, isn’t actually working. More frogging in my future.
However, today I will be at the store, and then I will be missing class in order to attend a meeting. If I get home in time to get some frogging done, I will probably be just in the mood.
I want to work there, too! Do you think they philosophize while ringing up customers, or returning goods to display? Just curious…
I thought alissasorenson meant she wanted to work in #2s place and I was going to remind her that most people want to kill the boss. And Dwight. And only like Pam and Jim.
The thoughts of killing, though, seem like a deal breaker.
Good heavens. Babies are a lot easier….
Congratulations to #2 son!
seems january stress is abounding. must be something in the air or maybe the moon or the tides!
Why is he not going to school this term? Bummer. I hope he goes back the next term. Frogging can be very therapeutic, me thinks.
I actually think working is a better choice than going to college (or university) if one has nothing in particular one wants to study (as long as they can get a job. Going to university is a better choice than going on the unemployment benefit however). I wish a lot of our students would make that choice rather than choose to come somewhere they really don’t want to be. For a lot of today’s kids I think working during their teens and then choosing to go to university when they are in their early or mid 20s is the better choice. Over here, you have automatic right of entry into university once you are 20 years old (and can pay the fees of course)- that is, there are no academic entry qualifications needed for the first undergraduate year for adults.
The official school leaving age is 16 now (it was 15 when I was a kid) – and also happens to be the minimum age for university entry even now. When I was a kid it was more common for kids to go to work straight from school than to go on to university.
Icecream and outdoor gears? I guess rockclimbing to burn off the calories from the ice cream makes some sense.