This week, I put the sunglasses down somewhere other than my desk, which meant they could be anywhere. Like, under the kitchen sink, in the freezer, or in the drawer marked "must clean this out one day."
I began the search, and when I finally found them, put them on with great satisfaction, and sat down again at the computer. Wait a minute...
After a few moments of squinting through UV blackness, I got it. I only had to find my sunglasses, not put them on. They are not my reading glasses, and I am going out the door, not to the computer...
The next morning I got dressed for work, put on my earrings, and did the dishes. Went back to put on makeup and earrings. Um...except I couldn't get them past the pair already in and didn't figure it out for way too many minutes.
On Mother's Day, I wished all the mothers I knew a happy birthday, and couldn't figure out why someone responded, "Thanks, but my birthday's not until July..."
I won't even tell you about the first two weeks home, but let's just say it took me three trips to the grocery store that first day home, forgetting first credit card, then groceries I needed, then laundry detergent I discovered had walked off...
You probably recognize these symptoms. Don't tell me you haven't done some of this stuff! One of my favorites is my sister herding her kids out the door one day, unlocking the SUV and hurrying them with a frenzied, "Everyone get in the refrigerator!!!" Or giving my niece my nephew's asthma medication...or trying to, while Stephanie insisted she wasn't Matt.
Culture shock, transitions or kid stress, we all know when we're a bit out of control, and there's only one solution: slow down. And that's what I'm doing, after running my 'cool down' laps (as one of my colleagues described coming off the pressure cooker times). Summer in Georgia strikes fear in the heart of the natives, but not me. Bring it on!!! Summer, with all its heat, cicadas and more relaxed pace.
Hope you can slow it down soon too. I've got about a month before I fly out again to Malta, so you'll find me back in the boatyard, capturing stories and poems, until the next adventure begins...see you then!
Sanity Clause: spending time with my sister and niece over Memorial Day weekend.
