Busy, busy, busy

Sometimes, life gets ~~totally freaking nutso out of control~~ a little busy.

Days and weeks disappear in a blur, filled with:

kids, kids and kids
work (the kind that pays)
trying, and failing, to keep the killer dust bunnies at bay
writing blog posts (work that doesn’t pay, but gives me a deadline and gets me writing)
laundry, laundry and more laundry
change the beds and towels
doing more laundry while considering converting to nudism, but realize we live in Canada. where winters are long and COLD
catching up on the most recent 243 emails
shopping
cooking
shopping some more, ’cause I forgot the unsalted butter for the weekend cookies and Loblaws was out of low fat coffee cream
repainting the front hall where the wall got dinged
conference call
changing the cat’s litter
checking in on the geezer relatives who live alone and don’t read my blog posts so they’ll never know I said ‘geezer’. What a bitch, I know. Can’t help it.
weeding the garden in summer; shovel the walk in winter
writing cheques to pay an endless stream of bills, which normally prompts a rush of gratitude for still having a job and sends me back to work, work, work
baking chocolate chip cookies for the boys. Three dozen might see us through the night
having the occasional civilized conversation with my patient, loving husband who puts up with the mere crumbs of attention he gets at the end of the day before I’m comatose.

Well, comatose for three or four hours.

Then the TO DO list starts playing in my little brain on a loop.

When life gets like that, a short walk in the garden or on the beach helps. Even fifteen minutes is restorative, though admittedly a week or two is better. I just find that it’s an effective way to put things in perspective and keep sane,

What is it about nature that it can magically slow down your respiration rate, lower your blood pressure and calm your mind?

Dunno.

But do you know a better prescription for stress than beautiful flowers or watching the turquoise blue water of the ocean or a lake, endlessly changing and always the same? No. I didn’t think you did and, if you said exercise, I’d just have to go deaf for a minute and ignore you.