It is Saturday, 5:15 p.m. and I lament that I do not have enough time this weekend left to do all that I need and all that I want. There is a hard distinction between my need-to, and want-to agendas, sometimes this presents a conflict.

I find myself needing space. I want to write, read, sit, contemplate, but autumn, my favorite season is here, and the yard needs work. The trees need trimming, the grass weeding and, seeding, eventually raking; the patio and deck furniture need covering and storing; the umbrella needs airing and to be thoroughly dried as well as stored. Inside I have projects that will wait until the snow. I have to patch and paint Jascha’s old room, a lighter color will make it look larger and brighter; the living room ceiling needs painting, damaged when the speakers were installed. I received a discount, only after I asked because I came home while he finished up, plaster and dust covering the couch. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed hours of, singing and dancing with surround sound upstairs. When my mom visited she danced the polka! I clapped and kept time.

The rugs have been shampooed, but I want to update the bathroom. I think first, with a new coat of white paint.  The bathroom will have been painted for the third time in ten years. I must have a 3.2-year itch. The closet rack in Jascha’s backroom fell. His clothes, my clothes, it was inevitable. The wall needs patching and the rack re-installed, and that is after the closet has been emptied. Are you tired yet?

It seems I have homework due in my online Media Writing class, all the time. We are working a chapter a week with discussion, assignment, and quiz, the pace is demanding. We have finally gotten to writing, and we have a rubric to use to critique our peers’ articles. I have figured out most of the technology, but I still do not know how to print just the highlights in the e-book. I have been taking quizzes without review, depending solely upon memory and a few hand-written notes. With four quizzes I have 75%, with an overall average of 86%. My strength is in discussions and assignments. I am auditing the course, I do not need the credit and I may want to bail before the end of the semester on December 20^th.

I have a draft of a novel I am reading for a friend. Nearly 300 pages, I have 100 plus pages left to read. I also have a book for work to read by Ruth King, “Mindful of Race”. I have read the Forward. It is a well-written introduction, but I have not read another page. November is our agreed date for discussion – before Thanksgiving. I am a month behind reading my book of daily inspiration. How inspired am I?

I would like to say I am dating too – not, but I have a Match profile (again), and I am not getting much play at all, but then I do not have time, do I? No longer on any restriction post toe surgery, I am back to exercising every day to reclaim and firm up my doughy self. I am most consistent when I exercise in the mornings before work.

Mindfulness may be required. I think that is what a professional might recommend. My mornings usually start the way I like, slow, with coffee, particularly on the weekends, although I have been up before the sun on Sundays to walk the Ocean Gate boardwalk. During the week, a short cup, black gets me ready for moving my body. My alarm is set a little early so I can sip, listen to the news and make my slow descent into Monday. I hate to think I have to rise even earlier to get everything done that I want before work.  Rather, the things I need to get done before work.

A four- day work week, and a true three-day weekend would suit me fine. Traditionally, Fridays are the end of the workweek and gateway to the weekend. In my perfect world, Thursday would be the new Friday and the end of the workweek.  Friday’s would be the day for chores, cleaning, yard work, and house maintenance. Saturday could be devoted to errands, grocery shopping, gassing up the car, picking up the dry cleaning, etc. Sundays would be dedicated to carb loading, relaxing and excursions – it is apple-picking time! And of course, a total day of lounging and Netflix binging is requisite to the perfect weekend. Monday, it all begins again with Thursday in view. I may need to sit still.

Does the frantic pace of living overwhelm me? Am I in communication overload, by emails, and text? Is it a technology backlash I am feeling? Am I distracted by Netflix? All of the above?

Certainly busy is better than bored. I am never bored. I have a healthy (mostly), stable (trouble and drama enough, but not too much) life. Better time management and organization may assist.  The good behaviors I practice perhaps need strengthening. I am a habitual lunch maker, I use the automated coffee option, it is ready at 6:03 a.m. If I plan what I will wear to work, the morning moves smoothly.

Maybe it is about sleep. I sleep so poorly, waking at least twice, but these days able to fall back asleep, and exercise has never improved that.  That sloth-like entrance into the new day helps when I feel weary after a night of poor sleep, and of course, coffee.

Am I too busy?

Here is my good, busy life…

• Stable employment (If any such employment exists… Our contract calls us employees at will. With very short notice we can be asked to leave or be escorted off campus)
• Able to exercise (Despite arthritis, I keep moving)
• Able to buy nutritious food (It is expensive to eat well, but living well is worth it)
• Engaged in life and living (Hibernation would work, but being in the world has so many benefits)

Essentially these are the elements of a good, busy life. How blessed I am.

If you like the new look of Nobodyaskedlara credit goes to Grace Potter of www.gpotterdesigns.com