Sunday Salon: Panic mode

I made the mistake of glancing at the calendar and noticed not only how busy I am on a daily basis but how soon I take the kids to Florida for R.'s dance competition and then on up to Michigan for vacation. Leaving can't be just over a week away! I have a to do list 25 miles long. I have a reading list 300 miles long and a review list twice that size. I have meetings and appointments and commitments, oh my. And the packing! I have to get packing. But I am floating along as if everything that needs to be accomplished will all come together without any help from me and the calendar says I'm running out of time to have this happen. Can you say panic attack?

I know that my husband won't care if I leave for a month and the piles around the house are still there. (He's already learned to navigate around them so he might be more inclined to notice if they disappear than if they stay--and since he did notice, on the very day it happened, that I managed to clear out 95% of the garage again, this is probably very true.) I know that the reading and reviewing is mostly self-imposed so I should be able to let that go although some of it is promised to others and therefore really should be done.  (See how I do that to myself?)  And really, in looking at the summer reading list I created, I've already read 12 (plus one not on the list) of the 46 books I listed. I compiled that list to last me from Memorial Day to Labor Day so in theory, I've got time. The meetings and appointments and commitments that I have control over should be quick and I think the people who have to listen to me drone on will appreciate that immensely. So I shouldn't be panicked, right? If I rationalize this enough, maybe I'll even start to believe it. Or not. Now that I've had my reality check, maybe I'll indulge in a just little panic attack, a baby one if you will. Because maybe a little one will spur me to actually get enough done that I won't fret too much about leaving the rest unfinished. If nothing else, I should definitely get off the computer and go accomplish something. Yes, I'll get right on that!

This past week my reading travels have taken me to Malawi to see the ingenuity of a young boy who figures out all on his own how to build a windmill to generate electricity for his family, to Alabama where magic and family have caused so much pain in need of the healing power of love, to Colorado and the fight over the legalization of marijuana, and to Iceland where a condemned murderess awaits execution. Where did your reading take you this week?