End of 2010

I made it through Christmas. I am still working on getting those federal grants submitted, working on research, planning for the next semester and decluttering my house. I am overwhelmed sometimes.

The other day I was listening to a segment on the radio about a guy who wrote 365 thank you notes to people during one year. I have been working on expressing my gratitude and thankfulness more. I wonder if I can take on a project like that. 365 sounds way too ambitious. I wonder if I could write (and send) a thank you note for the weekdays of 2011, exluding the days that I am in the field for geology research. This would probably add up to 200 thank you notes. Do you think this is possible?

I would post a type written copy on this blog, names changed to preserve privacy, so that I could remind myself of all the wonderful people in my life. For an introvert, the thought of writing 200 notes seems overwhelming; I may not even know 200 people. I better decide soon, 2011 starts in 37 hours. Happy New Year. I hope that your year is peaceful, relaxing and full of hope.

This Time of the Year

This is my time of the year to feel overwhelmed. Norah’s Birthday comes, then Thanksgiving, then the start of Christmas rush with my husband’s business (which I help with at night after the kids go to sleep), finishing up classes and giving finals, then I always have a couple of federal grants I have to submit, and other work I have promised colleagues. Then it is Christmas. Sometime in the madness, I hope to get shopping done. I get overwhelmed. It is not that I’m not thinking but it that my thoughts get squashed by the next pressing deadline. I have so many things floating in my head…a typical thought sequence might go like this:

“Did I sent that email to that student?” “What is his name?”

“Email, I forgot to email Joe with that question, gotta remember to do that”

“What else did I say I would do for Joe”

“Crap, I forgot to call Mary with questions about the data” “Maybe I can do that on Monday from 8-8:15.”

“Monday, there is something that my son needs for his class on Monday, what is it? Oh man, I forgot to get a blank t-shirt for him.”

And it continues until I can not remember where my thoughts started. I have to carry a little book with me that I can write down when I have these thoughts so that I will not forget to it.

The point of this post is to say that I am not on purposely not blogging. But, I do not have time to sit and write. As I take 10 minutes to write this, I’m had one person stop by my office and one phone call from people who need help. This time of year is terrible for thinking.

If I do not have time to post again, Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope you are less stressed than I am.