FOR TODAY
Outside my window...
It is sunny and warm. We walked to church this morning and it was a bit foggy, but it has now burned off and is quite lovely, without being too humid or hot. Just right.

I am thinking...
Way too much about the next couple of very full weeks. My anxiety level is up even though I know I'll accomplish all I need to get done, but it does keep my thoughts in a spin.

I am thankful for...
My husband who is very patient with me when I get like this.

From the kitchen...
I smell the omelet that Don just made after he admired mine. This is his second breakfast -- I didn't manage to get any before church. Which may also be why I'm a bit grumpy -- I'm only halfway through my morning cup of tea.

I am wearing...
Shorts, a sleeveless top and sneakers. We're going to be loading up a rented truck with Nate's furniture and "stuff" to go to his new apartment so I'll be busy.

I am creating...
Too many projects at the moment. I've been working on a quilt for my mother, finished binding off a little curved scarf with a lacy edge from a pattern a friend shared with me, need to finish the sleeves on a top-down sweater, have another scarf on the needles as well as a pair of socks. I need to give some thought to projects to take along to a 5-day conference in Atlanta and vacation after that. For vacation I've pulled out a long-stalled hand-sewing project making paper-pieced stars for an eventual quilt.

I am going...
To pick up a big truck when Nate awakes.

I am reading...
"I am Irelaunde," a novel about St. Patrick when he came to convert Ireland. Someone just handed me, in church, a copy of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." And, we've just had a conversation about which books on tape to download for our vacation which involves a lot of driving.

I am hoping...
To get through the next two weeks with my sanity intact.

I am hearing...
The radio, with Joni Mitchell singing "Amelia" on the local public radio singer-songwriter show that I only get to hear when I go to the 8:00 service.

Around the house...
Are piles of unorganized things that need to be dealt with. But, there will be room to organize in July when we have an empty bedroom upstairs and a nearly empty living room (we're giving Nate a couch and chair but keeping the loveseat -- the cats are going to be bereft as the couch and chair are two of their favorite napping places).

One of my favorite things...
A lovely cup of tea, right at hand.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Monday -- get two composite letters ready for med school candidates. Luckily they are re-writes, which don't take as much time. Oh, and move into my new office and try to bring some order to the chaos.
Tuesday -- attend the annual staff "retreat" on campus, which I'm usually not here for. Time to connect with colleagues. Wrap up loose ends with med candidates.
Wednesday -- leaving on a 5:30 a.m. flight to Atlanta to attend the Pre-Health Advisors national conference. 5:30 was the only way to get a direct flight and will give me some time to explore the city before the conference.
Thursday -- conference all day with dinner sponsored by the Danish study abroad program that some of my students have gone on/will be going on.
Friday -- conference all day with an afternoon/evening visit to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (Georgia branch).
Saturday -- more conference, connecting with colleagues
Sunday -- home! Missing most of Father's Day.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

This is from last weekend's college reunion -- with my friend Sue who graduated 5 years before me but whom I've gotten to know since coming back to work at Colby. Since we always have the same reunion weekend, we've made a tradition of taking a photo of us each time. This time we were color-coordinated without planning it! The thought part of this is that I really was ambivalent about attending this reunion and could easily have skipped it if given the chance. BUT, I actually really enjoyed the experience, saw some people I didn't expect to see, saw some of my former students, including one from 1990 and one from 1995 and lots from 2000 and 2005. The band on Saturday was great and I had fun dancing with Don. A lesson learned -- go to reunion and don't anxt about it!

Check out the Simple Woman's Daybook blog at: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Stretched

I think I remember feeling this way last June, too. The month is packed with events, activities, special days, and things that need doing. I know I'm feeling stretched too thin when I have an evening like I did earlier this week. I came home wanting everyone to just do what I told them to do and not give me any argument. I was very bossy and cross. Luckily, I'm not usually like that, so it was clear to everyone that I was feeling "stretched."

My house is a mess (after all the work we did in April to get a little organized and caught up on things) and will be even more of a mess soon. Our son is moving to an apartment and we've generously :) donated all the furniture we've been wanting to get rid of for years. That will pretty much empty out his bedroom and the living room. Which is good, because we're about to tear apart our sunporch, which means we have lots of books and stuff to move out of there. We're also going to replace windows in our living room and my sewing room -- just to add a little bit more chaos to our lives.

This is conference season in my line of work. I've been to meetings at two other campuses just this week, and am off to Hotlanta (I hate hot weather - why are we meeting in Atlanta in the summer?) for 5 days next week. And, just to add a bit more chaos to my work life, my director and I are swapping offices, which has involved moving everything out of each in order to paint them. With any luck I'll have everything in my new office by Monday - but it will be weeks before I actually get it unpacked.

And, our summer vacation happens this month. It will be fun - once we get going. But, we have decided to shorten it a bit so I can have a few days at home too.

Special events? Missed my sister's birthday due to my 30th college reunion and will miss Father's Day because I'll be flying home from Atlanta that afternoon. Both of those things earned me a place in the doghouse with my mother. The annual staff retreat, which I usually miss due to a conference, is between conferences this year. High school graduation was last night (I went to yoga instead).

Anyway, the upside is that the weather has been lovely with only intermittent rain (as compared to last year's very rainy June...and July...). The garden looks great (needs weeding, but that will have to wait). I've gotten to see many of my favorite colleagues, including one from Minnesota, at meetings. I'm healthy (though out of shape). I've had both a pedicure and a manicure in the past two weeks and have an appointment for a perm in two weeks. I'm moving into a shady office. We've got new patio furniture and, as my DH says, it now looks like adults live here (the patio and furniture are right smack where our old cedar climbing tower and swing set resided for many years). I got the refrigerator cleaned out recently and have cleaned half of the shower. I've lost 6 pounds and didn't eat any cookies at lunch today at St. Joseph's.

All in all, I'm a very fortunate person. Thanks for letting me get that whining out of my system. I feel better and hope you do too.

OFF MY NEEDLES
My Evenstar myster KAL shawl is done! I'll photograph it when I block it, which will be after Nate leaves to start his camp job.

ON MY NEEDLES
Re-knitting my Daybreak Shawl. Instead of the large shawl, which I didn't really like when it was done, I've frogged the whole thing and will make two small ones. I'm going to give one of them away to someone who admired the project when I was making it the first time.

And, some other things, but I'm too disorganized to even name them at the moment.