Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Feeding the 5000 when you are running on empty

Pretty sure I'm not the one person in the world who is quick to say ,"Sure I can make that happen!" It's easy to read blogs like Pioneer Woman and think that you should be able to run a working ranch, feed a big family, write books, and look cute doing it. She has help. Most of us do not have help. Saying yes too often leave me feeling frazzled. I have got to learn the art of saying no. Until then, I have to cope with the chaos of saying yes.

Yesterday was classic. I volunteered to provide dinner for about 15 people at a board meeting. Not just any meeting. This meeting fell on the birthday of a former state representative, and I was asked to make a special dessert! Typically not a problem. I love to make fun desserts! I love to feed people! Yesterday was a doozy of a day. Woke up at 2:45am. Drove 1.5 hours to the airport to catch the 6am flight back to Maryland. Took the bus from Baltimore to Rockville. Took the shuttle from the metro station to work and made it on time for my 9:30am meeting. Thankfully my 9:30 was bumped to 9:45 which have me time to grab more coffee. Worked the rest of the day...not sure how. Hertz picked me up at 4 in a shiny, red Mustang! I got a rental car, because a month after the wreck I still didn't have my own car. Went to the grocery store and grabbed everything needed for a huge dinner salad. I baked shortcakes while I was still in Indiana, and traveled with them. Grabbed strawberries and whipped topping. I had 15 minutes at home to prepare the salad and cut up the strawberries. Then I drove to the board meeting in a neighboring suburb about 25 min away. Baxter was in the car with me because he hadn't had his evening walk yet. Thankfully everything panned out beautifully! 

Salad!

Strawberry and blueberry shortcake!

15 minutes in the grocery, 15 min of prep (not including baking the shortcakes) and $45 makes dinner for 15! Boom! Made it happen. Not without personal cost. I was so razzed that I couldn't fall asleep. Today I was completely tanked all day. I have got to figure out when to raise the white flag. What's the phrase? Just because you can doesn't mean you should? 

This guy is glad to have me back and get on a more normal schedule! 

I'm glad to be back and getting on a more normal schedule. Today I practiced saying no. When asked if I would be interested to sing in the church choir, I said no! It's a start. 

No comments: