Soon and very soon

It's a Saturday in December so I must be at a high school swim meet, and here I am. I don't usually get too hot but an indoor swim center is no place for a long skirt and sweater and boots so I'm roasting. It's fine. It's character building.

I don't have a job today because I came here halfway through the meet, directly from a funeral. Hence the skirt and sweater and boots, which are not my usual swim meet attire. It's midway through the boys' 500 yard freestyle, so I have time to write as the boys finish the distance race and then the girls swim the 500. When I am the referee or starter, I have to watch this race carefully, counting laps so we know when to ring the bell, but I'm a spectator today, so I can slack a bit.

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I should have brought flip flops with me.

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It’s a few days later now; Tuesday to be exact. It’s 7 in the morning and I have to leave for work soon but we have dinner plans tonight and this is the only time that I have to write. I was trying to finish a book review of a novel that I just finished reading, but I doubt that I’ll ever finish writing the review. I read faster than I write so I won’t get to write about every book that I read this year. I don’t think it matters. Writing every day has become a compulsion-driven to-do list item that I have to check off the list no matter what, and only about a third of what I churn out as I stand in front of my computer or sit at band concerts or swim meets or in waiting rooms tapping out paragraphs on my phone will ever see the light of day. And by “light of day,” I mean this blog and I’m not sure that it’s the right term because no more than a handful of people ever read this. But it’s what I do so I’m going to keep doing it. It’s a week until Christmas Eve and I still have some shopping to do, but there’s plenty of time. There’s plenty of time.

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It’s Wednesday, December 18, one week until Christmas. I’m no closer to finishing my book review than I was yesterday, and I’m not going to worry about it. I’m on to the next book, and the next thing.

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Ha! I did finish and publish that book review, no more than 15 minutes after I wrote the preceding paragraph. There’s always a way, is what I always say. There’s always plenty of time, is what I am always telling you.

It’s Thursday December 19, and I have 20 minutes or so to change and get ready to go to a local ballet company’s performance of the Nutcracker, so naturally, I’m sitting here writing about the clock ticking. But I can get away with this, obviously, because I continue to demonstrate such outstanding time management skills. I’m a time management wizard.

I started this post only five days ago but it seems like weeks. Now it’s December 19 and it’s almost too late to do any more shopping or planning for the holiday. Whatever we haven’t accomplished or acquired by now will just not be accomplished or acquired, and that is a strangely peaceful feeling. One more day of work (well, maybe a half day on Monday) and one more trip to the grocery store (well, maybe two--three at the most) and then the preparation will be complete or as complete as it can be, and then it’s Christmas. “Celebrate the birth of the Savior”--it’s right there on my to-do list. Peace.