Following Yesterday's Post, Today I Begin With Humor. I know I'm stressed when... #NWPAM14 #NCTE14 #Breathe

I always know when I have too much to do, because I need to tie things to my head to stay focused. I pulled my frog-hat and alien glasses out of the drawer yesterday, and began chiseling away at the NWP/NCTE presentations, planning for back to back classes tonight, and making lists of what I need to pack. As I've written before, this is central to my writing processes. Before I accomplish anything, I usually resort to this mode of operation.

Sniffle. Sniffle. And I'm trying to stay on top of the Mucinex monsters --- house closing? Well, let's just say they pushed it back closer to Christmas...no turkey trots between homes next week as planned. I am in TheraFlu mode, too. We got this.

Seriously, I just want to arrive to DC and begin learning with the colleagues I love. I have decided this week (and every time I grocery shop) that I have a totally male brain and I can't do two things at once. My mind bounces from thought to thought too quickly and I get overwhelmed. I am serious when I say that I only speak 1/1000th of what flashes in my head every minute. The noggin' doesn't rest, but the frog hat (or anything else I tied to my head) helps me to hunker down and stay focused.

Colleagues walk by and crack up. When I get this stressed, they know I am in serious mode. If I am in headgear it means I'm aggressively tackling the large projects that are in front of me. So, this is what I looked like throughout most of the day yesterday. Since my dissertation, it's been a defense mechanism to be a master of tasks.

Now, if I can survive today, all will be well. A night of rest and then a trip on the moving office (five hours on the train) and I will be where I've set out to go.