Time to recharge: How to tell

If you are barking at your family when they ask when you will be finished with work, it is time to log off and recharge. Everything. You. Your phone. Your computer.

My goal here is to recognize the signs of needing a recharge before it gets to that point.

I want my shoulders to not be at earlobe level, and I want to always express love to those I love. Always.

I need to do the talking, and not the stress.

It's all about making the first thing first, and the first thing does not need to be work. Find your peace, find your love, and the work gets done by a calmer person who is not stressed out.

Holidays, holidays, holidays!

The holidays are slapping the taste out of my mouth this week. In the words of the famous meme, Ermahgerd.

In the day job, we had a holiday high fashion photo shoot for a local magazine and I will be putting the finishing touches on a holiday calendar for the Family section of The Clarion-Ledger, then another calendar with equally fabulous events for the mag.

Mistletoe Marketplace is going on over at the Mississippi Trade Mart, so if you haven't checked that out, do. It's crowded if you go on Saturday, but I understand Thursday and Friday afternoons aren't so bad. Here's a link: Mistletoe Marketplace

And for my own personal writing, I am adjusting to a new work schedule but still getting some words in. Thank God and Maxwell House that I am up and at 'em pre 5:30 a.m. I knew today was going to be a little hectic at work and got the middle Dear Son coming home for a visit this evening, so I let myself sleep in. I do think there are at least several weeks in which I will not be writing much, and I am going to deem that OK. Because the part of me that supervises my own work is a nice boss. Sometimes.

I just know that I will have Thanksgiving (In another move of brilliance and niceness, I gave myself a pass on dressing and gravy and ordered Susie's. Susie Johnson makes the best dressing this side of Heaven.). I will have Christmas shopping. I will have travel to see the oldest Dear Son. The Dear Daughter will have her first dance. The youngest Dear Son is going to Xtreme Winter Conference with the UMYF and will be skiiing in Gatlinburg. And work schedules will go from a little crazy to insanity because of the holidays.

It's OK, though. I got this. Let the holidays begin! And let the clatter of my keyboard and the perking of my coffee be heard!

Up and at 'em

I got up early this morning to write. Having a schedule change at the day job meant my schedule more closely fits my kids' schedule, which is great, but I have to make time to write, which is a challenge. I don't want to take away any time from those I love, so that means getting up early.

Which I did today. Sort of. I woke up at 5 a.m., but then petted the cat while thinking about the day ahead until about 5:15. Then I had to make some coffee and toast, what a minister friend of mine calls a form of communion for the morning. So I got about 45 minutes of tinkering with copy and writing in, but I need to get better at shaking off the cobwebs.

I do like getting up earlier, though. I get the bathroom before the kids are up. I get a quiet house for a little while. And coffee is delicious. Did I mention that? It beats sleeping in and rushing around like a screaming maniac trying to get everything done and everyone out the door. And this way, I get to work on my own stuff before anyone else's, and as a mama, it is so nice to be at the top of my own list. Y'all know what I mean.

Anyhow, I'm working on making my own personal schedule work for me. Happy Monday, world.