Speed
I have so much nervous energy and so much to do that I feel like I'm on speed. I only get like this when I am really stressed. Otherwise, I am a totally low-energy person. I'd rather lie down and read novels than anything else. Instead, I'm in a manic mode where I'm writing entire lectures in an hour. I mowed the lawn in 35 minutes which was a personal record. And I accidentally made a big career faux pas.
Today, after dropping off the kids, I came back to write more lectures. The clock on the computer had been running about 20 minutes fast, and I had gotten used to adjusting for that 20 minutes. Without telling me, Jeff fixed the clock. So, I realize way too late that it's time for me to pick up Amos from the airport, drive him back here, and then time to go to my appointment with HR at SJFC. No makeup, hair a mess, wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and flipflops. By the time I get to SJFC, I look like bedraggled and flustered. I talk to the HR rep, take care of everything, and then run into the Provost of the school in the hallway. Now, I had met him briefly last fall where we talked about us both being from Los Angeles and found out that we both knew Maggie Hunter. But, I didn't expect him to remember me at all. Instead, he holds his arms out and says "Natasha! Congratulations on your fulltime appointment. We're getting great reviews about you". I smile, exchange pleasantries with him, the whole time wishing I could hide. He's in a suit and tie. Then, he gestures to another man with a suit and tie on and says "This is your new Dean. Dean so-and-so, this is Natasha Chen Christensen in Sociology". I shake hands with the Dean, too. What a day to run onto campus totally disheveled.
I come home and my mom has left an oddly formal message on the machine "Natasha, this is mom. Aaahhh, call me back and if I'm not at home call me on the cellphone". Of course I start to panic, since, well, that's just what I do. I can't reach her at home. I can't reach her on the cellphone. I start to imagine that my dad has had a heart attack and wonder how my mom is going to deal with that and with cancer. I imagine that she is already in the hospital because they found out something horrible. By the time she calls back, I've already thought about how I am going to arrange to drop everything and take the next flight to Houston. Turns out, she was at the grocery store and didn't hear her phone ring.
Anyway, it is pretty bad news, though. All of her doctors got together and decided that she needs to do each surgery separately because there is too high of a risk for kidney failure if she does them both at the same time. The odd thing is that they want to do the first kidney next Tuesday, and then the second kidney 10 days later. How does that give her enough time to recover? Sigh.
Must calm down. It would help if I could smoke, but I'm holding strong...
Today, after dropping off the kids, I came back to write more lectures. The clock on the computer had been running about 20 minutes fast, and I had gotten used to adjusting for that 20 minutes. Without telling me, Jeff fixed the clock. So, I realize way too late that it's time for me to pick up Amos from the airport, drive him back here, and then time to go to my appointment with HR at SJFC. No makeup, hair a mess, wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and flipflops. By the time I get to SJFC, I look like bedraggled and flustered. I talk to the HR rep, take care of everything, and then run into the Provost of the school in the hallway. Now, I had met him briefly last fall where we talked about us both being from Los Angeles and found out that we both knew Maggie Hunter. But, I didn't expect him to remember me at all. Instead, he holds his arms out and says "Natasha! Congratulations on your fulltime appointment. We're getting great reviews about you". I smile, exchange pleasantries with him, the whole time wishing I could hide. He's in a suit and tie. Then, he gestures to another man with a suit and tie on and says "This is your new Dean. Dean so-and-so, this is Natasha Chen Christensen in Sociology". I shake hands with the Dean, too. What a day to run onto campus totally disheveled.
I come home and my mom has left an oddly formal message on the machine "Natasha, this is mom. Aaahhh, call me back and if I'm not at home call me on the cellphone". Of course I start to panic, since, well, that's just what I do. I can't reach her at home. I can't reach her on the cellphone. I start to imagine that my dad has had a heart attack and wonder how my mom is going to deal with that and with cancer. I imagine that she is already in the hospital because they found out something horrible. By the time she calls back, I've already thought about how I am going to arrange to drop everything and take the next flight to Houston. Turns out, she was at the grocery store and didn't hear her phone ring.
Anyway, it is pretty bad news, though. All of her doctors got together and decided that she needs to do each surgery separately because there is too high of a risk for kidney failure if she does them both at the same time. The odd thing is that they want to do the first kidney next Tuesday, and then the second kidney 10 days later. How does that give her enough time to recover? Sigh.
Must calm down. It would help if I could smoke, but I'm holding strong...