Do you ever start off the week with a seemingly endless list of “to dos”?  I’m sure we all have weeks like that.

This is one of them. Indeed, as I write this column and try to get it in on time, my head is swimming with several important things to do.

We are taking care of some financial stuff and are gathering documents, uploading copies, faxing things and scheduling phone appointments with our advisor.

I’m wrapping up things with my retirement guy, after meeting with him and finding out how many years I have left before I can hang up my grade book. Gathering documents, copying, faxing, uploading, downloading. Whew. An enormous amount of headache at times. However, all very important and very necessary. I’m trudging through the list and waiting for that moment when both guys say “OK, we have everything we need. We will be in touch.” Exhale.

Our senior is graduating and we are busy explaining to family members and friends why we are not inviting everyone to the ceremony (boy, will it be crowded!) and how we are having the party later (in June). On top of that, there are party invitations, tracking down addresses and getting things in the mail so invitees don’t receive their invite after the event has already taken place. It took all of a few minutes to download pictures and get the invitations sent off to Walgreens for printing.  But still, it was something else to be done.

This is usually our spring budgeting time where we see if we will have money for house repairs, a little vacation, car repair, paying off some debt and so on. Sitting down, crunching numbers, planning and plotting.  It all takes time.

Spring allergies sometimes keep us moving slower than usual. In our household in the past two weeks we have dealt with acid reflux, back pain, stomach flu, sneezing, itching, runny nose, headache and plain old aches. So, in the midst of our busy week, we try to ward off sickness and treat the infirm.

The end of school is crunch time, and if we only had our jobs to deal with right now, that would be enough.

There are end-of-the-year papers, grades, plans for next year, and on and on it goes. Having other things to think about is sometimes a hindrance.

I haven’t covered the basics. The yard needs work, cars need cleaned, windows need washing, clothes need washing, and everything needs washing. I need to make sure the gutter guards aren’t clogged (think about that for a minute). I need to put stakes on two bushes out front. Weeds need to be destroyed.

Assorted distractions abound. Play practice, church (isn’t it awful to call church a distraction?), athletic practices, basic errand running, forced cleaning and organizing (to locate those documents we need), our well-behaved dog, phone calls, emails, texts and even conversations face to face.

The thing is, I’ve known things were going to be this way. I knew these weeks were coming, and I knew things were going to be busy and stressful.  There’s really not a whole lot you can do to be proactive. It’s sort of like getting ready for a hurricane, I guess. Batten down the hatches and brace yourselves.

Everything will eventually get completed. The load will lighten as we check off this and that. By tomorrow morning, I’m thinking one or two important things will be completed and we can move on to the next item.
So, have you had weeks like this? Any strategies you could share with me? Are you like me and just jump in, hoping for the best? I suppose the alternative is to just not do any of it. But heck, what would the consequences be?

Maybe they wouldn’t be as bad as I think.