When I get busy, I get messy. This is a challenge, because I don't think well with clutter around - makes it feel cluttered inside my head, too. And all the chores needing to be done distract me from all the work that needs to be finished, and it all seems to spiral higher and higher... you know the feeling.
However, I am not too busy for blueberry season. Well, I haven't found time to go picking, but I did buy a whole flat (!) of blueberries at the farmer's market this week. This morning we had blueberry muffins for breakfast:
I've also frozen a bunch of them, and I hope to find the time to make a blueberry pie this weekend. Blueberry pie is my all-time favorite (except for apple, cherry, pumpkin, pecan and lemon meringue, which are all tied with blueberry for first place). A flat (in case you were wondering) is a dozen pints, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 pounds. It's a lot of blueberries. But I think we can handle them.
The giant onslaught of work is due to 2 things: first, I am nearing the end of my final class in the public health program I've been doing the last 2 years. The final exam is due on my birthday (**sympathy appreciated**). Though it will be a nice birthday present to be finished with having school after a full day of work most days.
The other thing is, I have to pile about two months' of work into the next 3 weeks at my office, because I'm taking a sabbatical during the month of August. It is kind of scary. It's a time when I'm supposed to rest, think about big-picture questions like "what does it all mean?" and come back rejeuvenated and ready to make the next 7 years at least as good as the first 7 have been, only perhaps less stressful (oh please oh please). But in order to step away and chill out... I have to get through a mountain of work first. I should stop writing about it because it's making me tired just thinking about it.
One of the first things I want to do during my month of reflection and whatnot is de-clutter my home work space. I plan to get rid of a lot of stuff. In fact, maybe I should do that right now... might be easier to get through the next 3 weeks without so many stacks threatening to collapse on my head.
Congratulations! I am working on my PhD in Public health and made the mistake of taking a graduate seminar in summer school -- condense a semester into a month. What was I thinking? I also work more than full time.
ReplyDeleteOmygosh, I am the exact same way. Doing a nice, thorough cleaning always clears my head for the work in front of me. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck getting through your class - it's almost over- you can do it!
ReplyDeleteThose muffins look scrumptious! Do you have a favorite blueberry muffin recipe?
We buy a bunch of blueberries every year and freeze a lot. We love our blueberry pancakes in the winter.
ReplyDeleteSympathy for having to write an exam on your birthday. I had to write a French exam on my birthday when I was in high school and didn't get enough sympathy as far as I was concerned ;-)
And I totally know what you mean about piles! My house is full of them. Unfortunately, they are not all my piles and some people (hubby) get a little perturbed when I start tossing stuff form HIS piles. I can't understand why ;-)
I'm having a blueberry fling, too. We planted blueberry bushes several years ago, and are having a bumper crop this year. We've been having a lot of muffins and cobbler.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!
My mother gave me a big bag of blueberries this summer. Frozen blueberries are wonderful in smoothies. (My current favorite is blueberry, peach, and banana... although the banana flavor can hide the peach very easily. Throw in some milk, a little bit of oatmeal powder, and some vanilla yogurt. Yum).
ReplyDelete