When I Can't Worry About Bhutan

The kids had Monday and Tuesday off, which took me by surprise, as I never loaded the CCSD days off into my personal calendar. I've had kids in the district for twelve years and they haven't changed the schedule much at all, but somehow the in-service days perpetually catch me off guard. I had coffee dates, dentist appointments, and work meetings scheduled, and rather than cancel everything I just kept it in place, racing between locations and checking on Daniel every hour to make sure he was occupied by something other than "Madden" on the X-Box.

Prior to the President's Day holiday I was up in East Vail chaperoning the JV1 Girls' swim team. They didn't need much chaperoning, just help with food preparation and cleanup. The host family was gracious and welcoming, and the girls had plenty of room to spread out across the ground floor while the parents and chaperones had the upstairs. I got more sleep than anticipated, at least after the girls stopped rehearsing their "AquaPoms" dance for the talent show (sometime before midnight). I was tired from walking the neighborhood to see Lindsey Vonn's hous and strolling through downtown Vail as the girls flew in and out of T-Shirt shops to buy souvenirs.

After a crazy four days. everyone was out of the house by 7:30 this morning and I finally had uninterrupted time to work on an operations manual and respond to emails about the swim team banquet. Laundry and packing are next as William  and I fly out tomorrow for a water polo tournament in Northern California. I am back on my heels for this trip; it will be a miracle if I remember to check in and get William packed by tonight.

As I drove the minivan back toward home after a lunchtime swim, my mind added "Cat food" to the mental list of things to do. That list has grown out of all proportion to what I can accomplish, and I slid the Petco run over to things Rob should do while I am in California. About that time, I heard on NPR that sudden strife has arisen in Bhutan, of all place. At the thought of one more world crisis, I had to change the channel.  The people of Bhutan are worthy of all possible empathy and concern, but my brain has no more space.