Every day is eventful, and I love it. 

It was another long evening.  Of sleep, that is.  After two glasses of wine, I didn’t make it past the end of American Idol.  Heck, I did not make it half way through.  I was tired.  I had finished a run in warm weather and ate a nice meal of left over Thai food with some garlic rice I cooked up as a treat.  I was full and tired which is a bad combination with the final touches still needed to be done on a presentation I am giving at a statewide convention in Atlantic City in two weeks.  Tonight, no wine, only my notes and laptop…but more Thai food, of course!

The running each day has been an important piece for me.  My phone has been quiet and e-mails have been slow, so running has been a good way of clearing my head after a full day of work.  Running, even if for only thirty minutes, helps rid any built up stress and allows me to think about other things in my life.  I often think of things I need to do and ways to organize the steps to get them done on time.  I think about improvements that need to be made to the house and ways of addressing them in a cost effective manner.  I think about upcoming events and if I need to plan anything for them so I am not caught off guard without the proper preparation.  I sometimes think about myself and ways I can improve areas that may need addressing.  Running is physical, emotional, and psychological self improvement.  With running, who needs Dr. Phil??

Some would think that this would be more stress inducing, but not for me.  The time alone on the road as I run and breath is a roundabout way of centering…if that even makes sense.  The solitude, rhythmic breathing, sweating and body movement are all part of what helps me focus and think.

Planning for the future is not a bad thing or even unnecessary as some might think.  Granted, not all things can be planned for.  Most things can.  Planning is part of my job as a school adminstrator and something that became ingrained in my daily activities since my first administrative role in a school back in 1999.  Ever since then, a calendar and foresight have been two important ‘tools’ utilized each day at work and at home.  Fault me for it, that’s ok.  Welcome to the real world.

Am I perfect at it?  Of course not.  Can I sometimes get too into planning, maybe.  Better prepared than scrambling at the last minute is what I would prefer.

With a moment of down time in the office at work, I sit and make this entry.  No phones are ringing right now, neither office nor cell.  The students are eerily calm and the staff is quite subdued.  Today is Wednesday and it is Spirit Week.  Today’s theme is Pajama Day so I sit in my suit, covered by my bath robe and wearing fuzzy slippers.  It is all about compromise, I say, as some students protest that what I am wearing does not count since I’m still wearing a tie.  I tell them this is the way I sleep at home.  They are unconvinced.

Tomorrow is ‘Jersey Day’ where students and staff can wear sport shirts from their favorite teams.  I do not own a sports jersey and claim that since I am from New Jersey, every day is Jersey Day for me.  Again, they are unconvinced.

Looking at my calendar, I can see that there is no school Friday for staff training and tomorrow my morning is filled with meetings.  Today I am taking both of my secretaries out to lunch for Administrative Professionals Day – that’s on the calendar too.  Running?  Yup, that is scheduled for this afternoon as well.  With all of the scehduled work/personal activites I have on my calendar, I wonder when my next eventful day will be. If not tomorrow, then the day after that.