Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Who Turned On This Crazy Thing?

I'm having one of those days - the kind where it's like you're on an inclined treadmill set on high. You're going as fast as you can and still keep losing ground. That's me. And I can't seem to get off. I've even slowed down to reassess and chucked all the plans that weren't on my immediate to do list and didn't have any sense of urgency. I'm only attending to what must be done. But none of it is cooperating and getting done easily. So what am I missing? Why is it all taking twice the time necessary when I only have half as much time as I need?

A pastor at my old church once talked about a mechanic he knew. This mechanic knew he was living right and pleasing God when his business brought in a lot of "gravy" jobs - those jobs that paid well but took little work. When he'd gotten off track with God those jobs would dry up and he'd get a lot of time-consuming, low paying jobs.

Except I don't think that paradigm fits my day. It started it off well with a good half-hour quiet time where I really felt connected with God. And my morning with the kids was fine. Time with the uber-princess was peachy. But all the projects and chores I've tried to tackle have gone painfully slow and somewhat awry.

And now the fish is sick. I think he's got Ick and my daughter blames it on me not taking good care of him.

I'm glad every day has only 24 hours. I might wish for more time to get stuff done, but I don't think that would help. It's better to get off this crazy thing and start new tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll have leftovers for dinner, get the fish some medicine and try not to pull any muscles attempting to stay on this speeding treadmill.

Epilogue: We ate leftovers. The day wound down and I regained my focus.Now it's Thursday morning and the fish is barely living.

5 musings:

Craver Vii said...

Ooh! I'm great at this kind of advice.

What you need to do is consolidate.

For example, you said,
"I might wish for more time to get stuff done, but I don't think that would help… we'll have leftovers for dinner, get the fish some medicine and try not to pull any muscles attempting to stay on this speeding treadmill."

My advice is this:
Skip the meds, have fish for dinner, then go pull the plug from the treadmill instead of pulling muscles. Voila! (I'll mail the bill.)

Lara said...

Craver -
Consolidate. Now there's an idea. I'd only been thinking "eliminate" (and not the fish). As for your advice about fish for dinner? I have one word: "Ick"!

Anonymous said...

Get off the treadmill and have a cup of tea! Celebrate the couple of things that you did get done. the rest will be there tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

OK..seriously, how do I know if a fish has Ick? I am fish sitting 5 fish. Two Betas in their own tanks of course and three random fish in one tank. One of the Betas is not eating and is looking VERY faded. My neighbior dropped them off on Monday night and will be picking them up on either Thursday night or Friday. Uh-oh he is also spending a lot of time at the bottom of the tank, not a good sign! So, do I call the nieghbor on his cell and tell him his fish is dying or do I surprise him when he gets home. I REALLY hope it doesn't die on my time. Since you are a fish owner what do you think? Maybe I should just run to the store and buy a new one, huh?

Lara said...

For now - Sorry, just saw your comment or I would have responded sooner. Ich is a parasite. Looks like white spots on their body. Laying on the bottom is not a good thing. You can get a solution to put in the water - three days of treatments and they're better. But you have to remove them from the tank, scrub it out (no soap) and put treated water in. Then let the water warm to room temp and dump the fish into a net before returning to the tank (don't transfer any of the old infected water back).

Or call the owner...Our fish died today, so I'm not sure you should rely on me for fish care advice.