Sinner and Stress

Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It has been seven days since my last confession...At this moment, I feel as though someone turned me upside down and gave me a swirlie. My mind feels like jello rambling around within the confines of my brain. What, you might wonder, caused this swirliesque feeling? A combination of several things. One acronym slowly creeps into my mind, resting itself as the bane of my existence. TAKS. The writing test is upon me in three short weeks. I find myself stressed to the point of nightmares. This being my first year to teach public school, much of this year consists of just figuring out what to do in order to stay afloat. That said, I ambled home today on auto pilot. When I got to the cutoff to turn on 281 and roll home, a pleasant surprise awaited me. Nothing other than the jerky wagon. Yep, one might not expect to see such a contraption, but this here wagon sells every kind of jerky under the sun. What's your pleasure? Maybe a little elk meat, gator, deer, turkey? Or maybe your taste leans toward the exotic...he carries quite the assortment. If you can shoot it, I am fairly certain he's made it into jerky swinging in the wind from the janky jalopy he calls a trailer. Hand-painted cardboard signs start popping up about a mile out. He wheels that sucker under the overpass, lifts the sides up, and business begins. The funny thing is I bet he makes a killing. If nothing else, it never fails to crack me up every time I go by. If I hadn't been wasted tired this afternoon I'd have stopped and bought some just to say I have.

As the week goes on, I must continue to remind myself to take it one day at a time. Stress can easily come upon me like a freight train, leaving me feeling like I stuck my finger in a light socket just for kicks. I allow life's situations to overpower what counts. What really matters? The fact that I can come home tonight and watch Boud "get her baby" until the stuffing comes out, leaving shards of white cotton around her mouth reminiscent of rabies. Wade and I can watch the boob tube for a few minutes of mindless release. Tomorrow is a new day, fresh with new challenges, accomplishments, and the never ending love of family to pummel you through tough times. So, there's only one thing left to do for the day- sleep, recharge, and face the music.

Here's to slaying your inner dragons and appreciating each day to its fullest.