Swiss Cheese

My life is busy and full right now. I have many things that must be done in a limited time frame and my mind is busy as it choreographs the week ahead. But underneath all of the clutter of the to-do-lists-in-my-mind, I have many quiet moments.

I explained to a friend, that my life is like 'Swiss Cheese'. It is full of life and activity, but there are many holes in it. Empty spaces of time in between all of the busy-ness.

I have time to blog, time to watch my favorite TV shows, time to talk to my mom. There are pockets of time throughout my days. Time to sit and veg a bit ... time to write and reflect ... time to sit and plan. I still have time ... (this continues to be my favorite phrase from 'The Incredibles').

What I love best about this Swiss Cheese Like Life, is the busy-ness. It is a good busy. A fun busy!

I must fulfill my school hour obligation before I go away. So I am at school all day, every day, every free night and Saturday ... until my holiday. What am I finding as I feverishly put in my hours at school? Productivity! I have surpassed my goal of completing the courses that I had mapped out for myself between the New Year and My Holiday. I started a new course yesterday and I'm flying through it. It feels wonderful to meet and surpass my expectations.

My book-keeping job has a few time sensitive jobs throughout the month. The first of the month (statements) is one of them. I was busy each night this week, but my book-work still had to be done. I squeezed it into one of the many 'holes' in my life. I completed the task with very little sacrifice (okay, a few late nights), but the feeling of accomplishment that I received - by doing the job set out before me in the time and manner which I expected myself to do it ... was worth missing a few hours of sleep. The satisfaction of finishing my work reaps great rewards.

And the dancing. Always the dancing ...

I have 2, one hour dance lessons in the evening this week. I wish I could have danced every night. I simply can't get enough of dancing. I have so many flaws to overcome, technique to polish and some of the dance moves continue to surprise me. I am looking forward to the return of my fun-filled dance lesson where we aren't completely focused on this upcoming dance competition. But one, half-hour dance lesson each week? It hardly seems like enough, now that I've had a taste of more. It's those 'holes' in my life again ... I still have time (for more dancing)!!

I believe the weekend ahead is full of 'holes'. Time which I am certain that I will fill ... but very little pressure. Where there is no pressure, there is often little accomplished. That is my biggest fear - that I waste the time that I have.

I am already anticipating our family Sunday-supper. I have the menu mapped out in my mind and I look forward to the meeting of our minds on Sunday night. Our conversations have transformed from the deep and serious ... to the fun and frivolous. We are laughing at ourselves. I have rewound the tape in my mind and recalled some of the memories from my kids childhoods. Laughable (some, slightly embarrassing) moments. My kids have also replayed some of their memories-as-they-saw-them and put me on the spot. We are finding the humor in our humanness. When it was first suggested that we have a weekly Sunday-family-supper, I cringed at the thought of giving up that precious evening that I used to use to gear myself up for the week ahead. What I have found instead, is that filling that 'hole' with my little family ... has been the perfect way to wind up a week and feel revitalized for the week ahead.

I like the Swiss Cheese, which is my life right now. A perfect blend of busy-ness combined with enough 'holes' to provide me with what I need to continue to forge on.