Working in Human Resources for many years, I've become accustomed to the fact that, despite my best efforts, the calendar can sometimes drive the way I view the world. For example....we need to do this before Staff Development Day or we'll have to get to that after Staff Development Day. You can substitute other significant times...Open Enrollment, the beginning of the fiscal year...you name it, as the time draws nearer, there are things that get re-prioritized.
Now, I find this before and after vision has infiltrated my personal life as well. In January, my husband, his sister, and I agreed that it would be a wonderful idea to give their father a surprise party for his 75th birthday. We agreed on a date in June - which we later moved to May 12th due to various complications. Even moving the date up, it sounded like plenty of time. Months....I pictured all the fun planning the food, the decorations and all the details of the surprise. That is until....my husband decided that we needed a new fence, we needed to spruce up the long neglected landscaping, and we needed to paint the house. I should have realized, having been married almost 17 years, what this meant. But...I guess I thought that even he would not want to tackle all of this himself. Silly me! Yes, putting up a new wood fence, painting a two story house, and 10 yards of mulch (and more coming), every weekend is filled up with an endless list of tasks that need to be completed. Because the deadline of May 12th is barreling down on us, our conversations are pretty much limited to what can be done now and what can be postponed until later...it's either "before the party" or "after the party." That's my life until May 12th - and I have no one to blame but myself!
