Lucy Does Some 'Splainin - In a funny prequel kind of note, I once played "Lucy" for a voice-over commercial to promote "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for a radio ad for a local church. Wish I could remember exactly when that was, it was sometime in elementary school age. *hmmm, ponder, ponder*

Okay everyone, please indulge me for a moment.

I AM A NUT.

I know this. I owe it, claim it, work it, live it... however you might like to describe this. But you see, I'm a *good* kind of nut. I'm just not an example of how almost anyone else should live.

What does this mean? What am I trying to explain? It means that "normal" for me is well, not always what you might think as normal. And I'm completely okay with that, and I embrace it, because that's the way I live. Full tilt, tons of energy, tons of commitments, and massively happy doing so.

Shall we consider a few examples? Please, have fun with this, I know =I'm= having fun putting together this kind of perspective. *beaming smile*

My car has over 387,500+ miles on her already. I put 277,500+ of those on myself, in just under seven years, which averages just under 40,000 per year (EVERY year). So when you read about how many places I've driven, and all the events I'm running off to each weekend, please remember what =my= level of "Normal" is and that could be different from yours.

I'm an extrovert who *gains* relaxation from being around other people. And for the past 13 months, I've been working 40-55+ hours/week with no social interaction at all. No one in my office. No one at home with me if I'm working from home. No one hardly phones me. No talking. Isolated, quiet, and nothing to do but sit at a computer and compose emails telling people to turn in forms, manipulate these spreadsheet forms, or tally and cross-index gigantic tables full of data and compose additional emails analyzing these tables full of data. So I *crave* and *need* interaction from real human beings in the evenings.

When I interact with other humans all evening, most of these people still go to bed at "normal hours" and I'm still awake with energy to burn. So I stay up for another 2-6 hours, having quiet down time for myself, whether that's mindlessly repairing a seam on a costume or decorating web pages for fun, or whether it's watching "junk food television" in the background (like listening to re-runs or listening to comedians on Comedy Central) or curling up with a good book. So when I'm told "be sure to find time for yourself," I have to remind people that I have hours of it almost every night.

I sleep in. I get rest. I lounge over my meals with a good book, sometimes lounging over all 3 (or 4 or 5 little) meals in a day. I get little things done around the house that relax me, that make me feel all warm and fuzzy and accomplished. You might think dishes are a chore, but according to my "normal" paradigm, I relax more with the warm water, soap, and satisfaction of having a clean kitchen by the power of my own hands.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm touched when my Mom and my Daughter (and my Friends) all tell me to "slow down" or "breathe" or "take time for yourself." But please understand that my journal is mostly filled with the *interesting* parts of my days. No one wants to read about "and then I did these boring but restful things." It's hard for me to be interested in *writing* an entry that says, "and then I did some dishes, and then I made coffee, then I enjoyed some more of 'Scribal Culture: The Making of the Hebrew Bible' over coffee and leftover lox and bagels and challah and tomatoes from Break Fast, and then I made my bed, and then I hung up some of my clean clothes, and then I drove to work...." Argh! Just kill me now, no one wants to read that! *giggle*

At the same time, I also occasionally write about my low-level stress or my dilemmas in what I'd like to be accomplishing versus what I've actually prioritized, simply because I'm being honest. Of course, you wouldn't want me to be a robot with no feelings of stress. Nor would you want me to paper-over everything and only act superficial. The journal is a place for me to celebrate the fun adventures in my life, and once in a while to say "gee, life is hard." *grin*

So, there you go. The human side of me, the explanation part. etc. etc.

But most importantly, allow me to remind you --> I'm doing okay. I really am. And never forget: I am a NUT. *grin*

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Dan (or Danny). I'm glad you're back in town, and we haven't visited nearly enough yet. We should do that.