Yesterday afternoon, after two trips to the VA back-to-back (80 miles), I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

Time to follow my own advice, I thought. (I'm great at giving out advice, but sometimes I have to be reminded that what's good for the gander is good for the goose).

So I took one of those refrigerator magnetized bulletin boards, put it prominently on the refrigerator door, and listed each of the major tasks I have on my plate.

More overwhelmed than ever, I stared at the list morosely. Listing them made them seem to loom over me in a menacing, toothy fashion.

I re-ran my advice in my head, and realized that I was missing a crucial component. Underneath each major heading I needed to sublist the components, each one a manageable item, preferably noted in logical order.

Ah, much better. Although I'm still feeling like there's more than I can deal with, because all of these things need to be dealt with simultaneously (next 3 weeks or so), at least they are subdivided into tasks I can handle one at a time, in some kind of priority order.

Should take my own advice more often.

what I really want to do is far different...a good book, a nice cup of coffee, a cat on the lap...oh, well, maybe someday