Sometimes we must choose and live with it

I'm having to live with something this morning. A friend wrote and asked a favor. While thinking about when I could accommodate her with the favor, my brain went into calendar mode.

That was after I told her this week was out and probably next week because my "things to do" list usually controls me before I get a chance to intercede. As possible dates began to flash into my mind, my brain suddenly lurched, bigtime.

I had forgotten her birthday. Since my birthday was coming up, I thought about that and then thought, "If my birthday's coming up and hers is before mine------------oops, it's already happened."

That's what happens when the smorgasboard of life gets overloaded with too many offerings and too many essentials.

I seldom forget birthdays. My brain has been kinda funny that way. Once it locks in someone's birth date, it stays there forever. Now that's not to say I know everybody's birthdays, so don't get any high expectations.

But this friend is the same age as I---well, maybe a little older and wiser---and a few years ago, I hooked into her birthday. We've been exchanging greetings ever since, until this year, that is!

And, that's what got me going this morning on how the spontaneous events and responsibilities of our lives often get in the way of the good ol' basics, like having time to finish a job instead of doing it in snatches, remembering the special days of those who mean so much to us and sometimes attending their special occasions.

In this case, I realized I was pretty distracted at the time of my friend's birthday. Good excuse: we were in Chicago, celebrating another birthday that happened to land on the same day. I had a lot of my mind at the time, but, as I look at the present state of things, I'm trying to figure out a time when I DON'T have a lot on my mind.

I have come to the conclusion that it's time to quit beating myself to death because I can't do it all. And, that conclusion has hit me between the eyes several times in life. This weekend, I worked on controlling the schedule, and though some opportunities were passed over, I'm looking back on it and feeling pretty good.

Bill and I had some quality time with our two children. We actually went geocaching and enjoyed the outdoors together. The kids took us to dinner at Beyond Hope Restaurant (where, by the way, my buddy Skip Harris is now cooking some sumptuous, fascinating and tasty dishes).

For the first time in years, we spent an uninterrupted afternoon and evening together doing that "family bonding," as Annie calls it.

Our only disappointment was that Debbie, our daughter-in-law, could not make it up from Boise because of work. We missed her. Maybe next time we can all find a place and time to spend together, but I know I'll always remember this weekend as very special.

I would like to have participated in several other offerings that appeared on the weekend menu, but the choice made was the best, as far as I'm concerned.

I get weary, at times, always spending my life in snatches, never really concentrating on one activity as opposed to bits of this and bits of that. It's complicated, for sure, but in the end, I guess that if we just do the best we can and occasionally make those hard choices, that's probably the most reasonable approach.

It's always interesting at the end of the day----if there's time---to look back and think about what we've accomplished or experienced. That's one of the reasons I like doing this blog.

Writing or photographing events packages stuff for me, and occasionally, when frustrated about not being able to "do it all" or "choose it all," I feel pretty satisfied after skimming through the blog's chronology of day-to-day events.

Lots of babble today, but that's what's on my mind at this moment as the today's merry-go-round begins to spin and I grab for the brass rings of memories for today June 8, 2009. . . .

What's next? Only time will tell, and right now, it's time to get outside to grab a hose.

Happy Monday, and to my dear friend Jeanne: Happy Birthday, even if it's three weeks after the fact! You're older than I am, you ol' Social Security queen, you!