Whipsawed in August

It is the morning for the blog post that says that I am whipsawed.   I am often whipsawed in August, as whatever has been happening in the summer will transition to whatever will be happening in autumn.  This year, there's the additional element of my mom's health scare. She seems to be on the mend, and once again, we've avoided the more dire scenarios.  At some point, our luck will run out, but happily, not this year.

It's been strange taking an unexpected trip up to help my parents.  My unhelpful patterns try to reassert themselves during times of stress and anxiety, which I think is the norm for most people.  Happily, I know what to expect, so I bought pretzels for times of overeating:  not a lot of nutritional value, but not as much harm as other choices.  I've managed to continue in my abstinence experiment in terms of alcohol--hurrah for me.  I practiced prayer and deep breaths and gave myself permission to have some treats, like ice cream.  Well, that's not exactly true--I've been eating a daily bowl of ice cream since mid-June when I had the cold that didn't go away for weeks.

Today I drive down to Spartanburg for the first day of classes.  Wow.  I am ready for a change, but I'm also tired.

It's also strange to think in terms of chaplaincy training, which continues, despite my going back to teaching.  I have a big, final paper to write, which I'll start on once I finalize these syllabi.  I'm done with the syllabi for today's classes, but tomorrow's classes still need some work.

Speaking of syllabi, let me give myself permission for a shorter blog post this morning.  Let me see if I can get my syllabi for tomorrow's classes complete.