You Have To Learn To Pace Yourself

The past couple of weeks have been filled with all kinds of picayune details of adult life, not the least of which is the compounding budget crisis here in California. We have been told that public school budgets will once again be tightened to the tune of fifteen percent. Luxuries like field trips and PE teachers are now negotiable. This is the way we try to keep budget cuts away from the classroom. But there have been no assurances about computer teachers. And so we wait.
While I am waiting, I have dealt with a whirlwind of home entertainment confusion that, after dozens of toll-free calls to various technical support lines and visits by three different cable TV technicians, has resulted in our family's ability to watch Youtube videos on our big screen. A relative triumph, but a triumph nonetheless.
I have also received notification that my TB test certification has lapsed and needs to be renewed to continue teaching in public schools. Not a huge project, just a quick visit downtown to get stuck with a needle, and a return visit three days later to have someone check the appropriate box, then hand deliver that checked box to the human resources department. Just a lot of running about.
And the very next day, I received my annual invitation from the justice system to be a part of the process. Having lived through the onerous non-event that was my jury duty last year, I am not as worried about the vagaries of the experience. It's one more thing to stick on the calendar. All of which probably lead to the dream I had.
I was standing outside my high school band room, knowing that I was on the late side to report for a performance of the concert band. The problem was, I didn't have a white shirt to wear underneath my uniform. Conveniently enough in my dream version of high school, there was a yard sale going on out front, and there were a number of shirts for sale, unfortunately the only white shirt had just recently been dyed blue. My mind raced with possibilities: where could I go, quickly, to find a button down shirt that would pass? If I got in my car and drove anywhere, I would be late. Maybe there was one in my locker inside. When I got there, the whole back end of the band room was being remodeled, and my locker was hanging open, empty.
That's when I woke up and decided to go back to dealing with the humdrum process of being a grown-up.