the irony of my blog title is not lost on me. I assure you.

Today was a near-perfect day, as far as I 'm concerned. A light breeze, cotton-candy clouds, and sky so deliciously blue...

We spent the better part of the morning out back, playing in the sandbox and refilling the bird feeders. L was burying her "fat kitty" in the sand when their Grandma showed up. As if that weren't exciting enough she had presents! I hated to leave this afternoon. She and the kids spent all day playing while I went to yet another meeting. This week I've been to so many meetings I can't even count them. At night, I've been turning on the computer the minute the kids are in bed, responding to emails, working, and trying to keep at bay this vague uneasiness that something is falling through the cracks.

I can not, can not maintain this frantic pace. I'm overcommitted. I have too much on my plate. This level of activity is just not sustainable. I have a feeling that the stress and anxiety of my long list of "to-do" is why I get so crabby and huffy and agitated. (Well, maybe.) I've been trying to think of how I can creatively trim my schedule so that I am more relaxed and more effective at the stuff I choose to keep doing. (like parenting, for example)...but to cut some of these activities? Yikes.

My problem is that I love each and every one of them. Take any one of my four jobs, for example. I would hate to let any of them go. They're all important, wonderful, stimulating. Stuff I love. Causes I'm passionate about. Areas where I feel I have something to contribute, professionally.

And then there are the volunteer commitments. There are four of those as well: the neighborhood association, an environmental advisory committee for the city of Minneapolis, and "helping out here and there" at L's school. (How could I say no? They're trying to "green" the school and the grounds...clearly, they need me) You see.....this is a problem.

Today's meeting was the state environmental education advisory task force (a mouthful!)...my subcommittee role is to help develop a statewide climate change curriculum for a variety of audiences. How could I give that up? I'm thrilled to be a part of that process. Excited to contribute to something so far-reaching.

These things are all meaningful and really important to me. I don't know what I would possibly cut from my schedule. If there were things I didn't enjoy, that'd be one thing....but that's so not the case.

I know, I know....simplifying for sanity and all of that. The title started out as a reference to the Stuff in our lives. How did I accumulate so many commitments? How do I clear the clutter, so to speak, when none of it really feels like clutter? It all feels important to me. I value it all.