Today was one of those days that reminded me how little room for error exists in my life. An inherent risk of balancing a big fat full-time job, a part-time job, family obligations and my own insistent need to incorporate  none-of-the-above in all-the-above. Most of my life people have said something along the lines of, “I don’t know how you do it,” regarding the variety of stuff that I do and yet, from my vantage point, I still feel like I don’t do enough. Some people work even more jobs, have even more children, accumulate multiple degrees and make time to volunteer at the soup kitchen on a weekly basis. Finish novels. Compared to that, I fall short. And today, wow, the number of important things I didn’t get done far outweighs the few minor things I did accomplish.

On the upside, this sensation of having seriously misallotted my time today is an unusual one, so that must mean I usually utilize better judgment. I wouldn’t be this troubled if I didn’t normally juggle obligations with more success. Right? And I did have some nice moments. But it does mean a more work-filled Saturday tomorrow than usual – lucky to have work, though, especially in this era of unemployment, and stunningly fortunate to have a serious job I love and a side job too fun to give up. And importance of time management duly reinforced. So there: Stress to gratitude in 238 words.

Besides, the entire week prior consisted of traveling to Sacramento and Folsom pitching ocean protection and enjoying warm sunshine in the evenings – when you spend hours talking about how the practice of slicing the fins off sharks is a bad idea – and you have to talk about how it’s a bad idea for humans because of all the mercury in the fins and the potential economic impact of removing a top predator from the seafood chain because, you know, it’s not just inherently bad enough – well, you need those couple blocks walking from the Capitol to the hotel, sun shining down, fruit trees bursting with blossoms, flowers fragranting the ebbing breeze, because it’s those moments that remind you, that’s the world you’re trying to save.