So, the first week since my dad retired from his paint job a week ago is just about over now. The rest of today is routine, and so is tomorrow. I have a brother stopping by for dinner tomorrow, so we're going to barbecue a ham in case he wants some kind of dinner.
This week has gone better than I thought it was going to...I very much feared we'd be at each other's throats in a couple of days. That having been said, it's still very hard for me not to be distracted.
This being springtime, the pet cockatiel wants to be with flock, and often...that's what birds do, so no real fault there. But sometimes she gets really peepy -- okay, let's make that shrieky -- until she gets the attention she wants. Sometimes we have to lock her in her cage with a blanket cover to cut the peeps down. But dad, I'm willing to bet, doesn't want to suddenly have to stop from occasional basement puttering to do that.
So on days when we're both home, I have to wear many hats. I study (which has gone better this week), I assist at times, but I also have to play pacifier with the bird to keep peace in the house. That means there's a lot going on, and frankly, it's stressful. I can't lie: It does get in my way because the bird likes to sit on my knee, and that makes carrying on difficult because I tend to take notes on my lappy (it's faster for me)...and sometimes I can't improvise by bringing in some reading that I know I can't take notes on because a) the text is too difficult to use or b) it's for catch-up (heaven knows if I'll ever be able to do that before the semester ends).
Today the strain is showing somewhat. I finished an assignment I have to do for Monday but really don't feel like I've been able to zero in for long with everything else going on. I wanted to go to the bank to deposit my tax refunds but totally forgot about it. We had a repairman checking out one of the stove burners that hasn't been firing properly too, so that didn't help matters much.
All this isn't necessarily to say that I can't manage this. But it is saying that I'm finding this awfully hard. DS is really what's keeping me going right now.
This week has gone better than I thought it was going to...I very much feared we'd be at each other's throats in a couple of days. That having been said, it's still very hard for me not to be distracted.
This being springtime, the pet cockatiel wants to be with flock, and often...that's what birds do, so no real fault there. But sometimes she gets really peepy -- okay, let's make that shrieky -- until she gets the attention she wants. Sometimes we have to lock her in her cage with a blanket cover to cut the peeps down. But dad, I'm willing to bet, doesn't want to suddenly have to stop from occasional basement puttering to do that.
So on days when we're both home, I have to wear many hats. I study (which has gone better this week), I assist at times, but I also have to play pacifier with the bird to keep peace in the house. That means there's a lot going on, and frankly, it's stressful. I can't lie: It does get in my way because the bird likes to sit on my knee, and that makes carrying on difficult because I tend to take notes on my lappy (it's faster for me)...and sometimes I can't improvise by bringing in some reading that I know I can't take notes on because a) the text is too difficult to use or b) it's for catch-up (heaven knows if I'll ever be able to do that before the semester ends).
Today the strain is showing somewhat. I finished an assignment I have to do for Monday but really don't feel like I've been able to zero in for long with everything else going on. I wanted to go to the bank to deposit my tax refunds but totally forgot about it. We had a repairman checking out one of the stove burners that hasn't been firing properly too, so that didn't help matters much.
All this isn't necessarily to say that I can't manage this. But it is saying that I'm finding this awfully hard. DS is really what's keeping me going right now.
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