Unpreparedness

Fifth grade, 1985, 10:00 p.m. I was drifting off to sleep in my bedroom when the feeling of dread washed over me - my six weeks social studies project was due 3rd period the next morning, and I had not even picked out what I was going to do from the list the teacher, Ms. Mankin, had given us. I was freaking out for several reasons - first, this was the day before open 24 hours a day Wal-Mart and the internet which could instantaneously generate information on any topic. Second, I was very conscientous about my grades, and for some reason social studies was giving me fits. The tests the teacher gave were multiple choice book tests, so all I had to do was read the textbook material and apply it. For some reason I would do poorly on those tests (one time I had studied extra hard, outlined the whole chapter, and still received a 60% - I remember excusing myself to the bathroom and bawling my eyes out.) I needed these project points to boost my grade. Third, how was I going to pull together a six weeks project with no resources in so little time? Thankfully I had parents who did not always live by that annoying saying "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." Dad went to Hooks (probably the only store still open) and bought me some posterboard. Mom helped me pull out our old 1968 Collier Encylcopedias. I decided to do 3 informational posters on 3 of our presidents, cutting out pictures from the Encyclopedia and pasting them on top of the poster and drawing handwriting lines down below and filling them with information. I don't remember what time we all went to bed that night, but I did receive a B on the project, and another crisis was endured.

I have had 3 situations in the last 3 days where my lack of planning has really caused some inconvenience. My tomatoes are finally turning (yeah!) and what better meal to make with tomatoes than BLT's? I went to the store, bought bacon, lettuce, bread, and some watermelon, and after scrounging around in the garden for 4 ears of corn I missed when I did my main picking, we were set for a true summertime meal. The tomatoes were cut, the bacon was fried, the bread was toasted, the watermelon was sliced, the corn was boiling, all I needed to do was get out the mayo for the sandwiches. I open up the refrigerator, and what???? There was an empy bottle of mayonnaise in the side door. NO MAYONNAISE? I knew Jason had been the last to use it the night before when he made a chicken sandwich. The wrath of Deb was unleashed. "JASON!!!" I went on to tell him how frustrating it was to open the mayo only to find it empty and blah blah blah blah blah. I think what really happened was that he left it on the counter while he was eating, and in my haste to clean up the kitchen, I put it back in the refrigerator. Anyways, you can't have a BLT without mayonnaise, so dinner was put on hold while Jason ran (okay, he isn't training for the triathlon, so he actually drove) to Marsh and purchased some mayonnaise. Maybe it's just trouble with BLT's, but we had another ingredient crisis tonight. Uncle Jerry had given me some corn to fix, so I thought again, why not just finish up the bacon and lettuce and have BLT's again. The tomatoes were cut, the corn was boiling, the MAYONNAISE WAS ON THE TABLE, all that was left was to get the bacon...WHAT? Where were the other six slices of bacon left over from the other night? Well, come to find out, they were in the trash (we dug them out.) Who put them there, Jason or Deb? It's a mystery that will not ever be solved, but Jason once again made a Marsh run, again choosing to drive.

Last night was yet another example of poor planning. It was around 11:00 p.m., and we were getting ready to head to bed when Jason said, "How are you going to get your bike from your parents' house?" I was supposed to meet Shelli at 8:30 in the morning at the YMCA, and I needed my bike. The problem was I had forgotten that my bike was at my parents' house (I had kept it there since I had stayed with them last week and just trained from their house.) Jason was willing to hook up the trailer and go get it, but at this point it was 11:15, and I felt guilty having him pay for my lack of planning. So this morning, I got up early, stopped by Wal-Mart to buy a bike lock, went to my parents', left my car, rode my bike to the YMCA, and locked it up while we did our swimming. Then after we biked and ran, I rode my bike back to my house, Shelli picked me up after riding her bike back to the YMCA, and she took me to my parents' house to get my car. What an ordeal!

I have a recurring dream about being unprepared. I'm in a school setting, usually high school but sometimes junior high, and one of two scenarios happens. The most common one is that it is the first day of school, and I don't have my schedule, so I don't know what class to go to. I try to find my locker to see if I stuffed it there, but then I don't know the combination. The bell rings, everyone else heads to class, and I am stuck in the hallway. Sometimes I go to student services for a new schedule; sometimes I wander the hall. The other scenario is that I am class, and I either haven't studied for the test or I haven't done my homework. When I wake up from these types of dreams, a feeling of relief washes over me when I realize I am no longer in school, I am gainfully employed, and I don't have to worry about test scores and homework anymore.

Triathlon Training Update - Today was the heaviest training day we will have for the 8 week training period. We had to do 90 minutes of training, so we decided to break that up differently than 30 minutes for each. We decided to do the swim until we had done 500 yards (took us just under 20 minutes), then bike for 40 minutes and run for 30 minutes. We were a little overzealous on the bike, deciding while riding through Shady Hills that we would visit a friend of ours in Forest Ridge. Forest Ridge seems really close when going 60 miles an hour down St. Rd. 15. Not so close going 15 m.p.h. However, once we had committed, we kept going. Unfortunately, our friend was not home, so we rode back to town, stopped at Kismet's and got a drink, parked our bikes, and ran. We only ended up running 2 miles (20 minutes) due to our extended bike ride - we went around 9 miles on that leg (Shelli went more since she rode back to the Y, and I went more with my initial trip from my parents' to the Y. ) All together today, I swam the full 500, biked 14 miles, and ran 2 miles. So it is somewhat close to what we will do on THE DAY, minus the added pressure of swimming in open water and competing against other people.