Suffering from CBS (A Ramblewrite)

I just now identified and named a common ailment: Cluttered Brain Syndrome, or CBS for short. It can strike at any time in life. Students juggling homework, activities, and jobs know all about it. Sleep-deprived mothers with infants and toddlers have suffered from it. Hard-working fathers with jobs to obtain and keep, bills to pay, and children's activities to attend are no strangers to it.

My current case of CBS stems from several sources. I am helping with costumes for yet another play, so part of my brain is always thinking about that. I have a team of seven youth who are supposed to be doing most of the legwork this time, but half of them don't seem to grasp that actual effort is required on their part, so some tasks are not getting accomplished. They often don't respond to my emails and texts, so I have no idea whether progress is being made.

Another percentage of my brain is preoccupied with my upcoming visit to my sister in sunny Arizona. I am looking forward to escaping the rain, snow, gray skies, and general drabness we've experienced all of January. But I'm not a frequent flyer, so preparing for the plane trip is stressful. Furthermore, I need to remember to do many odds and ends before I leave, like clean the litter boxes and water the house plants. The less my husband has to remember to do in my absence, the better.

I need to go to some appointments this week, and do the grocery shopping, and babysit my granddaughter, and try not to catch any of the nasty "bugs" that are going around. And I signed up for a class at the local library, and that starts on Friday, the day before I head south.

On top of all that, my "grandpuppy" threw up his supper and developed diarrhea this weekend. He has been living with us for three months because he was always sick at the house where my daughter lives. He was doing fine here until Friday night. None of us here can think of anything he might have eaten that he shouldn't have. Maybe it's just because he is old, and things go wrong sometimes.

And yesterday I got a call from my reclusive neighbor, from whom I rarely hear. Her husband had an aneurysm and is in the hospital. She has never been alone, and is quite upset. Furthermore, she admitted she is dying from cancer. She opted not to tell people, and opted not to do chemo or radiation. She is not well, and she doesn't drive, and she has depended on her husband for everything for over thirty years. My heart goes out to her.

So there you have the reasons for my Cluttered Brain Syndrome. I know I just need to take one day at a time and trust the Lord for wisdom and direction, but sometimes that's easier said than done.