(Am I the only person who is always tempted to add "earwax" to that? "Alas! Earwax.")

Over the course of the past 24 hours, my blissful scheme of scheduling went all to hell. The tutoring training is now scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday. Yay and all, but in order to accommodate this, I will probably need to work my manager's shift on Friday, which is ostensibly my day off. I will also be training on Thursday, my other day off.

On Saturday, I've been booked to do two sets of spoken word at my school's festival. (Which reminds me of two things I wanted to tell you. 1) I've decided that spoken word isn't my thing. I mean the slam-style spoken word. I like to read with energy and vigor, keep the audience interested, but I am not interested in honing my performance skills and being some hot shit slam artist. It's not my bag, baby. 2) I will be forced to see Ian at the festival, since his band is playing. I am not looking forward to that. He still gets under my skin, and I'll leave you to decide in what way.)

The Saturday after that, I agreed to give tarot readings at a spiritual fair hosted by our café-owner friends. (I know it sounds out of left field, but they've been planning this for a year, and I've always agreed to be involved.) I agreed to do it before realizing I had already planned to spend that weekend in Los Angeles for Ash's birthday party.

Today I got lots of happy email that made me sad, because I was invited to do lots of cool things that I would love to do, but can't. I hate saying no to friends, hate it hate it hate it. I love my friends; I miss them; I want to see them. I love parties! People! It seems I am always too busy to see everyone.

One of my friends is throwing a housewarming party which is on the night of my training, so I can't go. Another friend is throwing another party which is on the night of the festival, so I can't go. And friend number three just wants to hang out with me, which I promised him I would do on either weekend A (festival weekend) or weekend B (Los Angeles or psychic fair weekend), and I can no longer do either one.

I have overbooked myself in a big, big way. Trusty pocket planner, how could you have failed me?

It's only going to get worse, guys. Somehow before the summer is over (and it suddenly seems like a short, short summer), I plan to make at least two trips to Los Angeles, take a road trip around the Pacific Northwest, go on a jaunt to Santa Cruz, and goddamnit, finally go to the Shakespeare Festival this year.

And I also have to finish my chapbook (I am waiting on the Ghost Stories artwork), work on my thesis, do some serious clearing of paper, rearrange my work schedule to accommodate a brand-new third job, and a partridge in a pear tree.

And to think for the past couple of weeks, I wasn't feeling stressed out at all. Was it because I conveniently forgot all the things I had to do, or because I took the pressure off of myself to do them all? Maybe equal amounts of both. It was nice, though. It was a simpler time. I was younger then.

Maybe I can learn to channel this new burst of energy I seem to have. I was completely manic at work today. Judging by this journal entry, I am still manic. Is it the food thing? We're now on two weeks of sugarlessness (or low-sugarness) and I am hoping that I'm finally reaping the benefit: ridiculous amounts of energy.

One of my customers (this hot, hot Indian guy with an English accent) actually asked me how I stayed so vital, because I looked very energetic and healthy. Woo! Thank you, hot guy. It's only been a day since I felt like this, so it may be something entirely unrelated to the sugarlessness, but we'll see. I certainly haven't been exercising regularly; I can only imagine what the endorphins might add to this cocktail.

Also, I am wondering how this new job will pan out. I need to work a certain amount of hours as a Minion in order to keep my Minion insurance. And the tutoring gig is both seasonal and irregular, so it's not as if I can quit Minionhood altogether (not that I'd even want to). But at the same time, I want to work as many hours as I possibly can as a tutor, because it's a lot more money than Minion wages.

And I don't seem to be capable of turning down proofreading work either, which just arrives in my mailbox like free extra money, in large chunks, long after the work is done.

I guess I need to get more organized. I thought I was organized-- and I am, considering that it's me we're dealing with here-- but clearly I need to get better about writing things in my planner and following through on things and communicating and such. It's just that there are so many things written in the little squares, it's easy to get confused.

Sigh. I think we're going to need a bigger planner.

"While driving in the Bay Area, the radio is fine. But have you been to central California recently? There is a 200 mile stretch of wasteland where the radio plays the following types of music: Christian, Spanish, Country, Country Christian, Spanish Country, and Christian Spanish."