Stress is EEEEVIL!

I honestly try to keep my posts on here as positive as possible, if for no other reason than to remind myself how good I have it. But the next two weeks are literally going to resemble Hell on Earth. Between now and May 25th, I am literally going to have 3 days which don't have anything scheduled in terms of work, rehearsal, performances, or Young Life.

This week's schedule consists of: Rehearsal & work Monday night; map training for work, rehearsal & work Tuesday night; rehearsal Wednesday night; work first day shift Thursday night and then rehearsal; fitting for my costume on Friday; yard sale fundraiser for Young Life on Saturday; church and a chance to breath on Sunday.

Next week: work Monday, rehearsal here in Baker; on Tuesday work, drive to Elgin (70 min away) for rehearsal, then drive back; on Wednesday is a dental appointment in the morning, then drive to and from Elgin for another rehearsal; Thursday, same as Wednesday without the dental appointment; Friday work until 4 pm, drive to Elgin, perform, drive back; Saturday same as Friday; Sunday I just work 6 am to 6 pm.

After that, it gets a little better because we only have two rehearsals and everything is here in Baker. Problem is, now I feel like the gal who does our scheduling at work is a little miffed with me, because I've had to request a couple of hours off here and there in order to go to these rehearsals/performances. And on top of that, I have my husband breathing down my neck, asking me why I need to go to these rehearsals, and no matter how I try to explain it, he doesn't get that I NEED these rehearsals. Otherwise I am not going to know my lines, my cues, my blocking, or my songs. You can't just stare at music or a script and have it all translate smoothly to the stage.

A big part of my stress is the fact that I feel like I am going to get up on the stage and draw a complete blank because I've missed so many rehearsals. We are 11 days (7 rehearsals) away from the play opening and there are still parts of the play that I haven't been been told the blocking on and songs that I have yet to hear! That may not seem like a big deal, but it's a HUGE deal.

The funny thing is that today started out as a wonderful day, even though I only got about 3 hours of sleep. I got laundry done, I did dishes, the sky was blue, it was about 70 degrees out, and I had a chance to finish the movie we started last night which I feel asleep 20 minutes into. But then my traitorous mind wouldn't let me stop thinking about my songs, my lines, work, and whether my husband is going to completely give up on me by the end of this whole extravaganza. All I can do is pray that we both get out of this with our wits intact. Afterall, after May 25th, life is (hopefully) going to be smooth sailing for another 6 months. And then our lives will change dramatically again when the kid shows up.

Maybe we should just think of this as training for the stress of having an infant in the house. Somehow I think I'll enjoy the infant more.