Lupus logistics - making the day work

Per my post two Fridays ago regarding my upcoming, packed fall schedule, I had some noodling to do. And I'm proud to say I noodled, and came out victorious. That is, I was able to objectively and constructively whittle away at my list of to-do's, to make for a more comfortable, do-able fall agenda. Much to my chagrin, I am going to have to pass on one of my trips to Philadelphia and a trip to New York, but I know it's for the best. Johnny, in fact, may make the trip to NYC to do the Pillfold sales call. He's practically a pro at this point - and he has the advantage of having plenty of energy to make one or two extra sales calls while he's in town. If I had made the trip - it would have been nap time by the time I was finished with the one visit. But Johnny? He can go the distance. Guess I should work him to the bone while I can!

As I was going through my list, strategically planning out the day of, the day before, and the day after each event, I realized that the logistics we, as lupites, have to consider might not be apparent to the world around us. I know for a fact that before I was diagnosed, I took for granted the carefree nature with which I undertook activities and endeavors. It takes some serious forethought to carry out even the simplest of plans. Here's an example of how I attack an event:

Take for instance the Rock, Paper, Cocktails event where I'll be setting up shop to sell my Pillbags. The event begins at 6:30pm, and vendors need to be there by 5pm. That means I need to leave by 4:30ish, with plans to pack the car by 4:15pm. That also means that I need to start getting dressed and ready at 3:45pm, which means my nap HAS to start before 2pm and there can't be any interruptions. (Note to self: make it a mandatory movie day for Dee, and schedule Johnny as backup just in case.)

This also means that while Deirdre will be in school from 9-12pm, I'll need to pare down on the running around that Bernie and I do that morning. We'll stick around the house rather than running errands, I'll reschedule the doctor's appointment I currently have, and we'll just ease into the afternoon. Conserving energy is key!

As far as prepping my products, in the good ole days, I wouldn't have carved out time to tag and label my bags; I would have simply relied on the wee hours of the night before to put the finishing touches on the bags. Pre-lupus, it used to be that 10-1am was prime catch up time. But not anymore. I've not only added lupus to the mix, I've also added two kids to the repertoire. And since they don't respect the "no movement before 9am" rule...I can't count on catching up on my morning zzz's. So I'll need to carve out a chunk of time during the weekend prior to make sure I get my stuff prepped.

While it will be a bit of a late night for me, I'll just plan on taking it easy again on Tuesday morning after the event. My mom will be in town, as mentioned in another post, and while my inclination is to make a fabulous baked good for breakfast, and do something fun and exciting for lunch, that won't be happening. Once again, we'll just ease into the morning and afternoon - taking time to recover and tying up loose ends from the evening before. And my mom is very good at "easing", so I think we'll be alright there!

So there you have it - one 3-hour event accounted for. I'm glad that planning session is over!

Comments

Popular Posts