Wave good-bye to Project Girl

I have always had mounds of energy. Call me anything but lazy. Well, anything but lazy and fat. The latter is true, but that's just plain mean.

I have always been a project-girl. Give me a task and I'd complete it, no matter how long it took. I'd work into the wee hours of the morning. Get me enthralled in a book and I'd read it until sun-up. The late hours are where the magic was for me; in them I found my most creative ideas and bursts of unexplained energy. It was not unusual for me to work on a home project or something of that sort from the moment I walked in the door until well past the late news. I could easily push myself, physically and mentally.

Sadly, Project Girl is no longer. She's tired, she's getting older and she aches sometimes. I always liked Project Girl. Where is Project Girl?

After making it through a draining period at work, yesterday I finally started regaining my energy and my gusto for getting stuff done. Last night I headed home with all sorts of projects I wanted to complete, all swirling in my mind. There was pep in my step, energy in my gait, stamina in my stride.

And I put all of that energy to good use. Moving this, mopping that, sweeping this, organizing that, tackling that task, achieving this goal, putting this away. . . All-in-all I knocked all sorts of things of that list of pesky little projects that I had only noted, but hadn't yet gotten to. You know, those things that don't take much time, they aren't much fun, they aren't very rewarding and you are just hoping that the housekeeping and manual labor fairies will come and take care of them for you. Well, wake up, there is no such thing as a fairy. And while you are at it, give up on Bush making a logical decision, fat-free Fritos or an approaching end of the war in Iraq.

Eventually I sat down for a break and to revel in a job well done. That's when I noticed it. I hurt. I hurt all over. My back hurt. My head hurt. I was done for the night. The rest of the list would have to wait.

And that's when frustration set in. Why couldn't I do more. Why was I quitting now. No pain, no gain.

But the battle ended there. A nice warm shower, pajamas and a big chair awaited me. Oh and turning the heel on my second lace sock. Project Girl exists, she's just taking it a little slower these days.