Pre-ACPA Anxiety (No quote needed)

There's planning to go to ACPA when you're a grad student.....and then planning to go to ACPA as a professional. Two VERY DIFFERENT things, as I'm learning this week. Let's chat.

Example One.....I am leaving on Saturday. It is now Thursday night and I have meetings for the first half of tomorrow and 2 events to attend tomorrow night. I just got out my suitcase today and it remains on my bed, completely empty. I have a very shady idea in my head as to what I intend to bring. Somehow I need to find the time to pack, when the grad school me would have been all packed by now minus the essentials.

Example Two....I have an incredibly large list of work related things to get done before I leave. Some I absolutely HAVE to get done, some I just really WANT to get done. Either way, there is not enough time in the day tomorrow to get everything finished before I intend on leaving my office to finish some last minute errands. The grad school me had everything completed and organized, tabbed and labeled, and ended up taking the day before the conference OFF because I was just that good.

Example Three....My apartment is an absolute disaster. There are shoes EVERYWHERE - literally in each room except the kitchen. Clothes are strewn about, my sink is full of dishes, my coffee table has a bunch of random things, my bedroom is a wreck. I really would like to clean tomorrow so I can come back to a relatively decent home, but let's not forget what Examples One and Two told you already about my to-do list. The grad school me would have already cleaned.

Example Four....I HAVE to do laundry tomorrow, especially since a few things I would like to take with me are dirty. And then I'd also be coming back to a gigantic amount of laundry, as I'd have what I already left here PLUS what I would be bringing back. The grad school me would be ironing my clothes already and placing them gently in my suitcase.

Example Five....I am more worried than I expected about leaving my building and staff for five days. I understand that this is NOT a big deal; they are adults (including the residents, despite what they make me believe certain days), they know how to do their job, they know what to do in an emergency. I'm just a little mom-like at this point and I'm having some anxiety about leaving them all alone. The grad school me didn't have these worries - I just shut the window and locked the door behind me, then dragged my stuff out of my apartment building.


The good thing is that I already have an idea for what sessions I want to see.....I already know what I'll be doing in my free time.....I already have made some plans with old friends from grad school. I might be ahead of the game in DC, but here in CollegeTown I am so far behind. My early bedtimes as of late are definitely not helping and I have a feeling that tomorrow could be a very late night. And of course instead of doing things now I am sitting here posting this, because as much as I want to get things taken care of, I still enjoy the good old feel of procrastination.

My goal is to try and blog regularly duing the conference. I did a decent job of it last year, but we'll see if I can actually pull this off.....