An expression I have always enjoyed using in general conversation is about the passage of time. We’ve all seen movies they’re they use the visual trick of having pages of a calendar fly off or seasons pass through seasons from spring to summer to fall to winter and we are all made to feel that there are times in storytelling where one needs to show that time marches on and indeed time either changes nothing or changes everything. We have also seen the visual representation of marking time by having a calendar that has days crossed off as someone approaches some deadline or much anticipated important threshold date. Whenever I see that marked calendar I am inclined to say that that is not a very productive way to think about life. We all have only so many days allotted to us by nature and we should be using each and every one of them to the max and not treating them like things that need to be counted down. The expression is that its not the destination, but rather the journey that counts. Nevertheless, there are times when much is planned and much needs to be done in preparation and its important to remind ourselves of what’s on the calendar and how that timeframe works so that we do all that we want or plan to do and are ready for each step along the way.
I am heading into just such a time after a respite from just such another time. The month of July is always a well-programmed time for us with the granddaughters here. My daughter Carolyn’s nature is to keep her posse very active at all times and have a schedule of things that need doing. We certainly did that this July. Now, after a few weeks of relative down time, I need to gear up for another sequence of activities that will require me to be on my toes in order to meet all the plans and obligations. I think things are spaced out and planned well so that there will be no conflicts or fire drills, but that’s what laying it all out on a calendar is meant to do. This week is our run-up to our fiesta, which I have previously described in sufficient detail. Last night, Kim and I reviewed the preparations (I have a Notes page on my phone dedicated to attendees and to-dos) and given that we are at 68 attendees (10 kids), we have notified the Lime Truck and Margarita Truck of those numbers and have secured enough chairs and tables (we have all the tables we need and we will borrow 6 chairs from Melisa and 14 chairs from Faraj for a total of 9 tables and seating for 52). We do this outdoor party logistics several times a year and we have a certain groove about it. We also have our shopping lists completed and between Amazon Prime and one run to Costco, we are covered (note that Amazon has already delivered their stuff overnight…damn!).
We then have one week after the party to prepare for our trip to Europe since we left on Sunday, August 30th. As for me, I know pretty much what I plan to pack (two week trips are our standard length and I watch the weather closely for what to pack). I have to add in a suit and tie to my wardrobe this time since I have a two-hardtop in Chicago on the back end for an expert witness workshop, but I am prepared for that. What I also need to use this week to do is prepare my materials, for another set of workshops for the week following our trip when I will be required to fly back east to New York CIty for the week to co-run a Private Credit litigation workshop. I will be doing this workshop about five times between in-person versions in NYC that third week in September and several Zoom versions the week after. That means that this cannot be off-the-cuff, but must be well-scripted and well-prepared. Since I do not plan to work too much on this while on vacation (though I have been asked to do some prep sessions during that time and have had to decline), I want my work to be well-prepared before I fly out and that means it has to be done next week. These tags always seem so intimidating ahead of time, but I know from 13 years of graduate-level teaching that once you get into the preparation, it flows more easily than you think. I will have four days between Chicago and New York City, which I imagine will be when those requested prep sessions will happen and then we will adjust the presentations on the fly in NYC after the first one, when we get a feel for how this works with the audience. It will be interesting to learn how much the litigation associates and partners at these law firms know about the arena we will be discussing. To begin with, they are not financial professionals, but then I have met few lawyers who don’t feel that they know as much about finance as most finance people do. That’s why we will have to recalibrate after the first session.
After that run of activities spanning four weeks, I will have most of four weeks of “down time” to catch up on other expert work that I have to do and whatever needs doing around the house. Then we have another weekend trip to NYC for social reasons before two weeks of preparation for our back-to-back trips to Hawaii and Mexico City, followed by Thanksgiving, followed shortly thereafter by our annual trip to NYC for our family Holiday gathering. It seems funny to say this, but I am looking forward to things slowing down a little during December in the run up to the full holiday season. So far, January seems like a recuperation month for me though I have no real visibility on expert work demands for that time just yet, and then in February we head off for our Greek Odyssey.
What this all translates to is eight months on that calendar flying off before we know it and the next six weeks in particular being intense and action-packed. I have no plans to cross off any days, but rather to use each and every day to get things done that need doing. My new-found higher energy levels will help and I will keep a tight control on my eating and workouts to keep that momentum going, but it is hard not to admit that my life for the immediate future is heavily dominated by the pages on the calendar.