I have a potluck tomorrow night, at the home of a woman who is a vegetarian and married to an Indian. She will be making dal and veggies. A week ago, I was going to find some cool vegetarian Indian dish. A couple of days ago, I decided to make a dessert instead, and picked out a nice elegant cheesecake. Tonight I made a batch of banana pudding.

Why the shift? Stress. Cumulative stress. The stress of making something for the potluck. The stress of knowing I will be out late Wednesday night. And then there’s work–

Statistically, you would not expect random, or even semi-random events to have an even distribution. In patent world, this means that deadlines tend to come in clumps. I am mid-clump. Big fun. And then there’s the holiday concert–

The concert is on Thursday night. Which means I have two more days to practice the Christmas music I will be playing. Am I stressed out over this? Well, yes. Pre-performance anxiety helps guarantee you don’t make an ass out of yourself on stage. Two more days to practice. And then there’s my daughter–

Who has been in some kind of royal snit for the last several days. I don’t know what it is, but I’m reaching the point that if she gives me that ‘I wish you were dead’ glare one more time, I’m going to pack her in a steamer trunk and ship her to Calcutta. And then there’s my car–

I still haven’t gotten my tires fixed. The guys at Les Schwab thought they were waiting for me to call them, I thought I was waiting for them to call me. I will swing by Thursday morning before work so they can look at the tires again. Which will get me in late to work. And then there’s my health–

My doctor called me on my cell phone this evening, as I frantically cruised the grocery store for the ingredients for banana pudding. He’s a very chatty sort. It was not a short conversation. Long story short, I’m not diabetic yet, but I am prediabetic. Big surprise. My cholesterol is okay, but my triglycerides are high. Again, big surprise.

“You have metabolic syndrome,” says my doctor.

“Which is?” I ask.

“A set of symptoms that occur in one individual: high blood pressure, obesity, elevated lipid levels, insulin resistance…”

“You just described my whole family, doc.” I say.

“Well, you know I hate to put you on more medication, so I’m going to give you one more chance to lose some weight and get some exercise.”

And then there’s Christmas: I have done remarkably little Christmas shopping yet. And then there’s my brother-in-law: who had a heart attack and bypass surgery. and then there’s my college buddy, whose father just passed away. And the lawn looks shaggy. And I need new dress shoes. And I don’t think I’ll fit into my suit for the Christmas luncheon. And, and, and…..

And I have to take a deep breath, and deal with this just one day at a time. Tomorrow is Wednesday. Tomorrow is Les Schwab before work, then potluck and board meeting after work. I’ll deal with Thursday when it gets here. And then the day after that.