Feeling Better

Okay, things are easing up a hair. I have been so overwhelmed with all there is to do, I was sort of frozen in place. Like when you dream a tiger/monster/bad guy is chasing you and you can't run? Or you try to scream and no sound comes out?
I made a detailed todo list and began knocking items off one by one today. Missed my workout, but I finished one grant (only one left), paid a visit to someone in the neighborhood who has been on my list too long, returned calls, made more calls, organized my dayplanner, and made a huge dent in the laundry. Bit by bit I am beginning to feel better and actually might reinstate my faith in myself as someone who can get things DONE.
The visit I made today was so cool. There was an elementary school in the neighborhood, and at some point in the past it was closed. I am pretty sure it was already closed when I moved here 15 years ago. About 12 years ago, someone bought it and renovated it into apartments. It has 14' ceilings and huge windows, but it backs up to our worst avenue, right on the edge of our neighborhood -- slumlords and crack houses and gangs, yup, all here in Smalltown, USA, and all concentrated on this one street. The apartments are nice, the building is nice, and the tenants are nice upper-middle-class older people. The problem is that it's not 100% safe outside their gates.
I made an appointment with the resident manager, a lady about 58 yrs old who is tiny, feisty, and fiercely loyal to her job and to our neighborhood. We formed a partnership: we are both going to contact the City about cleaning the area. We are going to increase our loudness bit by bit until something is done.
All the older folks from the neighborhood went to this school. She held an Open House 2 years ago and many of them visited, including the lady who grew up in my house. She collected copies of student photos, yearbooks, class pictures, and news articles, and compiled quite a scrapbook all about the school.
As I was getting ready to leave, she said, "If there's anything you need, please let us know. Our residents would love to volunteer for the neighborhood." BINGO. "Well.........we'd love it if you could compile ANOTHER scrapbook about the school. You see, we're having this charity auction on April 1 to raise funds for the park and I think it would draw quite a bit of money...." Of course she agreed, and now we will have this charming and unique item to auction off.
It was a better day.