Pressure Cooker

My mom inherited my grandmother's old-fashioned pressure cooker, and if I close my eyes, I can still picture that big old silver pot with the little cylinder on top perched on the stove in Mom's kitchen. I can't remember what Mom cooked in the pressure cooker, but I do remember the noise that crazy pot would make as it heated up. The little cylinder thingy on the top would shake and rattle and whistle, and I always thought the whole thing was going to explode. And being the weirdo that I am, I remember wondering what was going on with the food inside the pressure cooker. I remember thinking that it must have been quite uncomfortable for the items inside the pot being exposed to all that heat and pressure. Yes, I know ... the things I think frighten me sometimes, too.

Some days, I feel like I'm inside one of those old-fashioned pressure cookers, just waiting for the heat to get so intense that the lid blows off and I explode into a million little pieces. Today was one of those days ... two big projects on my desk when I sat down this morning, an enormous project with a tight deadline that took six hours to complete that I received right before lunch, 20 or so smaller projects that had to be done in the midst of the giant project, cranky and demanding people who thought their work should take precedence over anything else on my desk, three huge projects that I left on my desk tonight when I simply couldn't edit one more word and finally called it a day. A pressure cooker kind of day in the truest sense, and tomorrow promises to be another one as well.

So tonight, I've got no stories to tell, no lessons to share, no feelings to convey. I'm just tired, tired, tired ... physically and mentally. I've been asleep on the couch for the last two hours, and now I'm going to take a hot bath and go to bed. At least I think I am ... it's stinking thundering and lightning outside, and you all know how much I detest storms. Fitting, I suppose, considering the kind of day it's been. And tomorrow, I get to do it all over again.

Good night ... sleep tight, and try to keep your lids on.