When the wheels fall off

Our freezer is bare. On its shelves are a loaf of bread and some cupcake tins full of mashed peas for Lizzie.

A pile of laundry covers every inch of my walk-in closet and rises from the floor to the hemline of my dress pants - even as they are folded over a hanger.

But the clincher came yesterday when I walked into an important business meeting five minutes late, hiding my unshowered face behind gobs of makeup. Just five short minutes, but it was a meeting where you're supposed to show up 10 minutes early. Therefore, my tardy arrival was duly noted by all the men in suits around the conference room table.

It must be time to hang up the cape. No more super-mom; no super-professional here. The signs are all pointing in one direction. Slow down. Say no. Stop doing so much!

That's hard to do... I love every minute of everything I'm doing.

I love making food for the kids and my husband. I love hosting family at our house and spending time together. I love presenting financial information to boards of directors for Portland nonprofits. I love it! I love it all. But there's no way one human being can possibly do all that.

The problem is: I'm not doing any of it very well.

Why was I late to that meeting (and a dozen others this year)? It wasn't even until the Outlook reminder on my calendar dinged twice at 7:45am that I remembered having the meeting -- at 8am! I looked at my aunt Sarah in a panic. She said, "Go.. go.. I'll stay with the girls." I threw on clothes from the previous day, grabbed my makeup bag for the car and away I went.

Why? Why does this keep happening? I'll tell you. The wheels are beginning to fall off. I'm showing signs of overdoing it. Obvious signs.

So what do I do now?

I'm developing my own 12-step program. Well, actually I have just three steps because it's more efficient that way. And for someone with minimal time, efficiency is key.

Here we go:

1. Stop and smell the roses, or any flower.

• Check. See the pictures.

2. Prioritize. What's most important?

• Family, family, family. With grandma not feeling well, we've been blessed with more visits from our family in the last 4 months than in all the 8 years I've lived in Portland. I love it! It takes me away from work but that's OK. I want to embrace this time we have together.

3. Decide. Choose the most important things and decide to stop doing everything else. Here are some ways that I'm going to save time.

• Time to scale back work. I'm working 100% of a full-time schedule. How about 70%?
• Order takeout food more often. I'm usually fearful of the ingredients in prepared food. I like to know exactly what I am eating. Unfortunately that takes time and I have very little time.
• Have the cleaning lady more frequently.
• Send more to the dry cleaners and do less in-house.

Some of these are temporary solutions until things slow down. Then I can take on more again, like the laundry or cooking. For now, it's time to start meeting deadlines and keeping promises like I used to. The way to do that is make less promises and set fewer deadlines.

Wish me luck...