My new story is coming along well. This week, I had to take some time out to prepare a lesson for Relief Society on Sunday. I'm actually the secretary now, no longer a teacher, but since we haven't yet found a new teacher for the fourth Sunday, they asked if I could do it. I said yes, of course. I remember when I first had to teach. I was so nervous that I just wanted to wrap myself around the table leg and hang on for dear life! It's getting better, however, and people actually compliment me. Yay! But I do tend to get distracted when I should be doing the preparation, especially by the internet. There are so many things I want to check up on and read and do. I'm quite an impatient person in reality, so when something new comes up, I want to explore it now and not wait until a more convenient time! And this week, something new that I had eagerly been anticipating had finally arrived. Dutifully, however, I dragged myself to my lesson and began to work, thinking I'd soon reward myself with a little internet break. Deep down, however, I knew that any "little break" could stretch out to several hours.
The internet went down.
Apparently, there was a disruption of service all over the city, and we were left without internet or telephone for several hours. Now I have no problems living without a phone. The sound of it ringing evokes a Pavlovian response from me that usually manifests itself in me snapping, "Go away whoever you are!" before I pick up the receiver. And then trying to fake a cheerful or at least non-aggressive greeting to whoever is on the other end. But when the internet goes down, I feel like I've been cut off from civilization, or left to rot in one of those sensory deprivation tanks. Part of my coping strategy is to stay calm, let myself check internet availability every five minutes or so, and otherwise distract myself with non-net activities. That's what I did this time, working so hard on my lesson and writing down everything that I planned to say, that I actually got completely caught up in it and forgot to keep checking the net.
I'm good at writing, but I'm not a very good speaker. Often I forget something vital that I'd wanted to include, at the same time as babbling on about trivia connected only to the original theme by three different tangents, so I write down all the really important stuff, starting with "good morning, sisters," and going all the way through to the "amen" at the end. (Although whenever I teach nowadays, I am working hard on not reading my manuscript out loud word for word, using it instead as a springboard for free speaking, a list of admittedly detailed notes to refer to as I actually say something spontaneous.) Anyway, this time, when I'd finished noting everything that I would need for this lesson, I finished up with the usual phrase. And the minute I'd typed the final "n" of "amen," my husband called down the stairs and told me that the internet was back.
Is that good timing, or what?