So it turns out that I cannot multitask. Which, as most of you probably know, is pretty rough since life has a way of piling up projects on you that all seem to need to be done now.

It also turns out that not only can I not multitask, but I also move slowly. I'm just a laid-back sort of gal. Leisurely, if you will. So when life piles up all those projects on top of me, not only can I not get them all done at once, I don't even get them done within a reasonable timeframe.

At least that's sort of been the input I've received from people throughout my life. Being a grownup sure has been good, especially being a self-employed grown up. The more control I have over my time and the projects I take on, the better the chances that everything will run smoothly.

So how did I get myself into this fine mess?

I, of course, have this blog. Which is one of the more enjoyable and easier-to-accomplish tasks on my to-do list each week. I also seem to have gone and joined a competition team. A nail competition team. I'm very excited about it because I have wanted to compete — not just compete, but actually win competitions — since I got into the biz. (I'll go off on a tangent about my self-sabotaging habits another day.) But I have a team captain who keeps giving us homework.

That seems fair. Actually, it seems like an excellent idea. Problem is that the homework actually has to get done at some point and then turned in. (I have to take pictures and e-mail them to her.) But when am I supposed to do all these practice sets of nails?! Ugh! Not only do I not have a pool of qualifying hand models to pick from each week for practice sets, I don't have extra hours in my weeks to do practice sets of nails. I try really hard not to sound like I'm whining about this — I'm just trying to keep up as best I can.

Of course, I also have to actually work. In fact, for someone who works four days a week and actually looks at my book each week and sees how many spaces have yet to be filled and counts my clients and thinks "If I could just find 10 more regular clients," it turns out that I am way too booked for all these extra projects!

Plus, I have a personal life, which requires giving all my attention to two dogs and a boy who think that when I'm off work, it means that I ought to actually be off work — as if such a concept was even possible for the average nail tech who, as we all know, obsesses about nails 24/7/365, right?

At some point I have to find time to update websites and MySpace and keep up with Facebook — and have I mentioned I Twitter now?

Oh yeah, and prom is this week.

It's only Monday morning and already I'm screaming, "CALGON! TAKE ME AWAY!"