Eustress and Distress

Eustress: I have landed a trial period for a proofreading job that pays well. I am so excited to possibly have ongoing and lucrative proofreading work I can hardly stand it. At the same time, one of the things the trial period is for is to see if I am fast enough to work for them. They promise their clients extremely fast turnaround times. They are confident I’m good (or as confident as they can be after seeing my one-page proofreading test), but they don’t know if I’m fast. I know I can work fast, but what I’m worried about is that I’ll be halfway through a job when Lego will suddenly need all my attention for half an hour. That can really slow you down. And they want me to “clock in” for three- to four-hour segments. For about two hours, I can count on Lego to be sleeping, but after that . . . who knows? I mean, he’s ultimately more important than brain work and money, but I’d really, really like this to work out.

Distress: Lego has been teething for about a week, which means he’s been fevered, grouchy, insistent on nursing nonstop, sleeping restlessly, fussy, sick to his stomach, and fighting Tylenol and Orajel. I am severely sleep-deprived, frazzled, and grouchy myself. And this in conjunction with the fact that I’m planning on trying out my first proofreading session tomorrow . . . eek.